Representative Bugscope Proposals

The following proposals were submitted during Spring, 1999. They illustrate age range and breadth encompassed in proposals submitted thus far. These proposals are provided for illustrative purposes only - don't be concerned that you need to do the same things. We welcome variety!!!

Sample Middle School Proposal

I would use Bugscope with my 7th grade life science students. We have just begun our study of the animal kingdom. We started out with sponges, worms, cnidarians, and mollusks. Now we are getting ready to begin our unit on arthropods, insects, and echinoderms. As a graduate student with a concentration in technology, I try to incorporate use of technology as often and as creatively as I can. We have already participated in two other Internet based projects this year. One was the Great Chocolate Experience and the other was the Dirty Dirt Project. For this, we had to send a soil sample from the school grounds to be analyzed. We are awaiting the results so that we can generate graphs and decide how we can improve the soil for planting.

When we did our worm study we used "The Yuckiest Site on the Internet" to get a close up view of worms and the use of worm bins. We also learned about planaria, tapeworms, and leeches.

I can envision that the Bugscope site would have the same benefits for my students. The one place where we are lacking is our ability to have a class set of microscopes. We generally use a video microscope that is hooked up to a television screen. But even that is not the best. Having access to a site like Bugscope with the capabilities of operating an electron microscope would be a wonderful experience for my students. They are an enthusiastic bunch and would enjoy an opportunity like this and would benefit by it immensely. Since we have the capability of using four Pentium PCs right in my classroom, it would be very accessible for the students. Right now, we use these computers to email our responses to math questions from Swarthmore University. It is very convenient having them right in the room with us at all times. But when I want all students to be on a computer at one time, we also have access to the MAC lab.

Sample 4-H Summer Program Proposal

I would like to use the Bugscope project for our 4-H sheep group. The kids would be looking at internal and external parasites that are on their 4-H Market lambs and utilize the information to manage their sheep. This information is vital in sheep management. Additionally, we would utilize the program for other 4-H projects such as the Entomology group, which collects and mounts insects. The group could look closely at the structure of the insect that they collect. This would help with the identification of the insect.

The Monte Vista 4-H has a broad range of age groups from 4th graders through high school seniors, thus Bugscope would impact a good cross section of students.

Please consider our proposal for the summer. We would be able to utilize the program from June 1st through the end of September, when most of our market lambs would be sold.

Sample High School Proposal

First and second year students in Croton-Harmon High School's three year science research course will investigate the impact of the woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae ), an aphid-like insect, on several species of hemlock (Tsuga spp.) ---with a specific focus on the effectiveness of integrated pest management (IPM) approaches in slowing hemlock mortality rate. Students will use Dialog, an online international database, to access relevant journal articles. Based on his/her reading, each student will design an experiment involving the use of the ESEM. One experiment will be chosen and carried out, hopefully in conjunction with a scientist/mentor in the field. The student whose experiment is selected will operate the microscope remotely.

The ESEM session can be viewed by all Science Research students, all Biology students, and middle school life science students (approximately300 students) in the high school auditorium using a Dell lap top, a high quality video projector, and a T1 line. Images can be captured with a digital camera and printed on a large format printer. Moreover, I believe that the session can be carried into individual classrooms throughout the district as well (the elementary, middle and high schools are linked together by intranet and a T1 line).

Having worked as an electron microscopist for 10 years at Yale Medical Center before I became a teacher and having participated in the Rockefeller University's Science Outreach Program since 1992, I have long been interested in helping students experience the thrill of looking at living things very very closely---I will always be fascinated by the incredible level of organization that persists even as the magnification increases. I am certain that if our project is selected, students will be very actively involved. Moreover, I have been seeking a way to immerse the Science Research students in designing an experiment. All too often, students read and become highly knowledgeable in their topic of interest, find a mentor, and then have difficulty developing an experiment. This project will give students a focus and a vehicle for developing a potentially valuable experiment using technologically advanced equipment. Hopefully, this is the wave of the future for science education!

Most of the equipment we plan to use in this project was obtained through a $43,000.00 Learning Technology grant I received from the Newark State Education Department in 1997, for integrating technology into the Science Research curriculum. Bugscope provides an ideal opportunity to develop this goal further than I'd thought possible! My training in teaching Science Research was funded by the National Science Foundation, which recognizes the strength of this particular curriculum. I hope to develop a model lesson with Bugscope that can be used/adapted by other Science Research teachers.

Back to Bugscope Project Proposal Guidelines

Created 6/15/99. Last modified 6/17/99.