Archives par mot-clé : LifeScanner

Announcing the Spring 2015 #SMTPselfie Winners!

LifeScannerWe are pleased to announce the winners of our #SMTPselfie contest! Thank you to all who entered, we had some great pictures this program! The winners for the #SMTPselfie contest will receive a Life Scanner Kit  which will essentially allow them to DNA barcode 4 organisms of their choice and find out what species they are! Currently these kits are being offered for free + shipping online at the above mentioned link, so be sure to sign your class up for one!

 

And without further ado…the winners of the #SMTPselfie contest are:

 

1) M.C. Knoll Elementary School

 

2) John Polanyi Collegiate Institute

 

3) Iona Academy

 

4) Chedabucto Education Centre/ Guysborough Academy

 

5) École Précieux-Sang
#SMTPselfie

 

Congratulations to the winners, and a big thank you to all who participated! The Life Scanner Kits have been mailed and are on their way to you!

Currently, most of your specimens have been processed by the lab and have been uploaded to our online barcode reference library (BOLD). To learn more about the lab processes, please visit the following link: http://malaiseprogram.ca/how-it-works/in-the-lab/

 

We look forward to sharing the School Malaise Trap Program results with you soon!

 

Sincerely,
The School Malaise Trap Program Team

BIO is heading to STAO: Join Us In Inspiring Innovation!

Banner400Each year, the Science Teacher’s Association of Ontario hosts an interactive and educational three day STEM conference in Toronto for elementary and secondary teachers from across Ontario. This year, the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario’s (BIO) Education & Outreach Team will be in attendance and will be presenting two workshops regarding the School Malaise Trap Program (Friday, Nov. 14th, 3:45-4:45pm – Session #2510) and DNA Barcoding applications for the classroom (Thursday, Nov. 13th, 8:30 – 9:30am – Session #1013). We are extremely excited to be able to participate and contribute to such a passionate community of STEM educators!

This year’s STAO conference theme is “inspiring innovation” and was chosen in order to “help science educators in Ontario better understand the significance of STEM education and how it can prepare students for a rapidly changing global world.” We could not have said it better ourselves, as we too have a deep connection to these values!

DNA Barcodingibol2, a genetic technique used to identify species, is a relatively new addition to the Ontario curriculum. Its applications are far reaching, and astounding initiatives have been created through utilizing this technology – most notably, the International Barcode of Life project (iBOL). This project is the largest biodiversity genomics initiative ever undertaken and aims to create a barcode reference library (BOLD) of all the species found on earth.

LifeScanner
LifeScanner Kit

Feeling inspired and innovative yet? We thought so! The best part about the International Barcode of Life project is that anyone can contribute to it, as well as access the data (found online at BOLD). Classroom projects and programs ranging from DIY lab studies, participating in the School Malaise Trap Program, and submitting a LifeScanner kit for analysis are some of the many ways that students can contribute valuable data to iBOL!

Through these innovative citizen science initiatives, BIO hopes to inspire students to contribute to, and prepare for, a bioliterate future.  Although we live in a fast-paced and rapidly changing world, DNA barcoding is a key piece of technology that will help us to slow down and truly assess, protect, and monitor all levels of biodiversity found around us.

Announcing the #SMTPselfie Winners!!

LifeScanner
LifeScanner Kit

We are pleased to announce the winners of our #SMTPselfie contest! Thank you to all who entered, and don’t worry…we’ll have another contest as soon as you receive your School Malaise Trap Program results! The winners for the #SMTPselfie contest will receive a LifeScanner Kit which is a new tool for exploring the biodiversity around you. This species identification kit will allow students to fill four vials with a whole organism or a piece of tissue and send it back to BIO for analysis!

And without further ado…the winners of the #SMTPselfie contest are:

1) Jack Chambers Public School

2) St. Charles College

3) Forest Avenue Public School

4) St. Paul Elementary School

5) Monsignor Doyle Catholic Secondary School

Congratulations to the winners, and a big thank you to all who participated! The LifeScanner Kits have been mailed and are on their way to you!

We look forward to sharing the School Malaise Trap Program results with you soon!