"Ohhhh, that's nasty!"
Laneka Duncan's eyes widened as she examined the glob of slimy DNA dangling from a long toothpick. With the help of two students from Wake Forest University, Laneka had just fished out a smattering of strawberry DNA from a small tube.
"That's disgusting," said Laneka, 14.
The girls at Northwest Middle School are learning that science isn't always pretty. But it can be lots of fun, especially when it involves Twizzlers, gum drops and beads.
"I'm learning a lot," Laneka said.
That's the kind of sentiment that Rebecca Alexander was hoping she would hear when she volunteered to bring some of her Wake Forest University students out to Northwest each week.
Alexander is an associate professor in the chemistry department at Wake Forest. This semester, she is teaching a seminar for first-year students titled "Well-Behaved Women Rarely Make (Scientific) History."
Her students are looking at some of the reasons why women are under-represented in scientific fields. In the past, women were seen as too delicate to handle the mental rigors of science. "People thought their bodies couldn't stand studying that much," Alexander said.
These days, women often don't pursue science as a career because of family considerations. For example, getting tenure often coincides with a woman's child-bearing years.
More women are getting bachelor's degrees in science, but Alexander called science a "leaky pipeline" for women. In other words, they don't further their studies in science or consider it for a career.
One example is the number of post-doctoral science fellows in 2006. According to the National Science Foundation, 19,496 of the fellows were men; 10,691 were women.
Part of the seminar involves going out to Northwest Middle and working with a science club. Alexander, who is in her ninth year at Wake Forest, originally wanted to work with just girls at the school.
But Tracy McAninch, the school's curriculum coordinator, said she thought that it would be valuable for boys and girls to rub shoulders with Wake Forest students and learn a little science.
About 60 students signed up for the science club. Half of them meet with Alexander's students on Tuesday, and the other half meet on Thursdays.
"These kids have traditionally not scored well in reading and math, and that's a big part of science," said Iris Mudd, who teaches science at the school. "This builds their confidence. They want to show you what they know."
Before heading out to Northwest each week, Alexander comes up with an experiment that she practices with her students. Her students will, in turn, lead the middle-school students through the experiment. Alexander has come up with a slew of cool experiments, such as making slime and making hot and cold packs to study endothermic reactions.
Yesterday, the students at Northwest made DNA structures out of Twizzlers, toothpicks and gum drops. The Twizzlers formed the backbone, while the gum drops acted as bases. By twisting the Twizzlers, the students formed a double helix.
Cortney Holmes, a freshman at Wake, guided the students through the experiment then told them they were welcome to eat it afterward.
Sunny Ortiz, who is 14, said she has enjoyed the science club. "Although you get messy, it's fun," she said.
Sunny said she was pleasantly surprised to see Alexander leading the club.
"I thought it would be a guy. It makes it more cool. I relate to her more than a guy," she said.
Such casual contact with a woman scientist can make an impression on a young girl, Alexander said.
"I see any opportunity to help girls reach their full potential, especially if it includes going further in science, as important and worth the effort," she said.
■ Lisa O'Donnell can be reached at 727-7420 or at lo'donnell@wsjournal.com.
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