Donna’s Big Idea: Donna’s project might be the stuff of nightmares to some, but for her students, studying zombies and cockroaches is a unique way to engage with high-level science material. Utilizing Spikerbox technology from Backyard Brains, Donna’s class studied the basic anatomy of the Madagascar hissing cockroaches’ nervous system with an emphasis on memory storage. She and her class also used the book, “The Zombie Autopsies: Secret Notebooks from the Apocalypse” written by Dr. Steven C. Schlozman, as a fun way to learn how the brains of zombies operate.
Central to Donna’s project was the aim to motivate and excite students through interesting and unique material. More scientifically, students learned the basics of how the nervous system works and synthesized information about how sensory receptors respond to stimuli which results in behavioral adaptation and/or memory storage.
Interesting Facts: Donna sponsors her school’s after-school 4-H Adventurers/Science Club which has taken trips to places like the Grand Canyon and Florida to study diverse environments. Donna has a Masters and a Rank I in Education.
Donna Shartzer of Hardinsburg, KY uses a telescope to look at Jupiter and its moons at Chaney's Dairy Barn outside Bowling Green, Tuesday, June 6. (Photo by Sam Oldenburg)
Katie Donlin (left) of Hayfield, MN, and Donna Shartzer of Hardinsburg, KY experiment with inexpensive alternatives to standard classroom microscopes on Monday, June 5. After learning about the alternatives, the NSCF Scholars built their own microscopes. (Photo by Brook Joyner)
Donna Shartzer of Hardinsburg, KY drills holes in a piece of wood to create a microscope Monday, June 5. After building the microscopes, the scholars used them in a lab activity to identify different types of spices. (Photo by Brook Joyner)