DATE: Friday, October 3, 1997               TAG: 9710020538

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Education 

SOURCE: BY KIA MORGAN ALLEN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   39 lines

AREA 8TH-GRADER REALLY BONDS WITH MOLECULAR SCIENCE

There's just something about checking for protein and mixing scientific concoctions that gets Sherice Lawrence's metabolism moving.

And this summer, the eighth-grade student at William E. Waters Middle School really got her creative juices flowing. The 13-year-old participated in a four-week molecular biology program at Iowa State University.

While her cohorts were roller-blading at the beach, Lawrence was writing research papers and searching for starch in beans. She was learning science facts that confuse folks 10 years her senior. But to Lawrence, ``It was fun.''

Lawrence's description of her summer work left such an impression on her friends that some want to follow her into the world of bespectacled brainiacs, sometimes referred to as ``geeks.''

``When I came back and told a boy about this program, he wanted to get into it because it sounded pretty exciting when I told him about it,'' she said.

Lawrence's definition of fun includes placing droplets of iodine onto crackers, beans or rice to see if there's a strand of starch. She also likes to play with carbohydrates and DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid - the stuff we're all made of, for the scientifically challenged).

At one point she studied molecular sieve chromatography, a process that separates proteins by their size. Go figure.

Lawrence said her interest in the sciences was sparked by a visit two years ago to Norfolk State University's science and engineering department. She was one of 20 students picked from schools across the country to participate in the program called Molecular Biology Enrichment for Youth. The honor student with a 4.0 grade-point average was encouraged to apply by a science teacher.

She had to undergo an intense learning process at Iowa State, including writing three research papers. She said the experience will better prepare her for college course work.

She hopes to become a pediatrician one day because she likes working with children. But note, she said her two siblings don't count.

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