Professor uses insects to build inquiring minds at elementary schools

• February 16, 2010 5:00am

Using bugs in the classroom helped Dr. Michele A. Korb, Department of Teacher Education, receive the Joshua E. Neimark Memorial Travel Assistance Endowment. This award will provide partial financial support for Dr. Korb to attend America's largest general scientific conference, the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) where she will present her poster highlighting a science teaching strategy called "Bugscope", an unusual program to spark young children's interest in insects.

Through the Bugscope program, K-5 students and teachers can use an advanced electron microscope, or ESEM (environmental scanning electron microscope) to study insects and arachnids, Korb explained. Classrooms mail insects to the Bugscope program coordinators, then log onto an Internet browser to examine their prepared specimens by remotely operating the ESEM.

"I wanted to attend the AAAS Annual Meeting to strengthen my contacts with a well-connected community of scientists and educators who are convening for the common goal of increasing science literacy," Korb said. "The meeting will allow me to share information related to preparing future elementary science teachers, and to explore new ideas that may inform positive changes in my teaching and research habits."

Dr. Korb will attend AAAS this week, February 18-22, in San Diego, CA.