CityLab at 51Թ is a science outreach program in biotechnology for classroom teachers and their students. It was first established as one of several satellites of the original CityLab at the Boston University School of Medicine. Like the Boston University model, the programs offered at 51Թ’s CityLab provide hands-on, inquiry-based laboratory activities using equipment that many schools cannot afford to purchase.
Each year, hundreds of middle and high school students from school districts around southeastern Massachusetts visit BSU CityLab. They take the role of “new employees” at an imaginary company or medical lab where they explore topics in health, disease or forensics. They learn to use micropipettes and other equipment that is standard in most biotechnology labs. The programs combine science content and laboratory technique with the opportunity to spend the morning on a University campus and experience what it might be like to work in a medical or biotechnology laboratory.