Published: March 31, 2011
Where Have All The Bumblebees Gone and Why?
KSTF Teachers Use Environment to Engage High School Teens in Science
Does alcohol-based sanitizer really work? How can butterflies gauge the environmental health of an area? Where have all the bumblebees gone and why? These are just some of the many questions that the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation Fellows and alumni who teach science in high schools nationwide will be asking their students this Earth Day.
"A butterfly garden will empower my students to take ownership of conservation instead of simply reading about it. They will experience first-hand the amazing biological diversity among the garden's species," said Kimberly Brucz, 2009 Knowles Science Teaching Foundation (KSTF) Biology Teaching Fellow and biology teacher at Hammondsport Central School District in Hammondsport, New York.
In addition to getting their hands dirty alongside zoologists planting and cultivating a community garden, Ms. Brucz' class will identify, compare and research its many species. The butterfly release ceremony in early June will be the culmination of a months-long lesson unit that involves understanding how butterflies are a good indicator of overall environmental health.
Using Earth Day as a starting point, KSTF Fellows and alumni around the nation will use the environment to bridge the gap between students' lives, their concern for the environment and key scientific principles. A sampling of the Earth Day projects that KSTF teachers and their students will be doing is:
Anti-Bacterial Hand Sanitizer - Students in 2009 KSTF Teaching Fellow, Kirstin Milks' biology class at Sequoia High School in Redwood City, California will collect environmental microbial samples from around school and conduct hand washing experiments. The lab is part of a larger lesson on human bacterial pathogens that explores how overuse of antibacterial sanitizers affects the microbial world.
Biofuels - An exploration of biofuel enzymes will also allow Ms. Milks' students to better understand a small sector of the local "green economy," while allowing them to experience collecting data from biochemical assays.
Bumblebees - A life sciences class at Fisher High School in Fisher, Illinois will plant bumblebee-friendly flowers in a plot of land alongside the school. Their efforts will be part of a classroom study on pollination. The lesson, taught by 2009 KSTF Teaching Fellow, Isaac Stewart, who is an expert on the topic, will look at the recent decline of the bumblebee population in North America and ways of repopulating them.
"The kind of teaching that fosters creative thinking and problem solving abilities in students is an incredibly complex undertaking that takes years to master. In order to succeed in this endeavor, research shows that teachers require ongoing support, professional development and mentoring," said Nicole Gillespie, Associate Director for Teaching Fellowships at the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation. "KSTF is committed to providing professional support and mentoring to beginning math and science teachers so they can prepare students to understand and deal with environmental issues in the future."
About KSTF
The Knowles Science Teaching Foundation (KSTF) was established by Janet H. and C. Harry Knowles in 1999 to increase the number of high quality high school science and mathematics teachers and ultimately improve math and science education in the United States. The KSTF Teaching Fellowship, the Foundation's signature program, awards exceptional young men and women with a five-year early-career fellowship, empowering them to become master teachers and leaders in education. For more information, visit www.kstf.org
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