University Times

In the search for America’s next generation of scientists, WQED Multimedia in partnership with Pitt has produced “Science Mission 101,” an educational, competitive reality television program where two teams of Pittsburgh-area high school students compete to unravel scientific mysteries.

Aimed at reaching underserved middle school students and accepted for national distribution, the  half-hour pilot of “Science Mission 101” will premiere tonight, Nov. 12, at 8 p.m. on WQED-TV.

In the pilot episode, two teams of local  high schoolers investigate whether amoebae such as those found in the human digestive system prefer to eat specific types of bacteria and if that preference demonstrates that only certain bacteria make people sick. The students expose an amoeba to different strains of the bacterium Salmonella — which is found in raw or undercooked food — to determine if the amoeba prefers to eat one strain over the other. Students perform their work in laboratories in Pitt’s Department of Biological Sciences and on the Pitt Mobile Science Lab.

The teams present their findings to judges Alison Slinskey Legg, Mobile Science Lab director and director of outreach programs; Graham F. Hatfull, Eberly Family Professor and HHMI Professor and chair of biological sciences, and Kristen Butela, a graduate student.

“Science Mission 101” will repeat on Nov. 15 at noon and 7:30 p.m., and Nov. 16 at 4:30 p.m.

Funding for the pilot was provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Pennsylvania Public Television Network, PPG Industries Foundation and Pitt.