The BioScope Initiative: Taking Cytometry into High School Biology Laboratories
J.Paul Robinson, Marshall Overley, Jerry Krockover, Kelly Kinch, Monica Shively, Gretchen Lawler, Kathy Ragheb, David Whittinghill, Ty Filby, Greg Moore, Steve Barg, Laura Moretti
Funded by the National Science Foundation, the BioScope Initiative is an exciting program which aims at placing high quality science-biology into every high school biology classroom. The BioScope Initiative develops high quality biology related material, which is scientifically accurate, referenced, and relevant to kids needs. Animations and cartoons are frequently used to interest the kids. Everything operates under standard web browsers, and quality internet sites are linked directly from the CD-ROM. The unique aspect of this program development is that it is intentionally designed to be platform-independent and will therefore operate on all computer systems. BioScope material is based upon the National Science Standards and closely follows these guidelines. It is designed to identify "handles" that grab students attention and use them to provide a rich learning environment in which the student participates in a journey through science. To the student, BioScope appears to be a WEB site - it operates and fells exactly like "surfing" the net - but the key material is actually on the CD-ROM in the studentŐs computer - and if the student is connected to the net -they can also be linked to science information anywhere in the world. All sites linked by BioScope are automatically checked on an hourly basis to determine any changes in that site - new sites can be linked at any time, and in this way, the student can experience new pathways to information at any time. The initial BioScope material is aimed at high school student biology (grades 9-12) however, material at all levels is currently under development. Further information can be obtained at www.bioscope.org
