Student Symposia
Symposia are a unique opportunity to link students with other school BMP partners, as well as Smithsonian scientists to share data and protocols. There are three different symposium options from which to choose:
- Annual BMP Student Symposium
- Biodiversity Student Leadership Institute
- Customized School Partner Symposia
Annual BMP Student Symposium
Each year the Zoo's Conservation and Research Center (CRC) hosts a symposium for all current partners to attend. During the symposium, students and teachers will tour the CRC facility, students from each school will present their projects, there will be discussions among partners about school projects, and feedback from Smithsonian scientists.
You are invited to the 2005 BMP Student Symposium, which will be held 10 a.m.-3 p.m., May 24, 2005, at the CRC in Front Royal, Virginia. Lunch will be provided.
We encourage all of our school partners to consider sending a team of students to represent your school during this special event. At last year's symposium, students used PowerPoint presentations and display boards to present their projects to peers and Smithsonian scientists. Each school received great feedback and acknowledgement for their work, as well as ideas for collaboration on projects with other school partners.
If your school is interested in participating in the BMP Student Symposium, please contact the Education Office by
email
or by calling 
540.635.6540. When you register, please let us know how many students and teachers plan to attend, and give a brief description of what the students will be presenting. You are also welcome to invite your school principal or superintendent.
Biodiversity Student Leadership Institute
Students will attend a week-long training camp to learn monitoring and identification techniques, leadership skills, and much more. These student leaders will be able to share their expertise with their classmates to improve their school projects. The skills learned during this camp will be similar to those that teacher partners learn in the Biodiversity Monitoring Institute.
Learn more about the Biodiversity Student Leadership camp and how to register.
Customized School Partner Symposia
The Biodiversity Monitoring Project is a student-inquiry based program, where students ask questions, discover data patterns, develop experiments and protocols, and conduct research projects. Students have the opportunity to research various forms of biodiversity using monitoring plots. After the research is complete, students from the same school or from different schools studying the same subject (such as salamanders, insects, and birds) can come together at an organized Customized Student Symposium to share their data, research methods, and plans for next steps. Students share their data with their peers and with Smithsonian scientists in attendance. These symposiums are scheduled by schools and are separate from the Annual Student Symposium hosted at the CRC.
These symposiums are a great opportunity for students to improve their monitoring techniques and to participate in a real-world scientific forum. Check out some of the student symposia CRC has hosted for school partners in the past:
Salamander Symposium
