Group picture with the students from Dragonskolan who participated in the Mycorrhiza project, Sabine Kunz (2nd from left in the front row), Elisabeth Uppsäll (5th from left in the front row) and Judith Felten (1st from right in the first row)[2017-03-24] Today, twenty students from Dragonskolan presented their results from the “Mycorrhiza project”, a six-month project together with Judith Felten’s group from the Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC). The project aimed to teach scientific methodology based on the interaction between mycorrhizal fungi and plant roots.
Do forest trees grow better when their roots are growing in interaction with mycorrhizal fungi? How do those roots look like? How many different fungal species are growing in forest soils and how can we detect them? These were questions the students tried to find answers to. Sabine Kunz, postdoctoral researcher at the UPSC, and Judith Felten, assistant professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, developed this project in collaboration with Dragonskolan.
“We designed the project together with the biology teacher Elisabeth Uppsäll from Dragonskolan in Umeå. Our idea was to bridge the gap between biology lessons at school and scientific research,” says Sabine Kunz. “The students got access to specific scientific methods we are using for our research and gain insight into our work as researchers. There are many things you need to consider when planning experiments. This is best experienced when you do the experiment yourself and evaluate your results.”
“It has been great for us to participate in this project”,
Students working with fir trees in the greenhouse (Photo: Sabine Kunz)adds Elisabeth Uppsäll. “It is important to get students to understand how scientists work and what methods are used to answer scientific questions. Sabine has been an invaluable link between the students and the UPSC because she is not only researcher but has also experience with teaching at school and she knows how to address students. We have had many nice meetings developing this project and exciting discussions during the full course of the project, weather we were digging up roots in nature or during the final seminar today.”
Students working with fir trees in the greenhouse (Photo: Sabine Kunz)adds Elisabeth Uppsäll. “It is important to get students to understand how scientists work and what methods are used to answer scientific questions. Sabine has been an invaluable link between the students and the UPSC because she is not only researcher but has also experience with teaching at school and she knows how to address students. We have had many nice meetings developing this project and exciting discussions during the full course of the project, weather we were digging up roots in nature or during the final seminar today.”The students worked in smaller groups with different research questions. They went into the forest and dug up roots and soil and brought it to the lab. There, they used among others, DNA analyses to detect different fungal species in the soil. They tested whether young spruce trees grow differently in forest soil that contained mycorrhizal fungi than spruce trees in commercial planting soil. They observed roots from the forest under the microscope and they investigated whether the architecture of the plant root system changes when it is in symbiosis with the fungi.
“The mycorrhizal symbiosis is really fascinating. It is not visible until you dig up a root and look at it under the microscope but it is very important for the forest ecosystem,” says Judith Felten. “We hope that we could inspire the students by our project and that they now see the forest with different eyes.”
After the experimental part, the students got a crash course in scientific data analysis. They learned how to edit a microscopic image, how to present data in diagrams and graphs and how to interpret results. They presented their results today in short talks to researchers and staff members of the UPSC.
The project was financially supported by the Kempe Foundations.
For more information, please contact:
Judith Felten
Umeå Plant Science Centre
Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
+46 (0)90 786 8435
http://www.upsc.se/judith_felten
Umeå Plant Science Centre
Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology
+46 (0)90 786 8435
http://www.upsc.se/judith_felten
Sabine Kunz
Umeå Plant Science Centre
Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology
+46 (0)90 786 8628
Elisabeth Uppsäll
Dragonskolan Umeå
Dragongatan 1
903 22 Umeå
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
+46 (0)90 16 24 92
More information about Dragonskolan
Dragonskolan Umeå
Dragongatan 1
903 22 Umeå
+46 (0)90 16 24 92
More information about Dragonskolan