Released Feb. 20, 2008
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- "When did your biology students last see a living bryozoan? What about a naidid, nematode, or nauplius? Your answer may be, 'Never', and yet these are among the most common and widespread freshwater invertebrates". These words by Timothy S. Wood in an American Biology Teacher article (1996) entitled, Aquarium Culture of Freshwater Invertebrates, still ring true today.
Engaging students in the most fundamental activity of observation is still very powerful and can be enhanced by the observation of living organisms either through collection in the field, classroom culture, or both. These initial observations lead to questions; questions lead to exploration, and this cycle leads students into the process of science.
A partnership between Carroll County Public Schools (CCPS) and the Maryland Sea Grant Extension Program (MDSGEP) in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education (through a grant from the Maryland State Department of Education) provides a model for the powerful interaction of a school system and university resource. The interaction provides a direct pipeline for current university research to enter the classroom to engage students in STEM inquiry.
The vehicles in CCPS are the Science Research I & II courses where students are encouraged to engage in research based project design, data collection, and analysis. These courses provide MDSGEP an opportunity to introduce current research, new technologies, and pedagogy that enhance student engagement and teacher professional development.
In 1997 the Biofilms and Biodiversity project was constructed by bringing together some classic elements of field biology, current research at the Center of Marine Biotechnology, and methods for delivering interactive instruction on the Internet through Maryland Sea Grant College. The research connection originated at the Center of Marine Biotechnology in the lab of William R. Jones where the influence of biofilm communities on the settling rate of oyster larvae was being studied. In the field inverted glass Petri dish lids were held in a rack. Lids were harvested and biofilm forming bacteria were examined along with their ability to sequester metals.
However, the eye-catching piece of this work was the community of organisms that grew on the lids. These communities provided instant engagement through the microscope, something too good to be isolated to a laboratory in Baltimore. Hence the Biofilms and Biodiversity website was developed and has been a popular model for professional development and students engagement.
In 1998 the VIRTUE Project, an international research and education partnership between USM, Goteborg University (Sweden), and University of Bergen (Norway), adopted the Biofilms and Biodiversity project as the education and outreach curriculum for students and teachers to use for collaboration mirroring the collaboration being performed by scientists. Students and teachers in all three countries engaged in inquiry on research projects with similar objectives and were able to make comparisons of their freshwater and marine ecosystems through live videoconference. During the past 10 years the education and outreach project has continued with various schools in these countries and with the STEM Education Initiative in CCPS in partnership with MDSGEP students and teachers are once again engaged in developing common biofilms projects, sharing data, and meeting through live videoconference at the Center of Marine Biotechnology.
For more information on Biofilms and Biodiversity go to, http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/programs/education/interactive_lessons/biofilm/index.htm
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http://www.agnr.umd.edu/news/article.cfm?id=36e022420a5a5a8f012b87e5c9af4802
Contact: J. Adam Frederick, frederic@mdsg.umd.edu