Glenbard East teacher engages young minds
Tom Martinez teaches biology at Glenbard East High School. A 34-year teaching veteran, he has spent the past 23 years at the Lombard school.
Q. High school classes seem more like college courses than they were 20 years ago. How has teaching your subjects evolved?
A. Teaching science has changed in many ways. There is more technology available to do real, cutting-edge science than ever before. Students have the ability to learn the standard material covered in more traditional books and documents on electronic platforms that are quick and easy to access.
The experiences that high school students have available to them is only limited by financial constraints and the time it takes to teach all the curriculum. Teachers also can be supported by university professors and researchers more than ever before, and many National Science Foundation grants are tied to outreach opportunities that help bring undergraduate- and graduate-level work down to high school students.
This is a great time to be a science teacher in terms of bringing college-level material and skills to high school students.
Q. How do advances in technology shape how you teach as well as what you teach?
A. Advances in technology have made teaching and learning more rewarding for all involved because students can learn more by doing.
Science is a hands-on entity and technologies have allowed students to perform labs and experiments that enhance their understandings of topics and applications of science.
Being able to photograph tissue regeneration over time and pixelate growth with free software makes biology more applicable and understandable.
Having the ability to perform labs that put students in control of particular genetic pathways in bacteria allows students to understand bioengineering concepts in real time because of the technologies that are available.
To have students perform PCR to amplify DNA samples from simulated crime scenes or genetic cloning empowers the students of today to learn in powerful ways and helps prepare them for potential careers in the sciences.
Q. Tell us about your favorite classroom lab. Why do you like it, and what does it teach students?
A. I enjoy the BioBuilder curriculum the most. We do a tremendous number of labs and activities, but I feel the engineering of living systems is the most exciting and impactful on student learning because they have never seen anything like it before.
The series of labs takes students through the process of engineering living bacterial genetic systems and illustrates the challenges and complexities associated with bioengineering in the field of synthetic biology.
Universities such as MIT and CalTech have created ways in which students can manipulate genetic components that act as genetic switches. These genetic switches can be designed, manipulated and tuned to the liking of the student scientist.
Students quickly learn that living systems like bacteria are very complex, hard to engineer and require patience to optimize their genetic constructs. Some of these labs are in development now and will be field-tested by Glenbard East High School students in April.
I like these labs because they are not your typical biology labs and they open up new ways of thinking where students are doing real science.
Q. What was your science fair topic when you were in school, and how did the project turn out?
A. I never participated in a science fair as a student. My experiences in science as a child were very limited, lecture-based, and unfortunately forgotten quickly.
There have been several teachers and experiences that have shaped my love of biology but they really didn't impact me until I went to college.
College classes opened my eyes to biology, especially my anatomy and physiology classes at North Central College. I learned very quickly that science was cool and it allowed me to use my hands and engage my mind like never before.