Each team was composed of four students who have not had formal class work in biology beyond the traditional sophomore high school general biology course. Teams had one hour for each of four problems. One problem, designed by Ronald K. Gratz, Ph.D., was based on the careful dissection of a turtle. Another, a field naturalist’s problem, designed by Jason Oyadomari and Michelle Jarvie, asked students to collect plants and animals in the field based on a list of biological characteristics.

A Scientific Writing problem by Jeff Lewin, M.S. and Tom P. Snyder, Ph.D., focused on classifying excerpts from scientific papers into their appropriate subsection. A problem concerning Nutrition was designed by Martha Janners, Ph.D., and challenged students to identify the nutrient and caloric content of pre-packed and fast food and to determine how they affect energy balance and diet.

The team winning FIRST PLACE was Westwood High School from Ishpeming.

The team winning SECOND PLACE was A.D. Johnston High School from Bessemer.

The team winning THIRD PLACE was Gladstone.

Dr. John Adler, Chair, Biological Sciences, and Dr. Maximilian Seel, Dean, College of Science and Arts, presented the awards. Each student participating in the competition received a Certificate of Appreciation and a Bio-Athlon T-shirt. Plaques were awarded to the first-, second- and third-place teams. In addition, each member of the first-place team will receive a $200 U.S. Savings Bond, each member of the second-place team will receive a $100 U.S. Savings Bond, and each member of the third-place team will receive a $50 U.S. Savings Bond.

The biology teachers accompanying the teams attended two presentations and then met with Dr. John Adler, Department Chair, and Jeff Lewin, Laboratory Supervisor, for a Bio-Athlon retrospective. The first presentation was given by bioinformatics major Matt McCormick and graduate student Patience Tenney entitled “Bioinformatics.” Kevin Kruger, Westwood High School Biology Instructor gave a presentation entitled “Web based genetic activities for advanced biology classes.”