Outreach

Developing NGSS-aligned K-12 curriculum materials

Collaborators: Jeannette Cullum, Nick Leonardi, Carla Cáceres, and Barbara Hug

Within K-12 education there has been a shift toward the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) which emphasize phenomenon-based learning, where students are shown a phenomenon and able to ask their own questions and develop experiments to help answer them. Through the Genomics and Eco-evolution of Multi-Scale Symbioses (GEMS) Institute, I have been collaborating with other graduate students, faculty from the department of curriculum and education, and K-12 teachers to create two interconnected K-12 education units based on the effect of pollution on Daphnia and the role of Daphnia in an ecosystem. These units are still under development, but have been piloted in multiple classrooms and a shortened version has been used during local outreach events, such as X-Time. If you are interested in getting access to the materials or have questions about using Daphnia in the classroom, please feel free to reach out over email!