# Mobile Lab Experiences and TRIPs (Teacher-Research Institute Partnerships) to Inspire Middle School Students

> **NIH NIH R25** · SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL · 2021 · $265,893

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The signature program of Seattle Children's Science Education Department is the Science Adventure Lab, a
45-ft mobile laboratory that is fully equipped with research-grade equipment. The mobile lab has been visiting
under-resourced rural and urban elementary and middle schools across Washington state since 2009,
providing engaging hands-on laboratory experiences, NGSS-aligned curricula and the opportunity to interact
with research scientists. To date, more than 56,000 students at 170 different schools throughout the state have
participated in the program.
The proposed project will focus on students in grade eight at under-resourced urban and rural middle schools
with high populations of financially-disadvantaged and minority students. We will bring together teacher
leaders, our scientists, engineers and NGSS experts to design two novel curriculum modules that incorporate
the three dimensions of the NGSS and connect to authentic research. The four-lesson modules will be taught
in the classroom by teachers, and co-taught by scientists and teachers on the Science Adventure Lab in a
unique partnership. The project will also include a one-day conference at SCRI in the heart of downtown
Seattle where students will attend presentations on new techniques and technologies that are advancing the
frontiers of science and healthcare, and participate in career exploration panels with STEM and healthcare
professionals that will broaden their perspective on career options. The content and activities addressed during
the science conference at SCRI will complement and expand on the learning objectives for the curriculum
modules, and allow the students connect what they learned to real-world research applications.
We will utilize a well-matched comparison group study design, and all aspects of the project will be subject to
rigorous evaluation. We will assess the short-term impact of students completing the lessons and attending the
conference in grade eight, and the medium-term impact on career interests, coursework selection and
perceived self-efficacy in grades nine and ten.
The project will leverage SCRI's deep connections to the national and international mobile lab community as
an innovative strategy to broadly disseminate the NGSS-designed curriculum modules, which are optimized for
use on mobile labs. The curriculum modules, assessments and resources will be disseminated to mobile lab
programs at the annual mobile lab coalition conference, which is supported in part by a SEPA R13 conference
grant awarded to the PI on this project. We will provide training on implementing and adapting the curriculum at
the conference and create a forum for sharing best practices among programs who use the curriculum. We will
also use the conference as a forum for sharing evaluation data across programs as it becomes available.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10224749
- **Project number:** 5R25GM129798-04
- **Recipient organization:** SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** AMANDA LYNSEY JONES
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $265,893
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-08-01 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10224749

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10224749, Mobile Lab Experiences and TRIPs (Teacher-Research Institute Partnerships) to Inspire Middle School Students (5R25GM129798-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10224749. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*