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BIDDEFORD, Maine

Trip to the seashore includes shark visit for third graders

Students in teacher Charlotte Regan's third-grade class at Buxton Center Elementary School (BCES) got up-close-and-personal with sharks, crustaceans, and other marine life today at their field trip to University of New England and the Marine Science Center.   

Accompanying the class was UNE marine science graduate student and National Science Foundation (NSF) fellow Molly Meserve, who has taught science topics in Mrs. Regan's as well as other third- and fifth-grade classes at BCES this year.  

The trip is part of the NSF-funded SPARTACUS grant, an innovative project partnering UNE researchers and their graduate students with the local K-12 community.

While at UNE, the students visited the Marine Science wet lab, where UNE graduate fellow Caitlyn Little introduced them to sharks, lobsters, and crabs and discussed some of the research under way at the university.

Guided by an education volunteer, the students also toured the Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center at UNE, where three grey seals are currently receiving care.

The students also enjoyed a seashore scavenger hunt on the beach, and participated in an activity that taught about the interrelationship of living and non-living things.

SPARTACUS engages Maine K-12 students and teachers in six Maine districts in inquiry-based learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)-related disciplines.  The science that ties the project together is studying the interrelationships of physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and geology in a local watershed using the Saco River Coastal Observing System (SaRCOS). 

The NSF developed the GK-12 program to create strong and enduring partnerships between STEM graduate and K-12 education programs that inspire learning and stimulate interest in science and engineering.

Additional field trips from other schools in southern Maine are scheduled in the coming months. For more information, contact Henrietta List, program manager of the SPARTACUS GK12 Project, at hlist@une.edu.
 

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.