Lessons developed by UIUC Biophysics graduate students in partnership with local K-12 teachers:


    1.  Introduction to Structural & Molecular Virology by Ross Bodnar (graduate

         student) and Kathy Hafner (Danville High School 9th grade Biology teacher).

         Classroom Presentation (ppt), Presentation Notes (pdf),

         VIPERdb Instructions (pdf), Movie 1, Movie 2, Movie 3 (all Quicktime format)


    2.  Online Research Tools in Biology by Ross Bodnar (graduate student)

         Presentation  for Teachers (ppt)


    3.  Discovering the Structure of Your Favorite Protein by Sharlene Denos (graduate

         student) Kathy Hafner (Danville High School 9th grade biology) & Matt Kirkpatrick

         (Metea Valley High School Science Chair).

         Lesson Plan (pdf), Student Handout (pdf), VMD Tutorial (pdf),

         VMD Download Instructions (pdf), Presentation With Examples of Student Work (ppt)


    4.  Visualizing Biopolymers and Their Building Blocks by Sharlene Denos (graduate

         student) and Kathy Hafner (Danville High School 9th grade biology)

         Lesson Plan (pdf), Student Handout (pdf), Molecule Files (tar),

         VMD Download Instructions (pdf),


    5.  Name That Gene, adapted from Wefer, S. (2003) Amer Bio Teach, 65(8), 610-613

         by Sharlene Denos (graduate student) and Kathy Hafner (Danville High School 9th

         grade biology)

         Lesson Plan (pdf),  Student Handout (pdf), Disease Gene Sequences (pdf),

         VMD Tutorial (pdf), VMD Download Instructions (pdf),



Lessons from another fantastic outreach program on campus, Encouraging Tomorrow’s Chemists by Chemistry Outreach, (developed for 8th grade science students at Urbana Middle School)


   1. Characteristics of Matter, Supply List (pdf), Volunteer Handout (pdf)


   2.  Polymer Lab, Supply List (pdf), Recipes (pdf), Volunteer Handout (pdf)


   3.  Luminescence Lab, Supply List (pdf), Recipes (pdf), Volunteer Handout (pdf)