Outreach

At the MCE lab, we strongly believe that the fruits of science need to be enjoyed by all. We also believe that scientific knowledge is critical for making good policy decisions, and that we scientists have a lot to learn from other stakeholders. Perhaps the most significant challenge facing humanity worldwide is understanding human impact on global climate, reducing this impact and dealing with its consequences. Facing this challenge requires scientific understanding of the myriad processes underlying global biogeochemistry, as well as efficient communication of the scientific understanding to the general public and to decision makers. Towards this goal, lab members are actively involved in teaching at kindergartens and schools, giving talks at public venues such as pubs and community centers, and participating in scientific advisory committees for various government and non-governmental organizations.

MicroOcean – an educational module for 7-9 grade students:

As part of an ongoing NSF-BSF grant, we have developed an educational module (named microOcean) in collaboration with the laboratory of Prof. Daniel Segré from Boston University, and with EcoOcean, an NGO focusing on marine education and research. MicroOcean communicates three key concepts to 7-9^th grade students:

a) the scientific method, namely the iterative process generating an hypothesis and testing it with experiments and models; b) the notion of one or more limiting factors for organismal growth; c) the important challenge of scaling lab-based observations to natural settings, and using such data to inform decision-makers. Microorganisms growing in the oceans, and how they interact, will be the core process discussed in this module.

Briefly, microOcean aims to bring the oceans and the organisms living within them to the classroom in the form of an interactive, exploration-based program, enabling students to explore how organisms grow alone and interact with their environment. The heart of microOcean is a set of simple lab experiments, where we grow algae (Spirulina) under different conditions. We then use mathematical models developed in the classroom and implemented online (using the coding language Scratch) to describe the algal growth. This enables students to raise hypotheses on how changes in nutrients and light will influence the growth or organisms and communities and test these with models. We sometimes combine also a field trip to a local water body (e.g. a pond, river or seashore) to allow students to experience some research methods typically used in microbial oceanography, including determination of Secchi Depth, collection and extraction of Chlorophyll and enumeration of microbes under a microscope (key methodologies that require equipment typically found in any school).

MicroOcean has been taught in several schools in Israel, and was used as a basis for a teacher course and for online teaching to 9th grade students during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of Boston University's Upward Bound program.

Science, Education and Art as tools to address environmental issues (SEA)

Responsibly harnessing the seas and oceans while conserving them for future generations requires a deep understanding of the oceans and, potentially, necessitates major changes in how we (as humanity) interact with them. How do we form a bond between people and the sea? What is the role of maritime education and outreach? Do we need to forge an emotional bond (“a love for the sea”), and what are the roles of scientists, artists and educators in forging this bond? How can we engage different communities, creatively overcoming cultural, technological and financial barriers? These issues were the focus of a conference we co-organized (https://www.seahaifa2021.com/), as well as an academic course taught by Daniel together with Michael Lazar from the Marine Geosciences department and Tzvia Gildor from our department. We are also teaching courses for fifth-grade students from a school in Haifa and working with high-school students at Jisr A-Zarqa.

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