6 Connection and Collaborations

Jonathan Kwong’s Acknowledgements

Our biotechnology teacher, Penny Lefavour, was a great resource and really helped us get our ideas together. Whenever we sought for her wisdom and guidance, she would ask us questions and help steer us in the right direction in terms of how we wanted to approach and proceed with the project. Lefavour kept us grounded any time the stress of the project felt unbearable. Through her, I learned to relate to the audience while also conveying the full message of my project. For many days, I would stay after school and discuss with her how I could interest the general audience in our project. She gave many helpful presentation tips and trained me to not use filler words when speaking. She offered her room to my group and supplied many materials to help us complete the project. Whenever Annika and I presented an idea to Lefavour, she would always give us her honest opinions. Lefavour helped us keep our project on track, and I am truly grateful to have her assistance and wisdom. Because we have Lefavour as our fifth period teacher, we had to opportunity to ask her questions regularly. Her method of helping us taught me to think critically, because Lefavour refused to spoon feed me answers and instead set out stepping stones that led me to reach my own conclusions about how I should approach the project. Lefavour can be reached at her email, lefavourp@edmonds.wednet.edu.

On January 22nd, Bio Expo Manager Janis Wignall introduced me and Annika to our first mentor for this project, Janis Shin. Shin is an undergraduate at the University of Washington who is currently majoring in a Unfortunately, this was also around the time when my school had midterms, so Annika and I didn’t really contact Shin until February 22nd. Shin opened our eyes to all the amazing possibilities we could do with our model. In my first email to her on February 4, I thanked her for taking on this project with us and I simply asked how we should start our project. She walked us through the process by asking us to identify any key chemicals or genes described in our research papers, then asked that we find a way to portray the interactions between that agent and other parts of honey bee colonies. We frequently updated Shin with our project progress and she graciously responded with advice on how to find alternative methods, even if we didn’t ask for it. Our emails to Shin included our next steps and roadblocks. Her replies, for example, would ask if the SMART Team category allowed models of viruses. On March 19, Shin reached out with a way to create a model out of a wire mold if we were “strapped for cash.” Her tendency to continually pitch in alternative ideas helped us find ways to change tracks if needed and possibly incorporate those elements as well. Throughout our project, Annika and I often modified our 3D model idea, because we sought to create the most effective demonstration of CCD. I highly appreciated Shin’s input, because she presented ideas that we hadn’t considered and we had to ability to finetune the details of our 3D model as we progressed.

On March 8, it was time to design our model, Annika and I sought help from our school’s shop technician Randall Ritter. We met with him during fifth period, which conveniently happened to be aerospace teacher Craig DeVine’s planning period. During this time, Lefavour allowed for class time to work on Expo projects. We consulted both staff members about the most effective materials and mediums to use for our 3D model. Ritter ensured that our process stayed reasonable and within reach. From Ritter, I learned to think practically. He took all our ideas and showed us the pros and cons of each until we all came to an agreement to which idea we were going to implement. Ritter gave us the opportunity to weigh the pros and cons of each production method; from this process, I learned how to most effectively express my ideas based on the function and size of my model. DeVine took the time to show us some examples of various types of 3D models by finding student-created work in the shop and by searching online. From working with Ritter and DeVine, I could explore multiple forms of 3D models and individually determine which ones leveraged the key components of CCD. DeVine can be reached at his email, devinec@edmonds.wednet.edu, and Ritter can be reached at his email, ritterr@edmonds.wednet.edu.

Annika and I met with NW Honey Bee president Eric Patno on April 3 for an interview. Though I prepared a bulky list of questions, Patno provided enough information for an hour-long interview even though I only asked three questions by the time we concluded. I asked about how humans contribute to CCD, what common misconceptions he wanted to clarify, and how local communities can take action. Patno’s answers displayed a deeper layer of complexity than I had observed in scientific reports and research. He explained the influence of landscapers, who might use pesticides or remove certain plants that attract bees. For this project, I mainly focused on human influences on CCD, but interviewing Patno gave us further insight on how humans contribute to CCD from a more local standpoint. Patno’s passion for helping honey bees was evident, which put into perspective how strongly Patno feels humans can reverse the effects of CCD. The way he so naturally carried out his lengthy dialogue to cover a plethora of topics gave me hope that, even if one person took action, humans have the power to “take a big step in the right direction,” Patno said. After taking the time to interview Patno about saving the bees, I can strongly agree with his sentiment that “just having a positive outlook and saying that I can do something goes a long way.” Patno can be reached at his email, nwhoneybee@yahoo.com.

