CMU-Q creates kit to encourage experimental science in Qatari classrooms

Twenty-seven students from independent and private schools across Doha participated in the Biotechnology Explorers Program (BEP) last weekend, an outreach program that introduces students to biological sciences.

The program is part of a larger effort by CMU-Q’s Biological Sciences program to promote inquiry-based learning in the classroom. This year, the BEP used a protein testing kit that was developed at CMU-Q. Students chose different foods and formed hypotheses about the protein content. They then tested the foods using the Bradford reagent that contains the Coomassie Blue dye which changes color depending on the amount of protein present.

Although the BEP students used the kits in the CMU-Q laboratory, the kits can be used without specialized equipment.

“Many high schools in Qatar don’t have the equipment to do biology experiments, so we created a kit that can be used in any classroom,” said Annette Vincent, assistant teaching professor of biological sciences.

The kit was developed by CMU-Q student Aya Gaballa, under the mentorship of Vincent. It is based on the Bradford assay, a standard chemical that changes color according to the amount of protein in the sample. “Aya made the reagents herself, developing the recipes and testing them,” said Vincent.

In the CMU-Q lab, BEP students used a spectrophotometer to measure the color change. For the classroom kit, Gaballa developed a color chart that measures the concentration of protein.

The kits were initially tested at Qatar Academy, and then again by the students in BEP. “They came up with interesting hypotheses. One group used three different soy-based foods to see which had more protein, and another chose meat compared to a muscle-building protein shake. Then they tested their hypotheses and reached conclusions based on their data, which is the basis of inquiry-based learning,” said Ken Hovis, assistant professor of biological sciences.

Vincent and Gaballa are now looking at ways to get the kit into more schools, including translating it into Arabic for independent schools. “The Emir is urging schools to teach the sciences in Arabic, and this kit will help teachers with that,” said Vincent.