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BIDDEFORD, Maine

UNE researchers pair up Buxton 5th graders and Bonny Eagle honors students for science lessons as part of SPARTACUS grant

As part of the National Science Foundation-funded SPARTACUS grant, an innovative project partnering UNE researchers and their graduate students with the local K-12 community, children from Buxton Center Elementary School recently received science lessons from Bonny Eagle High School students.

UNE Marine Science graduate students Molly Meserve and Amber Thomas have been an integral part of Buxton Center Elementary and Bonny Eagle, respectively, and proposed the idea of having students from both schools work together.

On May 31st, Meserve's and Thomas' idea came to fruition, as Buxton Center Elementary School 5th grade students from Alison Hayden's and Gloria Stevens' classes visited Bonny Eagle High School, where students who are enrolled in the new honors integrated biology and chemistry course (team-taught by Anthony Lucchese and Amy Hubbard) led the 5th graders in a series of science activities.

The high school students created and taught their own lessons and offered a variety of stations for the elementary students to visit, including:  microscope use, insect collection, use of a dichotomous key to identify mythical creatures, the science of vernal pools, and demonstrations of the gas laws in chemistry.
 

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.