Hands-on learning can be messy, fun and memorable, and many teachers will tell you it’s the most effective way to learn. Aboard the Maine Mobile BIOLAB, it’s the only way to work! Students aboard the lab use real scientific measurement tools, equipment, and supplies to investigate topics from invasive species to vision.
Now a new program of the BIOLAB is helping to extend the hands-on learning to school classrooms. A lending library offers teachers the opportunity to borrow scientific equipment for their students. Along with lessons available on the lab website, the “library of things” supports the science curriculum already in use and helps teachers reinforce the ideas and investigations from lab visits.
““Every dollar matters in a classroom,” explained Heather Carlisle, a founding educator aboard the BIOLAB. “The Materials Lending Library gives educators the freedom to try something new, explore different tools and resources, and figure out what works for their students before investing their own limited funds.”
Materials that can be checked out range from simple electricity and hot water kits to solar and wind power tools and measuring devices to microbit processors.
The lending library is generously supported by both donations in kind from scientific companies and targeted support from organizations like the College of the Atlantic, which is helping to fund shipping costs (between the lab and requesting schools all over Maine).
Want to check out the Materials Lending Library? Go here: https://airtable.com/appPFJY1RFhT7dG5z/shrJcv8rjGhlQyiba?cH2Kj=sfsCIochMeGGd22xl
For more information about the BIOLAB, go here:
mainemobilebiolab.org
