No spider left behind:  Outreach and K-12 education using black widows

 

I began working in the Johnson lab in the Fall of 2007, so I am currently gaining experience in the lab before beginning my own project.  I hope to pursue a Masters degree in education, so I foresee my work developing small-scale exercises that would be accessible to science teachers for their K-12 classrooms.  While alot of students (and teachers) are scared of spiders, we envision an experiment that (safely) exposes students to the exciting lives that spiders lead.  Our goal will be to open their eyes to these amazing animals, and at the same time teach them how to observe animals, ask questions, test hypotheses and interpret their results.  Next semester I am planning to assist Dr. Johnson in his Ecology lab course where we will try to implement some of our ideas.  Most importantly, I am the mother of two beautiful little girls.