Photo caption: Tobias Kelm, front, and Aaron Gabriel from Cornell Cooperative Extension examine nematodes under dissecting microscopes as Devin Peterson looks on.
High school students in Kara Sokolowski’s Reading, Research and Writing in Science class recently had the opportunity to partner with Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) to conduct real-world research affecting the local agricultural community.
Aaron Gabriel is a Senior Extension Resource Educator in Agronomy at CCE. He works with commercial farmers to bring research to the agricultural community. He occasionally works with students to help with experiments.
“The consensus now is that STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) is a priority, so this gives them hands-on experience doing research projects that are relevant to their local community,” said Gabriel.
Students worked with Gabriel to conduct an experiment that tests the effectiveness of nematodes (tiny round worms that live in soil) on controlling seedcorn maggots, which can be problematic for local farmers. Students sought to determine whether it was possible to use nematodes as natural predators, rather than chemicals as pesticides.
For seven days, students observed the effects of three variations of nematodes on the seedcorn maggots. The experiment proved that nematodes are not effective in controlling the seedcorn maggots.
“The students were disappointed, but this is what science is,” said Sokolowski. “They got to see a real-life application of science, something Mr. Gabriel does for work, and the kind of experiments they will have to do in college.”
Gabriel is also working with students to provide a crash course on the proper way to conduct research. Students learn the anatomy of a research paper, will set up experiments, and visit farms to see first-hand how research affects the local farming industry.