WALWORTH BARBOUR AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
PAST PROJECTS
Children's Books
The educational committee primarily serves to enable the public to participate in and become knowledgeable about large-scale data collection and nature observation. Specifically, our work targets young audiences who cannot by themselves fully take in complex scientific information. We have been working on mainly two types of products: educational pamphlets and a children’s book. The educational pamphlets go side by side with research that is currently being done, ultimately helping audiences to better comprehend the information. The children’s book informs children of important environmental issues.
Yoni's Nest
The Story of how WBAIS Students Save Yoni the Chickadee
2,000 Copies in Hebrew, English, Greek, and Arabic
Rescuing the Beirut Mullen
Bringing a plant back from the brink of extinction
Biological Pest Control
This research group works on the premise of " Let Nature Fight Nature." Students work with Great Tits (Parsus major), Kestrel (Falco Tinnunculus) and the Barn Owl (Tyto alba). Each species has a prominent position in teh 24/7 food chain. Great Tits eat insects during the day as well as Kestrels with rodents and other creatures. The Barn Owls eat rodents at night. The night shift for eating insects will be covered by Microchiroptera.
DNA BARCODING
DNA Barcoding is a way to identify species based on a short segment of their genome, which was brought to the attention of scientists in 2003 by Canadian researcher Paul Hebert. The system works in a similar way as supermarket barcodes. Specific segments of genomes are used to identify specific species just like bar codes are used to identify specific products at a grocery store. In order to do this, we use a lifescanner app that’s designed to discover the diversity of living organisms to help contribute knowledge about genetic diversity.
Seafood Sustainability
The seafood sustainability research group is responsible for investigating “which fish to dish”, or what type of fish consumption is sustainable, and what fish species are greatly impacted by fishing and, consequently, should not be consumed. The group is responsible for classifying species of fish into three categories: green, or best choice, yellow, or think twice, and red, don’t buy.
Fire Ant Project
This project is in collaboration with The Israel Nature Authority, Tel Aviv University (Dr. Gilad Ben Tzvi), and Kfar HaYarok School (Mr. Rony Shoshan) and the middle school students at The American Community School of Athens. Students will progress through 4 research projects to gain a better idea of how to potentially stop the spread of Wasmannia auropunctata (the little fire ant), considered one of the world's top 100 most invasive species.
