Mountains to Mole Hills
Illuminating Stories in Science
The University of Calgary’s Biogeoscience Institute (BGI) is a leader in field-based research. We are located at the door to Kananaskis Country and serve as the only research station for the Canadian Rockies and Foothills. We give students access to world-class research and promote science through an award-winning integrated program of experiential education and inquiry-based learning.
BGI has started the Mountains to Mole Hills: Illuminating Stories in Science program, which gives students an opportunity to engage with local primary research and develop skills in translating science to a broad audience. The program goal is create teaching tools that are useful for both teachers and students. As part of the program, pre-service teachers will translate local, primary scientific research papers into easily digestible, plain language infographics and associated 1-page written documents. In these overviews, volunteers will include curriculum and cross-curricular connections, as well as explanations about why people should care about this research. Volunteers will make explicit connections between science, society, and culture.
What's Involved
Volunteers will:
- Select 3-5 articles from a list of recent research conducted at the Biogeoscience Institute.
- Read through and pick out the question, background information, data collection methods, important findings, and conclusions and present these in an infographic and a 1-page summative write up.
- Graphs are an important part of science and should be included in the infographic.
- An example of an infographic can be found here: Ecological impacts of introduced sportfish on lakes
This is a very flexible project, and we are open to student ideas for presentation.
Other Information
- Some experience interpreting graphs and interacting with primary scientific literature would be a bonus but not a requirement.
- We will provide a write up with expectations, helpful links, as well as a pre-meeting to discuss the project in depth.
- Volunteers can anticipate spending approximately 5 hours per paper.
Program Learning Outcomes
- Develop stronger connections to the professional community and specific organizations
- Examine a variety of approaches to teaching and learning in non-traditional educational settings
- Examine how teaching and learning take place in other contexts
- Lead or co-lead the component of at least one project within the program
- Navigate new challenges as an educator with the support and guidance of a mentor in a similar field
Apply for Mountains to Mole Hills
- Go to Elevate and click on Werklund School of Education
- Click My Werklund Experiences
- Go to Courses/Program
- Select the Mountains to Mole Hills program and click Apply
- Complete the the questionnaire and we will contact you for next steps!