Biophysical Society Bulletin | March 2020

Communities and Outreach

BPSMicroscopy Outreach Efforts in Bangalore, India The Education Committee, in cooperation with the Biophys- ical Society staff have been distributing light microscopes in India. This outreach effort is made possible by a 2016 gift of 500 small wooden microscopes from Echo Laboratories and Chroma Technology Corp. I (USP, Duke Engineering, Class of 2021) took three wooden microscope kits on a visit to my home city of Bangalore in Summer 2018. There I taught three sessions on light microscopy in under-resourced government schools using the lesson plan on light microscopy which, inspired by the wooden microscopes, was written for the Society (by SAE, Duke University). The lesson plan is posted on the BPS Lesson Plans and Experiments web page (https:/ www.biophysics.org/biophysics-basics#/) for downloading and use by the general public.

Young student in Bangalore viewing a leaf on a wooden microscope helped by Umika Paul (right).

microscopes, and familiarized them with the lesson plan so that they could lead the sessions after I returned to Duke. The volunteers were able to teach nine additional sessions in Bangalore during the past year and a half, and have recently expanded efforts to New Delhi using microscope kits provided by BPS. Recent sessions have been targeted primarily toward girls and younger students — the teachers have commented that the sessions have been very eye-opening for the young students. I have kept in contact with the Whitefield Rising volunteers who have been leading the light microscope outreach ses- sions during my visits home to Bangalore for summer and winter breaks. I have recently taught members of another volunteer group, Acharyas, how to assemble and use the wooden microscopes. This has led to the expansion of the light microscopy outreach sessions to other districts in Ban- galore and the aforementioned sessions in New Delhi. These efforts, performed under guidance by SAE as a member of the BPS Education Committee, along with with BPS staff, are providing new educational experiences to students in under-resourced schools on an international level. The overall goal of the BPS is to improve global science education and encourage more young people to enter STEM fields. — Umika S. Paul , Duke University, Pratt School of Engineering — Sharyn A. Endow , Duke University, BPS Education Committee

Umika Paul (right) with teachers in Bangalore, India, preparing specimens for viewing on a wooden microscope (center).

The sessions that I taught were well received and enjoyed by the students, who had not been exposed to an activity like this previously. They were taught how to assemble the microscopes, and how to use them to view specimens such as flowers and leaves. After the sessions, the microscopes were given to the teachers for further use in their classes. The teachers felt that this was a valuable new experience for the students — especially for the young girls — as it introduced the students to scientific concepts that they would otherwise not have known about. After reaching about 80–100 students in those three ses- sions, I expanded the light microscopy outreach in Bangalore by collaborating with Whitefield Rising, a volunteer group with which my mother and I had previously worked. I taught several members of the group how to assemble and use the

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