The freshman bug project is a long-standing tradition among students, alumni, and incoming freshmen. The project has outlasted almost every building, stadium, and classroom. And like the renovations that have altered the Jesuit campus, the bug project has begun a journey of change.
Beginning in the spring of 2014, the bug project will incorporate more sophisticated science.
The project was started in 1973 by biology teacher Bob Lanier, and as he puts it, it was started because “it was something fun for [the freshmen] to do.” Many of the alumni, and all Jesuit graduates in our parents’ generation, have completed this project and students still come back to Mr. Lanier and Ms. Jan Jones with fond memories of it.
Dr. Todd Gruninger, co-chair of the science department, explained that the teachers would like to “try to make a better project and update the curriculum.” Next year, there will be an insect project, just not the standard bug project done in the past. Dr. Gruninger describes the project as more than an actual collection: instead, the students “will collect a few of the insects and extract the DNA.”
The idea for the new insect project was adopted from the organization “Discover the Microbes Within!” and the project will be named “The Wolbachia Project.” In the project, students will find and study Wolbachia, a widespread bacterium that lives symbiotically in at least 20 percent of the world’s insect population. Students will spend more time in the lab during this project and extract DNA from a certain amount of insects and record the percentage of insects containing Wolbachia.
This project will allow Jesuit students to compare their data with that of other schools across the country. Dr. Gruniger’s honors class experimented with the new project this year and it turned out to be a big success, proving that all freshman biology classes can do it.
Trevor Lastelick ’16, a student of the honors class, feels that all classes can make this change because the new project was interesting and fun. However, Lastelick went on to say that “[the project] was not so much easy as it was interesting and educational.”
According to Dr. Gruninger and Mrs. Jones, the modified project will fit the curriculum better than the original one.
Luke Hoffman ’15 is happy with the new project, saying, “I’m glad the bug project is changing for the better. From what I know of the new project, it will help the students have a better understanding of the bugs in terms of biology.”
As the traditional 39 year-old project comes to an end, it opens up new doors with this new-and-improved project, and there is certainly a bright future for the biology classes. The project will help the students learn to use biotechnology equipment, and it will serve as a good introduction into the study of genetics.
