The site, the creation of the center's former education outreach coordinator, Diane Foster-Jones, is an educational tool that uses experiments to illustrate how changing light and dark conditions in a controlled environment affect the biological clocks of animals. University computers, meanwhile, monitor the activity of the hamsters and stack up reams of data for students to study online. The information serves as a virtual experiment for teachers and their students world-wide. By using the web, we are able to transfer complex and interesting real-time experiments directly from our lab to the classroom or home, says Jennifer Scott, who is now the education outreach coordinator and manages the online hamster experiments. We invite teachers to incorporate these experiments into their lesson plans, and to encourage their students to visit the site for extra credit projects.
Students anywhere can log onto the web site and see what the hamsters are doing, as they do it.
The students can monitor the activity of the hamsters, track the data and formulate their own ideas. They can even contact Scott by phone or e-mail for help in understanding the experiments. We've had direct contact with dozens of students from more than 50 countries, at all grade levels. Scott, who came to U.Va. She also conducts student tours of the center and helps students think creatively and scientifically in using the web site.