OWASCO - Skaneateles High School biology teacher Maureen Jarvis could never imagine zebra mussels being the least bit beneficial to the Finger Lakes environment.

After all, zebra mussels are an invasive species whose filtering capabilities in fresh water environments promote uncontrolled weed growth - not to mention their proclivity for clogging pipes and adverse impact on local economies.

But a week-long professional development opportunity at Keuka College this summer convinced Jarvis of one place zebra mussels can actually be useful: the classroom.

This school year, rather than relying solely upon her textbook to instruct her 10th-grade biology students, she will engage them in hands-on activities dealing with - what else? - zebra mussels.

“There's one thing to read about invasive species,” Jarvis said during an interview in her Owasco home, “but to have them in your hand is a lot more memorable and personal, and makes it more real.”

Jarvis was one of six area teachers that participated in Keuka College's Rochester Area Colleges - Center for Excellence in Math and Science Summer Institute, which took place at the college from July 27 to 31. The program, titled “Using Zebra Mussels for Good, Not Evil: Hands-on Experiments and Modeling Activities,” was free to the Finger Lakes region's math and science teachers.

Participating in the summer institute was enticing, Jarvis said, not just for the professional development opportunities, and not just because of the topic - “I had no idea what they'd be good for,” she said with a chuckle.

“I wanted to bring something back to the classroom, something relevant to our area,” she said. “The kids all know about them, and (zebra mussels) are an excellent model to work with in the classroom because they are free, they're numerous and their physiology is simple.”

That, in fact, is precisely why Keuka College Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Science Tim Sellers chose zebra mussels as the area of study for the summer institute. Sellers said that because the crustaceans are abundant in the area, cost nothing to collect and are easy to see without any equipment, they provide a great learning opportunity for students.

“The students get to work with something that means something in their local environment,” Sellers said, who is also the director of aquatic research at the college and was the co-director for the institute. “It's the investigation, the curiosity we always promote, engagement instead of just reading about it.”

This is the first year Keuka College sponsored a Rochester Area Colleges - Center for Excellence in Math and Science summer institute, which provide learning opportunities for teachers and thereby increase the performance of students, from kindergarten through 12th grade, in math and science.

RAC-CEMS qualified Keuka College for a grant, which the college matched, to provide a total of $10,000 for the institute.

Sellers deems this year's institute a success, and is hoping to offer the opportunity again.

As for Jarvis, she is already devising hands-on experiments for her students to conduct this year. She has many ideas, as she conducted several experiments during her week at Keuka College. She studied zebra mussels' behavior, their DNA and molecular makeup, and how quickly they can filter water.

But it is not so much about zebra mussels as it is about learning about the scientific method that Jarvis is trying to teach.

“The thing I want to show my students,” she said, “I don't want to teach them so much about zebra mussels, but about experimental design.”

What she hopes her students take out of the process, she said, is how to form hypotheses, test them, analyze the results and come to a conclusion.

Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net