Invention Foundation Funds San Diego Zoo Student-Teacher Creativity Camp
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- Created on Tuesday, 18 September 2012 19:06
- Written by IVN
San Diego, California - John Gartman, president of the Invention Foundation, announced today that the Foundation has awarded a grant to San Diego Zoo Global to fund an innovative on-site Conservation Creativity Camp for 180 students and 5 teachers from low-income, Title 1 schools in San Diego County.
Each Camp teacher trained at the San Diego Zoo's Beckman Center for Conservation Research will immediately impact more than 150 students, bringing the collective student impact of the Camp to more than 750 students.
"The Invention Foundation's goal is to fuel innovative thinking and creativity in youth in America, and we could not have chosen a better partner than the San Diego Zoo," said Gartman. "Educating both teachers and their students at the Zoo guarantees the most lasting impact on student education. Camp students will gain conservation lessons that will serve them for life, and the teachers that are trained during the three days of the Camp will impact generations of future students."
San Diego Zoo Global has provided cutting-edge lab and field-based research experiences at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center for Conservation Research since its founding in 2004. Invention Foundation's grant will allow teachers and students to learn first-hand about the tools and techniques that are used by the Center's researchers to conserve endangered species around the world, using a new and innovative format.
"Making science relevant to students is essential. They need to believe that it matters to them. This program will show them that the things they care about, like the survival of a particular animal species, often depend on humans and human technology," said Allison Alberts, chief conservation officer for San Diego Zoo Global. "Science helps us to determine when and how to intervene to protect the biodiversity that supports life on Earth."
The Creativity Camp will be separated into two parts. In the summer of 2013, five middle-school teachers will attend three days and two nights of training at the Beckman Center for Conservation Research. During this time they will engage in hands-on training in cutting-edge methods and techniques including DNA extraction, quantification and amplification, radio telemetry, biodiversity assessment, and more.
Teachers who have taken the course have the opportunity to return to the Beckman Center with their classes for a workshop that allows students to experiment with techniques in GPS monitoring and utilize data-analysis software to process original GPS waypoints taken in the Safari Park.
Established in 2012, Invention Foundation supports the development of creativity and innovation in American youth, through dynamic educational opportunities. It engages and connects underserved students and teachers with the resources required to build better learning environments for all.
The San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy is dedicated to bringing endangered species back from the brink of extinction. The work of the Conservancy includes onsite wildlife conservation efforts (representing both plants and animals) at the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, and international field programs in more than 35 countries. In addition, San Diego Zoo Global manages the Anne and Kenneth Griffin Reptile Conservation Center, the Frozen ZooTM, Native Seed Gene Bank, the Keauhou and Maui Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Centers, the San Clemente Loggerhead Shrike Breeding Facility, the Cocha Cashu Biological Research Station, the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center, and a 800-acre biodiversity reserve adjacent to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The important conservation and science work of these entities is supported in part by The Foundation of the Zoological Society of San Diego.