The Science of Animals
An educational program, targeted for learners between the ages of 8 and 13, that consists of hands-on activities to explore some of the inspiring animals of our world.
This project was built to support an after-school science program for our friends at The Outlet in Springfield IL.
“The Outlet strives every day to help young males ages 8-22 develop the capacity and skill sets to make responsible life decisions, acquire and maintain meaningful spiritual and ethical values, explore their gifts, talents, and recognize their dreams and aspirations.”
We are happy to be partnering with the Outlet to provide this educational opportunity for their learners!
Please feel free to contact us if your organization is looking for a STEM program that focuses on active learning about exciting topics such as jaguars, bees, wildlife conservation, and farming!.
Jaguars!
Week 1: Jaguar Biology
Hosted by: Professor Dave Cox, Co-Founder of Inspire EdVentures
This week, Professor Dave Cox will give you an introduction to why we work with jaguars, and a look at the biology of these amazing animals! Be sure to have your notebooks and water bottles handy because you are going outside to learn how to track animals!
Week 2: Jaguars as Predators
Hosted by: Professor Dave Cox, Co-Founder of Inspire EdVentures
After learning all about jaguar biology, we will now take a look at how jaguars fit into their ecosystem. As Professor Cox will explain, rainforests, or what we commonly call jungles, are rich in biodiversity, and jaguars play an important role in that ecosystem. So grab your notebook and get ready to learn all about what jaguars eat, and their importance to rain forest ecology.
Week 3: A Jaguar’s Spots
Hosted by: Kayla Windelspecht; Ecologist and Program Director at IE
Did you know that a jaguar’s spots are like your fingerprints? That’s because they are unique to the animal. In this session, we introduce you to Kayla, an ecologist at IE who will tell you how to identify jags by their spots, and also what that means to us as scientists!
Week 4: Conserving Jaguars and their Habitats
Hosted by: Dr. Michael Windelspecht; Biologist and Co-founder of IE
In this session, Dr. Michael will talk to you about the importance of jaguar conservation efforts in Belize, and how you can learn more and participate in the important missions of organization such as the Belize Zoo
Instructors - please see your course introduction materials for the password to these resources
Bees!
Week 1: An Introduction to Bees!
Hosted by Professor David Cox - Co-Founder of IE
This week we are going to change animals to another one of our favorites - bees! Professor Cox will be your guide this week. He not only teaches about bees, but also owns his own apiary! This week he will introduce you to bee basics.
Instructors - please see your course introduction materials for the password to these resources
Week 2: Life Cycles of Bees
This week we going to not only learn more about the life cycles of bees, but will also start to construct the body of the hive for the apiary!
Week 3: Races of Bees
This week we going to not only learn more about the ldifferent types of bees, but will also continue to construct the body of the hive for the apiary!
Week 4: Anatomy of Bees
This week Dave is going to explore a little more about bee biology by focusing on bee anatomy - the structure and function of the different parts of a bee.
For our hands on activity we will continue to assemble a hive and begin to determine the best layout for our apiary
Week 5: How Bees Make Honey
In our final week of our bee experience, Dave will take us on a journey to learn more about why and how bees make honey. And of course, a chance to taste honey and distinguish between real and fake honey!