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For further information, contact the MBL Communications Office at (508) 289-7423 or e-mail us at comm@mbl.edu
For Immediate Release: January 3, 2008
Contact: Gina Hebert, 508-289-7725, ghebert@mbl.edu
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MBL Web Seminar Brings Microbial World to Teachers Nationwide
MBL, WOODS HOLE, MA—Science teachers from all around the country will discover the fascinating world of microbes and learn about MBL research, teacher resources, and training opportunities in the microbial world at a live web seminar presented by the MBL’s Sarah and Seth Bordenstein on January 8.
Through the use of state-of-the-art web conferencing tools, Sarah, an MBL Education and Outreach Coordinator, and Seth, an assistant scientist in the MBL’s Bay Paul Center, will directly interact with teachers, introducing them to MBL research in microbial biodiversity, molecular biology methods, bioinformatics, and molecular evolution concepts and explore how to bring discovery-based research into their classrooms.
Teachers will learn about a variety of MBL digital education resources including Microbial Life, a digital library of educational resources dedicated to the diversity, ecology, and evolution of the microbial world for students and educators from K-12 through graduate level; micro*scope, a communal web site that provides descriptive information about all kinds of microbes that combines locally assembled content with links to other expert sites on the Internet; and the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL), an unprecedented effort to create a web page for all 1.8 million named species of animals, plants, and other forms of life on Earth.
The seminar, sponsored by the National Science Teachers Association (NTSA) and National Science Digital Library (NSDL), will also acquaint participants with the MBL’s professional development opportunities for teachers including Discover the Microbes Within!, a hands-on program sponsored by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. This initiative empowers high school classes to become part of a nationwide research study on Wolbachia, a widespread bacteria that lives symbiotically in about 75 percent of the world’s insects.
“Resources developed at the MBL can reshape the way we approach science education,” says Sarah. “Microbial Life, EOL and Discover the Microbes Within! are steps ahead of textbooks. Not only are novel discoveries being made available to educators instantaneously, educators are actually participating in the discovery and content development.”
Sarah and Seth are passionate about enabling teachers and students to participate in discovery-based learning. “Scientists may reach a couple hundred students throughout their career by bringing them into their labs,” says Seth. “However, by bringing the science directly to the teachers and students through workshops and implementation in the classroom, we can reach a couple hundred thousand students of diverse backgrounds across the nation.”
Sarah has been a member of NSTA for about 5 years and has presented at many of their national conferences. She is particularly interested in engaging teachers and students to contribute to scientist’s knowledge of biodiversity and empowering them to participate in the scientific discovery process by making learning resources, tools and datasets freely available online.
Seth’s research focuses on uncovering a deeper understanding of the ways in which animals and microbes interact and the applications of symbionts (like Wolbachia) to human health. He first got involved in science education when he and his colleagues started the MBL teacher training workshop on the Wolbachia project in 2005.
“My intent then and now is to bring contemporary science—what is being learned and how it is being done—directly to high school classrooms,” explains Seth. “Science incorporates discovery, inquiry, strategies of thinking, and an overall culture of quality and excellence. There is perhaps no better way to teach students these aspects of success than to experience them with science.”
The MBL is an international, independent, nonprofit institution dedicated to improving the human condition through creative research and education in the biological, biomedical and environmental sciences. Founded in 1888 as the Marine Biological Laboratory, the MBL is the oldest private marine laboratory in the Western Hemisphere. For more information, visit www.MBL.edu
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