BIORETS Teachers Conclude Summer Research
Turtles, dragonflies, aquatic plants, and wet feet were the highlights of the summer for a group of 10 Tucson area teachers who are part of a National Science Foundation funded program, BIORETS Santa Cruz River. The group wrapped up 6 weeks of summer research on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. The teachers come from Tucson Unified School District, Flowing Wells School District and Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind. This is the second year of a 3 year program based at UArizona School of Natural Resources and the Environment.
Teachers work with UArizona scientists including Dr. Michael Bogan, head of the Aquatic Ecology Lab. The teachers assist graduate students with ongoing research. This summer teachers studied dragonflies, turtles, wildlife camera trapping, and aquatic plants. Rebecca Lipson and Margaret Welch lead sessions focused on teaching data literacy and biological sciences, with an emphasis on project based learning.
During the school year teachers will continue to build on their summer research experiences and integrate new ideas, methods, and activities into their classrooms. Phill Dukes, TUSD high school teacher shared "listening to the passion and creativity shared with me from our teachers, grad students, teammates, guest speakers makes me feel so deeply excited for everything that’s possible." All lessons, activities and materials developed by teachers will be available on our website, santacruz.arizona.edu.
Visit our BIORETS Teacher Training page to find out how to become part of our 2024 teacher cohort.
To learn more about their experiences this summer, read this article from the Arizona Republic 'I can picture my students here': Arizona teachers become learners at hands-on science program.
