What is so amazing about this particular fellowship is that it is mutually beneficial to multiple parties. We talk and discuss a lot about how this will impact the students and other teachers, but we must look into the impact on our mentor’s organization as well.
After spending weeks in the lab it has become very clear to me that my classroom will have a large impact on my mentor’s organization. We are providing real life data that is being used directly in their research. It was so amazing to read different papers and be told that this data came from schools or that students data helped with this aspect of the research they are conducting. The photos my students “take” on their cameras will be stored forever in the Smithsonian and possibly used by future scientist. That alone I think is incredible and I know the kids will be fascinated by it!
I also think that our group bridged a gap with creating curriculum that was suitable for elementary aged students as well as middle school. So far eMammal has not published any lesson plans for that grade and I think that perhaps our lessons might get some of the younger grade levels involved. This will just increase the amount of data available to the Science Museum, while getting more students involved. Overall, I am just very excited to have the students see that they are doing real life science.