On Saturday, MassBioEd completed its seventh annual Winter Workshop designed for teachers to experience immersion in the theory, practice, and application of DNA Science.

This year, BioTeach expanded the Winter Workshop program from a one-day review of the three focal labs to a two-day event with an emphasis on inquiry-based instructional techniques, plus an introduction to a water quality lab featuring PCR techniques.

In order to compliment and expand the number of labs schools can complete with their BioTeach equipment, MassBioEd partnered with the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole and the Howard Hughes sponsored Wolbachia Project. 65 teachers from 45 school districts across Massachussetts explored the Wolbachia bacteria, an organism that infects arthropods.

This was also the first year that four BioTeach-trained teachers served alongside Marine Biological Laboratory faculty as co-educators.

The goal of the BioTeach program is to introduce biotechnology to the science curricula of all of the Commonwealth’s public high schools in order to engage students in hands-on biotechnology lab experiences aimed at inspiring curiosity about and preparation for life science careers. To find out more, visit MassBioEd’s website or follow them on Twitter!