Scientists from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences were among those participating in Expanding Your Horizons, an event coordinated by N.C. State’s Science House, an outreach program in the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. Expanding Your Horizons is designed to increase middle school girls’ interest in science and mathematics at a time when that interest may be waning and to introduce them to women involved in science, engineering and mathematics.

Girls participating in workshops offered by College scientists had the opportunity to look at yeast and yogurt bacteria under high-powered microscopes, extract DNA from spinach and look for the presence of a digestive enzyme in the tobacco budworm.

Expanding Your Horizons is a national program sponsored locally by the Research Triangle Math and Science Partnership, said Dr. David Haase, director of Science House. Funding for the program is provided by the N.C. State provost’s office and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

“We know we can’t change these girls’ lives in one day. But if you don’t do these kinds of programs, girls don’t go into science and math,” Haase said.

“Science classes don’t show girls all the possibilities for careers in science. They’ll see things at our conference that they didn’t know existed.”

Women researchers participating in Expanding Your Horizons say they became involved in order to give girls a taste of what they find fascinating about science.

Dr. Geraldine Luginbuhl, professor in the College’s Department of Microbiology, introduced girls to microorganisms in foods from the grocery store — yogurt and yeast. The girls made slides with yeast and yogurt bacteria and examined them under microscopes. They also added sugar and water to the yeast to observe the chemical activity that makes bread rise.

In the past, Luginbuhl has done more of a lecture program, but she said the hands-on experience was more effective. “They seemed pretty enthusiastic,” she said. “It’s really fun when students are excited.”

Dr. T. J. Schneeweis, lab supervisor in the Department of Microbiology, described for students the different ways that microorganisms are helpful in the creation of food products such as cheese, Sweet Acidophilus milk, sauerkraut and pepperoni.

Luginbuhl said it is important to involve middle school youth in science because “they tend to start getting distracted at this age. We can help by reminding them that science is fun and exciting.”

Kathy Turner, a doctoral student in the Department of Genetics, used a simple experiment to show students how to isolate DNA from plant cells using materials found in a kitchen. “This is something I do in my job every day,” she said. “It’s easy to do with kids, and it helps them understand what DNA is when they read about it in the news because they’ve seen it.”

Turner began the experiment by breaking down the spinach in a blender with salt water. Students then strained off the solids through a paper towel, leaving behind a green liquid from which the DNA was extracted.

Dr. Deborah Thompson, a senior researcher in the College’s Department of Entomology, also chose to involve the students in an experiment that she carries out in her job every day — examining insect digestive systems for the presence of the enzyme trypsin. Researchers have learned that by “turning off” the trypsin in insect pests, they can prevent the insects from growing and cause them to die, making this an effective biological control method.

Working with students in schools is something Thompson does on a regular basis. In her lab, she wanted the girls to see that “another girl” could dissect an insect without feeling squeamish. “There’s a misconception that women scientists are weird or that science is too hard,” she said. “I wanted the girls to see that women can grow up to be scientists and still have children and families.”

Haase, director of Science House, said research on Expanding Your Horizons participants has shown that they are more likely to consider careers in science.