Funded with Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Science (NIEHS), the modules employ four advanced technology tools—NASA Image 2009 (NI2K9), an educational image processing and analysis (IPA) tool developed for the NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center and updated by Science Approach; ImageJ, a professional IPA tool freely available from the NIMH; My World geographic information systems (GIS) software developed by the GEODE Initiative at Northwestern University; and the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database of the National Center for Biotechnology Information—in inquiry-based explorations of ten challenges related to the mission of NIEHS. The ten Powers of Inquiry modules are organized in a “Powers of Ten” format, starting with an examination of the impact of global warming on the oceans and human health, and then working through successively smaller levels of analysis to arrive at quantifying why certain nanoparticle shapes may be more hazardous to human health than others.

The goal of this Phase II Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) application—entitled Volumetric Imaging for Science Instruction of an Open Nature (VISION)—is to adapt an advanced technology employed in biomedical research and practice—volumetric image processing and analysis (VIPA)—for science and mathematics education in formal secondary school settings. VIPA is used in biomedicine to display, model, and analyze volumetric data—typically imaging data that has been created by making two-dimensional digital “slices” of an object of interest—such as in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI (fMRI), computed tomography (CT), and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). VIPA is also employed in non-biomedical disciplines where volumetric analyses are of interest, for instance, Earth science, engineering, hydrology, oceanography, and oil and gas exploration.

This project will create five e-Learning modules designed to supplement high school biology, Advanced Placement (AP) anatomy and physiology, and AP Biology instruction. The modules will be developed in an inquiry learning (IL) format in which students play the role of imaging scientists. Students will explore fascinating 3-D images; expand spatial thinking abilities by navigating 3-D data visualizations and changing the way the data is represented; master new quantification and technology skills by selecting and measuring features in microscopic and macroscopic specimens; enhance science process skills by working through all stages of a virtual research project; and learn standards-based science content.

The materials will be developed by Science Approach, LLC, in collaboration with the Biomedical Imaging Resource at the Mayo Clinic, the New Media Research Institute, ten experienced teachers, five researchers, a commercialization advisor from the Carolina Biological Supply Company, and the West Texas Office of Evaluation and Research. The VISION modules will be released as online Moodle courses available for a nominal cost by subscription.