The 12th Annual Cornell Trip
January 17, 2012
Filed under BHS and Community News
On December 6th, forty-eight students, including myself, embarked on the long trek to Cornell University in Ithaca, New York for the 12th annual field trip. The trip lasted four days.
These four days were jam-packed with activities that were both educational and enjoyable. With Mr. Douglas, the trip’s coordinator, our three wonderful chaperones, Mrs. Schumacher, Ms. Fine, and Mr. Pozzutto, and helpful staff at Cornell, the trip was a great success.
As a science-based trip, aimed specifically at biology students, our main activities took place in the university’s lab facilities. The labs focused on the AP Biology curriculum on heredity. With the assistance of three staff members of Cornell, we completed three college level labs. Using Cornell’s state-of-the-art technology, we completed a paternity test commonly used in child support suites, inserted a certain gene into a plate of bacteria to make it glow under U.V. lights, and finally, broke down our own cells so that we could see strands of DNA.
We didn’t just spend our time in the labs; we also participated in educational activies. My favorite activity was meeting Rose, a cow who lived at Cornell. Many years ago, Rose had received a surgery to have a capped hole on her side thus opening her stomach to studied. Although it sounds cruel, Rose suffered minimal pain and she now lives a pampered life while serving as important specimen of cow studies. Rose was incorporated into our studies on cow nutrition; we were able to stick our hand inside of her stomach. We also had the honor to listen to other speakers, mostly faculty at Cornell, about topics such as bone structure in animals and the Human Genome.
Although Cornell was an educational trip, we did spend some time having non-school-related fun. We were able to spend time skating in the ice rink, bowling in the in-campus bowling alley, and going on a tour around the entire campus. The town of Ithaca (surrounding the university) also offered many enjoyable activities such as an interactive animal center, a museum of evolution, and a scenic hiking trail leading to a beautiful waterfall.
The great success of this year’s Cornell trip was only possible with the boundless dedication from Mr. Douglas. After twelve years of planning this annual trip, Mr. Douglas has managed to continuously add more and more to the experience while keeping the cost down. This year especially, Mr. Douglas managed to bring two extra students, bringing the total number of attendees to forty-eight. I speak for every student who went on the trip when I say “thank you.”
- J. Barry