In June 2018, eleven Upper School students led by Chris Lener (Marine Ecologist and Middle School Science Teacher) and Barb Coleman (STEM Teacher and Co-Coordinator of the Bridge Program) had the opportunity to participate in Wooster’s inaugural STEM education program at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Science (BIOS).
BIOS is an independent U.S. non-profit scientific research and educational organization based in Bermuda. For over 100 years, BIOS-based researchers and visiting scientists have worked to explore the ocean and address important local and global environmental issues.
Using the latest scientific technology and innovative methods in field research, our young Wooster scientists focused on the environmental issue of microplastics in our oceans. This field experience fostered skills and dispositions that included curiosity, responsibility, communication, observation, classification, field journaling, and creating maps, just to name a few. A scientific poster showing results from our microplastics study will be displayed both at Wooster School and at the BIOS campus. Moving forward, this authentic data will be part of an ongoing study of microplastics in Bermuda.
About Wooster School
Wooster School is an independent, co-educational college preparatory day school, serving students from Fairfield and Westchester Counties. Located in Danbury, Connecticut, the School serves students from Kindergarten through grade 12. A leader in classroom innovation and teaching, Wooster School is a place where thinking and learning are personal, meaningful, and visible; and where faculty work closely with students in small classes and cohorts to think and communicate critically and creatively. At Wooster, every student participates, every student contributes, and every student learns and develops the necessary skills to be a life-long learner and leader in college and beyond.