Journal Article

The School Malaise Trap Program: Coupling educational outreach with scientific discovery

Steinke, Dirk, Hebert, Paul D. N., Berzitis, Emily, Breton, Vanessa

2017

Overview

The School Malaise Trap Program (SMTP) provides a technologically sophisticated and scientifically relevant educational experience that exposes students to the diversity of life, enhancing their understanding of biodiversity while promoting environmental stewardship. Since 2013, the SMTP has allowed 15,000 students at 350 primary and secondary schools to explore insect diversity in Canadian schoolyards. Students at each school collected hundreds of insects for an analysis of DNA sequence variation that enabled their rapid identification to a species. Through this hands-on approach, they participated in a learning exercise that conveys a real sense of scientific discovery. As well, the students contributed valuable data to the largest biodiversity genomics initiative ever undertaken: the International Barcode of Life project. To date, the SMTP has sequenced over 80,000 insect specimens, which includes representatives of 7,990 different species, nearly a tenth of the Canadian fauna. Both surprisingly and importantly, the collections generated the first DNA barcode records for 1,288 Canadian species.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Abbreviations / Academic libraries / Adolescent / Age / Animals / Automation / Bar codes / Biodiversity / Biological evolution / Biology / Biology and life sciences / Canada / Case studies / Child / Collection / Colleges & universities / Community-Institutional Relations - trends / Computer and information sciences / Cytochrome / Cytochrome c / Cytochrome-c oxidase / Data acquisition / Data collection / Data interpretation / Data processing / Data systems / Deoxyribonucleic acid / Design / Design analysis / DNA / DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic - veterinary / DNA sequencing / Ecology / Ecology and Environmental Sciences / Education / Educational programs / Engineering / Environmental effects / Environmental engineering / Environmental monitoring / Environmental stewardship / Exposure / Fauna / Food / Fragmentation / Fraud / Gene sequencing / Genetics / Genomes / Genomics / Genomics - education / Genomics - trends / Humans / Informatics / Insecta - classification / Insecta - genetics / Insecta - growth & development / Insecta - physiology / Insects / Institutions / Introduced species / Invasive species / Learning / Libraries / Library collections / Life sciences / Malaise trap / Management / Mathematical analysis / Matrices (mathematics) / Molecular biology / Multiculturalism & pluralism / New records / Nucleotide sequence / Outreach programs / Outreach services / People and Places / Pests / pH effects / Physical training / Quality / Research and analysis methods / Reviews / Schools / Schools - trends / Science education / Sciences education / Scientists / Social Sciences / Species extinction / Streamlining / Students / Studies / Taxonomy / Teaching - trends / Technology / TRAP program / Workforce