On a Thursday last October , several busy physicians and scientists — all parents of Falk fifth graders — made the trek up Allequippa Street to wait in the back of Downs ’ room to be introduced to the class by their children .
Gabriel Cisneros , a primary care pediatrician with UPMC Children ’ s Community Pediatrics , discussed genetics and heredity with the students . On the whiteboard , a projector displayed a slide of Gregor Mendel , the 19th-century Austrian-Czech monk often credited with founding the science of genetics . Cisneros grabbed a marker and sketched the different heights of the pea plants in Mendel ’ s famous experiments , which provided the foundation for our understanding of inheritance .
“ I was a little nervous going into it ,” says Cisneros , who worried that the students would be bored or disinterested in the topic of genetics . “ But it turned out the opposite — they were hanging on my every word and had so many great questions and observations . They really wanted to understand the science , and it was so great to be able to introduce them to this subject .”
Anne Carlson , an associate professor of biological sciences in Pitt ’ s Kenneth P . Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences , introduced the endocrine system and described its connection to a number of other bodily systems . She illustrated her talk with slides on cortisol , the thyroid , salamanders and hormones . Carlson presented a slide with Renaissance paintings in which the Virgin Mary and other figures were depicted with goiters , a condition caused by iodine deficiency . The next slide showed a canister of salt with iodide added — a key reason , she says , why goiters are so much less common today .
“ Teaching a room full of fifth graders was louder and slightly more chaotic than my typical classroom filled
FALK LABORATORY SCHOOL | UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH 21