King's College receives $100,000 grant to prepare students for mathematics and sciences

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King's College receives $100,000 grant to prepare students for mathematics and sciences

September 19, 2007 – King's College has been awarded a $100,000 grant from The George I. Alden Trust of Worcester, Mass., to prepare students for the fields of mathematics and science. The funds will be used to purchase state-of-the-art technology to assist King's education majors with an emphasis on secondary mathematics, as well as local high school students attending summer programs at King's. Funds from the grant will also be used to expand the College's Genomics Center.

The College's education department will use some of the grant to purchase 31 PC tablets. King's education students will use the tablets to develop lesson plans and design math problems for their students. They will attend a seminar to learn the multiple capabilities of the PC tablets, and will later review and develop lesson plans integrating the new technology. In the spring semester, pre-service education majors will use the tablets at Wyoming Valley West Senior High School in mathematics classes such as algebra, geometry, and calculus.

In addition, grant funds will be used to purchase equipment to expand King's Genomics Center, an extension of the College's science departments, which builds on data and resources from the Human Genome project. The new equipment for the Genomics Center includes four Nikon SMZ-1000 Stereomicroscopes, a High Resolution Melting apparatus, and a Rapid Cycler.

Nikon SMZ-1000 Stereomicroscopes are an essential tool for studying small model organisms and will be used to enhance the curriculum of King's molecular biology program and summer programs for local high school students. Students will use the stereomicroscopes during RNA Interference (RNAi) experiments to study the development and function of multicellular organisms. The High Resolution Melting Apparatus and Rapid Cycler prepare samples for analysis and allow pieces of genes to be amplified in 15 minutes. The first phase of the Genomics Center was launched in 2004 with a grant from George. I. Alden Trust, which funded a mobile computer classroom.

King's College is a Catholic College sponsored by the congregation of Holy Cross.