Annika Prom’s Acknowledgements

Our biotechnology teacher Penny Lefavour frequently asked us questions to guide us through our project and keep sight of our purpose for choosing the topic of CCD. Rather than define our project for us, Lefavour would ask about our justification and goals for each aspect of our project, such as asking what features we intended to show using our model. Though I felt slight stress from constantly needing to re-evaluate the relevance of each component of our project, Lefavour’s guidance proved to be valuable. I learned how to be more concise and simple when creating interactive models, so the audience can better understand the functions of the model, even if the model had a minimal number of elements to it. Lefavour led me to find my own answers during this project, which allowed me to learn how to find my own path in tackling the scientific process and establish my own standards for an impactful presentation. Through email exchanges with Lefavour on March 15, Lefavour asked that I reconsider the function of our model concept at the time, which was a 3D printed honey bee with interchangeable wings, and asked what aspect of the bee we needed to best exemplify the function of the model. The following week, Jonathan and I determined that our model needed to be more than simply a showcase piece and decided to use another medium to create our model. With Lefavour being our teacher, we essentially saw her every day; we frequently asked her questions in class, to which she would follow up with subtle direction that stopped us from deviating too far from our original and true intentions with this project. We emailed Lefavour using her school-issued email, lefavourp@edmonds.wednet.edu.

Bio Expo Manager Janis Wignall reached out to us with a formal mentor for our project, University of Washington bioengineering student Janis Shin. Jonathan and I made first contact with Shin on February 4 through email. Her first response presented different ideas for the medium of the 3D model component of our project, which led me to realize that we weren’t as limited with our resources as I previously thought. Shin also started us on a strong note as she had us view our project with a deeper layer of complexity by asking about the biology and chemistry involved with honey bees, which extended beyond my initial idea of creating a simple, almost superficial model that could have been completed with bare research. I met with Shin in person for the first time on March 24 over coffee to discuss the 3D model. I found Shin’s experience and curiosity to give us a great stride in our progress and clear idea of our model’s purpose. Shin’s background in bioengineering allowed her to propose common, yet creative model ideas. However, Shin still had much to learn about CCD, which she took into account when discussing the 3D model. She could grasp much of the information I relayed to her about honey bees, but she suggested an interactive board as a 3D model. Shin felt that method would best teach her about the topic and therefore would also effectively teach our audience who likely would have less prior knowledge about CCD. I’m very grateful for Shin’s contributions and thinking that added to the impact of our project. I had focused more on how our model would teach than how a viewer would learn from our model. Shin’s cheerful and easygoing personality helped me relate to her and feel comfortable asking questions about what a strong scientific research project should look like. Her willingness to also learn from me led to the creation of a simple, informative 3D model that had a personal feel with hand drawn images and the seemingly childlike use of magnets. We contacted Shin through her university-issued email, jshin1@uw.edu.

During school hours, I often turned to aerospace teacher James Wilson, also my first period teacher for engineering design, for advice on how to secure materials and best utilize my resources. His personality gave him an unconventional perspective on our project. Wilson is immature, yet practical. He essentially based model ideas on whether or not they would bore him and suggested improvements on the model that would better hold his attention. Because Wilson didn’t have vast knowledge on CCD, he wanted me to demonstrate concepts that the audience should learn, too. Wilson’s desire to make any and all projects fun and creative helped me stray away from a typical, rigid model. Every one of Wilson’s ideas were easily achievable as we could fulfill his suggestions with tools and materials in our school’s woodshop with maybe one quick online order. I initially wanted to take Wilson’s approach before I even asked him for help, but I thought a scientific approach meant I should do quite the opposite thinking. Because Wilson is an experienced elder, I knew I could trust his advice, which reaffirmed my original desire to create a light, lax 3D model. I learned that it was a strong misconception to think that a scientific 3D model absolutely needed to be extremely formal, professional, and high tech. Having Wilson as a mentor allowed me to learn that all the resources I needed were within reach and that I shouldn’t hesitate to incorporate my personality and personal criteria into this project. Though I could only access Wilson during down time in first period, I learned that I shouldn’t base this project entirely off of the Bio Expo committee’s standards, but also on my own standards and expectations of what I would love to see in a science project. I primarily contacted Wilson in person, but he can be reached at his school-issued email, wilsonjame@edmonds.wednet.edu.

On April 24, I attached the components of the 3D board together. Chemistry teacher Mark Burbank pitched in some minor details that improved the overall quality of the model. He suggested making the sheet metal more rigid by creating a wooden frame around the perimeter. Burbank put forth ideas that made the model easier to present and more visually appealing, which I previously disregarded in favor of focusing on portraying the function of the model. Without Burbank’s guidance, the model would have lacked dimension and craftsmanship. From my brief time with Burbank, I learned the importance of ensuring that all elements of a final product tie in together, which significantly boosts its presentability and professionalism. At that point, I had been so consumed with emphasizing the scientific aspects of the project that I had mistakenly neglected the aesthetics and practicability of the model. I finished the Bio Expo project with Burbank by my side as he oversaw all of the students working in the shop. I’m immensely grateful that Burbank reminded me to look at the small details that help compose the big picture. I only interacted with Burbank in person for this project, but he can be reached at his school-issued email, burbankm@edmonds.wednet.edu.