Sight unseen: This teacher brings science to life for blind students
During a classroom visit at the Perkins School for the Blind here in Watertown, Carla Curran shares 3D models of microscopic phytoplankton, 5,000 times their original size, with a lively group of teenagers.
“Did you know that the tiniest organism can influence an entire food web?” she says.
The students consider this as they run their hands over the grooves and crevices of the small white models, learning the parts of a dinoflagellate Alexandrium cyst, which creates harmful algae blooms. Dr. Curran asks the teens to describe what they feel.
“Like a mouth that never opens,” says one student, smiling.
The observations lead to conversations about how the ocean affects people, from the availability of seafood
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