Michigan ZoomIN

Michigan ZoomIN serves as a great educational tool to expose broad, diverse audiences to natural history and various ecological principles reflected in nature. If you want more information or are interested in collaborating, please contact us at wildlifeneighbor@gmail.com.

Undergraduate curriculum

In addition to content-based learning objectives in undergraduate courses, we strive to embed numerous professional and personal development goals. We aim for assignments to intensify learning experience by promoting creativity, challenging existing paradigms, enhancing civic awareness, cross-pollination among disciplines, and improving reasoning and communication skills.

In the past, instructors and professors have integrated Michigan ZoomIN into the classroom in several ways.

• Field Mammalogy: students served as beta-testers of the website, classifications were used to reinforce morphological identifications of species

• Introduction to Animal Diversity: students used Michigan ZoomIN as a case-study on citizen science, highlighting how the general public is engaging in scientific inquiry

• General Ecology: students in my course are using Michigan ZoomIN as a tool to develop K-12 lesson plans to teach various ecological concepts including competition, predator-prey interactions, phenology, and behavior.

K-12 Education initiatives

We envision co-creation of standard-aligned sample lessons for grades K-12 in subject areas of science, math, engineering, computer programming, communication, design, and beyond. Michigan ZoomIN offers clear connections to cross-cutting concepts, disciplinary core ideas, and Science and Engineering practices as outlined in A Framework for K-12 Science Education.

Our current focus is on developing NGSS/Michigan Science Standards aligned lessons for secondary level life sciences. These lessons cover topics of predator/prey interactions, food webs, energy transfer between trophic levels, biodiversity, and human impact. Standards that address these topics are included in the Middle and High School Life Science Standards for Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems, Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems, and Natural Selection and Adaptations/Evolution.

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Community Engagement

The Applied Wildlife Ecology (AWE) Lab aims to create and promote the next generation of environmentally informed citizens by providing educational opportunities through university partnerships, community led events, and virtual engagement.

Before transitioning to Yale University, we participated in two University of Michigan programs that encourages middle and high school students throughout the state to think through strategies to help navigate high school, prepare for post –secondary education, and ultimately, achieve careers of interests. We look forward to continuing relationships within the metro Detroit community, and expanding our community outreach by building new relationships in the New Haven area.

Wolverine Express works to promote pathways and access to higher education particularly for under-served high-school communities. We integrated Michigan ZoomIN into conversations to present concepts about wildlife ecology, highlight importance of observation and natural resources, and explore career paths. We also partnered with Science for Tomorrow – a STEM career outreach program tailored to middle school students through the Museum of Natural History at the University of Michigan. In our sessions, students use Michigan ZoomIN to expand on topics related to wildlife ecology, predator/prey interactions, human impacts, and biodiversity in Michigan’s ecosystem.