DISCOVER THE MICROBIAL WORLD WITHIN!

Teacher's workshop on Microbes, Symbiosis, and Evolution

The Marine Biological Laboratory
Woods Hole, MA 02543
March 10-12, 2006

Background
The 'Symbiosis Workshop' is designed for high school and undergraduate educators in an effort to modernize biology labs and lesson plans with inquiry, discovery, molecular techniques, and microbiology. Scientists from one of the nation's prominent biology institutes in Cape Cod, Massachusetts host this three day workshop as part of two projects funded by the NASA Astrobiology Institute and National Science Foundation.

For a full description of the 2005 Workshop, including syllabus, exercise downloads, and workshop photos, please visit: http://research.amnh.org/FIBR/education.html

Workshop 2006
This workshop is designed for high school and undergraduate educators in the biological sciences in order to enhance content background, provide teaching tools, and bring new life to science classes. Approximately 25 selected applicants will learn about the diverse ways that bacteria evolve and symbiotically interact with insects - in an environment that fosters close interactions with leading research scientists and other teachers. Basic topics and lesson plans in 2006 will cover insect collection, insect biodiversity, the mutualistic and parasitic bacteria (Wolbachia) that live within them, DNA extraction, and simple molecular biology and evolutionary analysis skills. The workshop emphasizes activities and experimental systems that can be used easily in the classroom to teach basic biological principles.

The faculty includes:

• Seth Bordenstein  (The Marine Biological Laboratory)
• Michele Bahr  (The Marine Biological Laboratory)
• Jack Werren  (University of Rochester)
• Laura Baldo  (University of California)
• Michael Clark  (University of Rochester)
• Bob Minckley  (University of Rochester)
• Jennifer Wernegreen  (The Marine Biological Lab)
• George Wolfe  (Loudoun Academy of Science)

Costs
All costs of the workshop except travel are covered by the NASA Astrobiology Institute and the National Science Foundation. If you would like to participate please return the application form. For more information, contact Program Coordinator Michele Bahr (508-289-7726) or Seth Bordenstein (508-289-7220). The 2006 workshop will take place in March from a Friday to Sunday. Specific dates will be announced later, so please check the website for updates.

Pictures from 2005 Workshop
Teachers from the 2005 Symbiosis Workshop engaged in multiple açtivities including simple, online tutorials for bioinformatics and molecular biology experiments including symbiont DNA extractions and polymerase chain reaction.