{"id":17728,"date":"2016-07-21T14:15:37","date_gmt":"2016-07-21T18:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.cos.ucf.edu\/?p=17728"},"modified":"2017-01-17T15:40:32","modified_gmt":"2017-01-17T20:40:32","slug":"ucf-graduate-students-lead-science-summer-camps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-graduate-students-lead-science-summer-camps\/","title":{"rendered":"Grad Students Lead Science Summer Camps"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"BIOTEC

BIOTEC participants.<\/p><\/div>\n

The UCF Department of Biology<\/a> and the Biology Graduate Student Association (BGSA)<\/a> have collaborated with the UCF Chemistry Department<\/a>\u00a0and the Uknighted Chemistry Graduate Student Association (UCGSA)<\/a>\u00a0for the\u00a0second annual\u00a0Biology Integrated Orlando Training and Enrichment Camp<\/em> (BIOTEC) and fifth annual Orlando Chemistry Tutoring, Enrichment and Training Camp<\/em> (OCTET).<\/p>\n

BIOTEC<\/a>, held June 27 – July 2,\u00a0and OCTET<\/a>, held July 11 – 16, consisted of a series of discussions, activities and lab trainings on UCF’s main campus. UCF biology and chemistry graduate student members of the BGSA and UCGSA engaged local high school students in group problem-solving and informational activities through science-based activities. Both camps, directed by UCF Chemistry professor\u00a0Florencio Hernandez, Ph.D.<\/a>,\u00a0received funding from the National Science Foundation, UCF Departments of Biology and Chemistry and the American Chemical Society.<\/p>\n

The camps were created to foster the future generation of young leaders in the physical sciences in the Central Florida region and\u00a0prepare them in the fundamental areas of STEM. The free camps accept up to\u00a040 academically competitive high school students who have taken honors, IB or AP courses in their discipline. The camps, coordinated by biology graduate student\u00a0Tiffani Manteuffel and chemistry graduate student Julie Donnelly, also provide teaching and instruction practice for current UCF graduate students leading the camps.<\/p>\n

“It’s very interactive,”<\/em> stated biology graduate student and BIOTEC Coordinator, Tiffani Manteuffel. “The goal is to not just answer questions or memorize things. We are trying to get them to think critically like scientists.”<\/em>
\nFor the biology segments, BIOTEC highlighted important college level biology concepts such as microbiology, anatomy, physiology, ecology and conservation biology. These\u00a0lessons were instructed by graduate students in the UCF Biology Department who volunteered their time.<\/p>\n

“This is my second year teaching the physiology segment of BIOTEC,”<\/em> said UCF biology doctoral\u00a0student and aspiring professor, Molly Grace.\u00a0“It’s really fun. It’s good for me because physiology is my main area of research, but teaching this allows me to become more familiar with it and expand my knowledge of biology. And the kids are awesome– they’re so engaged.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Some of these\u00a0activities included\u00a0a life-size board game where students\u00a0were assigned Florida\u00a0animals looking for resources through different stages of a changing landscape due to human interaction.\u00a0This was an exploration of ecology and the interaction of animals with changes to their natural habitat. Lab dissections also gave the participants hands on experience. Pre and post assessments were given to gauge the students’\u00a0progress throughout the camp.<\/p>\n