Professional Development Workshop - The Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA
Education Program Objectives
We are developing a set of integrated laboratory
exercises that uses Wolbachia to teach biodiversity (insect and
microbial), basic molecular methods (PCR, gel electrophoresis),
bioinformatics, and molecular evolution (phylogeny using DNA
sequences). These exercises emphasize activities and experimental
systems that can be used easily and inexpensively in the classroom to
teach basic biological principles. They were field tested in March 2005
at a Teacher's Enhancement Worskhop that was cosponsored by the NASA Astrobiology Institute at the Marine Biological Laboratory and FIBR: Integrative Studies of Wolbachia-Eukaryotic Interactions; Genomes to Communities and Back NSF 0328363.
Wolbachia and Biodiversity
Insects are among the most diverse and abundant
animals. If the services insects provide everyday (for free)
disappeared suddenly, humans would soon disappear. Insects keep us
healthy and fed because they clean water, pollinate flowers that
produce 1/3 of our food, breakdown waste and decompose plants and
animals. Despite their importance, insects remain little appreciated
and poorly understood primarily because of their small size. Most of
the 1-20 million species (of which only 700,000 have names) are less
than 1/3 inch long. This entire world of small creatures exists
literally under your feet.
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