Xcite Learning/ NWO @ BGSU/The Toledo Zoo - Xcite Learning/ NWO @ BGSU/The Toledo Zoo

About the Partnership

Our collaborative partnership promotes GLOBE in the region by engaging in educator professional development, K–12 student programming, pre-service teacher training, and collaborative federal and private grant-funded activities.

2024 Highlights

1. At our third annual local Student Research Symposium (SRS), held at the Toledo Zoo, 385 K-12 students presented their GLOBE research. The following day, 87 middle and high school students from four states participated in the GLOBE Midwest SRS, a two-and-a-half-day event at the zoo. At the Midwest SRS, student presented their research, participated in team building exercises, collected and reported on GLOBE data collected at the zoo, spent the night in the zoo's aquarium at a "Zoo Snooze" evening that included behind the scene's tours and hands-on activities, and learned from subject matter experts during career and keynote talks.

2. We hosted a Summer STEAM camp experience again this year at Waterville Primary School in Waterville, Ohio. Project-based learning framed the summer experience using the driving question: "How does our school prairie help our community garden grow?" Students collected GLOBE atmosphere, pedosphere data, and pollinator observations to deepen their knowledge of the symbiotic relationships between these two environments.

3. Middle school teachers from Washington and Sylvania Schools earned GLOBE educator certification after a three-day professional development series focusing on GLOBE in the Prairie and project-based learning (PBL). Gold-standard PBL units were created using AI. These units included GLOBE data collection and student research experiences.

4. Bioblitz BG: Nearly 100 Bowling Green City Schools 5th graders and 50 BGSU pre-service teachers collaborated on a data collection Bioblitz at Wintergarden Park. GLOBE data (air, surface, and soil temperatures) were also collected in the park's prairie, trail, and woods.

Funding

YLACES, the Toledo Zoo and Aquarium, Bowling Green State University’s (BGSU) Northwest Ohio Center for Excellence in STEM Education (NWO), and the University of Toledo GLOBE Mission Earth sponsored our GLOBE in the Prairie Local Student Research Symposium (SRS), and BGSU and the Toledo Zoo sponsored Bioblitz BG.

Cooperating Organizations

Xcite Learning, The Toledo Zoo & Aquarium, NWO STEM Center of Excellence at BGSU, University of Toledo GLOBE Mission Earth, Waterville Primary School, Washington Local Schools, Bowling Green City Schools, Sylvania Schools, Toledo Public Schools, and the City of Bowling Green: Wintergarden Park.

Areas of Expertise

In-service professional development, programming for students, Elementary GLOBE, pre-service teachers