On Thursday, Translational Plant Sciences (TPS) fellow Katie D’Amico co-facilitated a program for high school students in New Jersey through interactive videoconference software at COSI. This program is one example of how CAPS partners with COSI to promote plant sciences in K-12 education and the community.  

In 2016, CAPS was awarded funding from the American Society of Plant Biologists’ Plant BLOOME grant program to create a new plant-science program for middle and high school students. Partnering with COSI, CAPS enlisted the help of TPS graduate students to develop and facilitate a new interactive videoconference program titled Plant Solutions for Global Problems. After testing it with schools in Central Ohio, COSI added the new program to its suite of education opportunities available to teachers for the 2017-2018 school year.

Plant Solutions for Global Problems is a virtual program that allows students in classrooms across the United States to connect to COSI via free web-based software. Back at COSI, a TPS fellow co-facilitates each hour-long program alongside a COSI educator. Throughout the hour, facilitators and students discuss the multitude of ways that plant affect our daily lives, explore plant solutions to some of the problems facing society today and in the future, and conduct an experiment investigating alternative sources for natural rubber. In addition to the live program, teachers receive a kit of materials that includes extension activities and all supplies necessary to complete the experiments with a class of 30 students.

The images above, from this week's program, show TPS fellow Katie D'Amico and COSI educator Lindy preparing to present in front of a greenscreen in the studio at COSI. Additional images show the program being broadcast from the control booth to students in New Jersey. 

COSI offers Plant Solutions for Global Problems twice a month from October through May. Thanks to ASPB funding, scholarships are currently available to low-income schools to offset the cost of the program. Program dates are still available for March, April and May 2018. Visit COSI’s website to schedule or apply for a scholarship.

Check out the short video below for program highlights.