Name: Inquiry in the Rainforest: A Field Course for Science Teachers
SKU: U-SA-AEC-2019-2
Availability: InStock

In Costa Rica, Field, Graduate Programs, Ingles

Inquiry in the Rainforest: A Field Course for Science Teachers

Status:	Accepting applications
When:	July 7-20, 2025 Arrival: July 6th Departure: July 21st
Where:	Costa Rica: La Selva Research Station & Monteverde Biological Station
Duration:	2 weeks
Credits:
Language:	English (Bilingual Coordination Team)
Deadline:	March 30th, 2025
Program Guide:

SKU: U-SA-AEC-2019-2

Program Overview

The way we teach science at high school level can be a challenge nowadays. We propose the course to keep up with the students’ requirements, innovative tools available and fostering creative ways of teaching and communicating. Basically we teach how to create new experiences out of the common science topics to keep the interests of science students.

This course is Coordinated by Joe Levine author of one of the most used Biology textbooks in the US high schools. Directed to high school science teachers or university students in the way to becoming a teacher. You will learn from the field how science can be implemented in a more dynamic way, how to make students interested, and how you can become creative with your own projects and classes.

Inquiry in the Rainforest Course uses as a central bone the participants’ direct experience in field projects and field workshops on basic science, as well as a focus on a science communication approach for teaching. On the way, you will also get to know Costa Rican environments, OTS’s most famous research station, La Selva, and other popular destinations in the country.

At the end of this 2-week course you will be have gone through the following subjects and topics:

Various Group Dynamics
Uses of Media in Teaching
Innovative and Creative Ways of Using your Phone and Other Devices for Teaching
Planning a Night Walk or a Nature Walk
How to Interpret a Nature Walk
Practicing Inquiry
The Scientific Method from Short to Large Projects
Field Methods and Experimental Design
Field Data Collection
Field Data Analysis
Field Project Reporting to Popular Audiences
Citizen Science for Science Teaching
How to Study Plants: Prop Collection, Storage and Manage
Bases on Science Communication
Bases on Social Media Uses and Production

All of the above is going to be combined with amazing Costa Rica environments, nice accommodations and walks. It is a perfect mixed between learning, enjoying, creating and tourism. We assure you that your memories and learnings from this course will be for life.

Prerequisites

This course is for science teachers or university students who are planning on pursuing a career on high school teaching. But, we encourage also people from environmental sciences, biology or related fields who work with environmental education as well.

Sites Visited

La Selva Research Station

Located in the Caribbean lowlands, La Selva is OTS’ largest field station and is one of the best-known tropical research sites in the world. The station protects approximately 1,600 hectares of primary and secondary tropical rainforest. It averages 4,000 millimeters (over 13 feet) of rainfall a year. This lush environment facilitates the existence of thousands of species of plants and animals, making La Selva a great place to see all kinds of wildlife, including toucans, monkeys, ocelots, agoutis, peccaries, and the endangered green macaw. Two major rivers, the Sarapiquí and the Puerto Viejo border la Selva. These rivers form part of the San Juan River Basin. La Selva is connected via a biological corridor with Braulio Carrillo National Park, which contains 46,000 hectares of forestland and ascends almost 3,000 meters in elevation to Volcán Barva, which overlooks the town of Heredia in the Central Valley.

La Selva has an extensive trail system, and lots of lab space, and is, in general, a pretty busy place. (The station can sleep over 100 people.) Important crops grown in the area surrounding La Selva include bananas and the heart of palm. Services available at La Selva include phone, fax, and e-mail. Showers may or may not have hot water, and students have access to laundry machines. Housing consists of small dorm rooms with up to six students each.

Please visit the station’s site for more information: https://tropicalstudies.org/portfolio/la-selva-research-station/

Moteverde Biological Station

A low-middle elevation cloudforest in the central pacific of Costa Rica and just 40km in a straight line from the coast makes Monteverde a unique place for biodiversity. We will be based at Monteverde Biological Station, which is next to a 100 hectare property of conserved forest. While we are here we will also visit Montevede Hanging bridges as a one-day tour.

Our courses are designed to make the most out of the students’ time with OTS. As such, a student’s day during a course will usually begin at 6:00 am with breakfast, and the workday will begin by 7:00 am. Lunch will be at 12:00 pm (may be eaten in the field depending on the circumstances), and dinner at 6:00 pm, with lectures/activities after dinner as well.

Date	Time	Activity	Location
July 6	5:00	Meet and greet	Hotel Irazú & Studios
	7:30	Welcome dinner	Hotel dining room
July7	7:00	Buffet Breakfast	Hotel dining room
	8:00	Load Bus	Lobby (w luggage)
	8:30	Bus leaves for OTS office	Lobby
	9:00	Orientation & introductions; Why are we here?	CRO classroom
	9:30	Broken Squares: Introduction to group dynamics	CRO classroom
	10:15	Break (*prone to motion sickness? Take meds for bus to La Selva*)	CRO Lobby
	10:45	Load bus & depart for La Selva	CRO parking lot
	12:30	Check-in and Intro to La Selva; Kenneth Alfaro Unload luggage and course equipment	LS Reception & Dining Hall (DH) patio
	12:45	Lunch	CRO Lobby
	1:45	Reload bus w participants staying at Cabinas Arriera-Zompopa	Near DH patio
	1:55	All participants and staff drop luggage at Cabinas *unpack boots, field clothes, flashlight, and bug repellant*	Cabinas A-Z
	2:30	Lecture: Geography and Climates of Costa Rica	Lab/Classroom
	4:15	Intro to La Selva- remember flashlight, boots, & bug repellant	Lab/Classroom
	6:00	Dinner	Dining Hall (DH)
	7:00	Discussion: Media in Teaching; (Joe, Pablo, TA, group)	Lab/Classroom
	8:00	Workshop: Using your phone to photograph and record -composition, lighting, audio (Pablo)	LB/Classroom
July 8	6:00	Breakfast (*remember boots, hats, sunscreen and bug rep*)	DH
	7:30	Natural history walk 1 (Joe, Pablo,TA)	DH Patio
	10:00	Natural history walk 2 (Joe, Pablo,TA)	Classroom patio
	12:30	Lunch	DH
	1:30	Natural history walk 3 (Joe, Pablo,TA)	DH patio
	3:30	21 questions: Practicing Inquiry	Classroom
	5:30	Review course equipment	Classroom
	6:00	Dinner	DH
	7:00	Intro to field problems (Joe, Pablo) Prep for FP#1: Formulating testable hypotheses from questions	Classroom
July 9	6:00	Breakfast	DH
	7:30	Field Project 1: Methods, pilot study & Data collection	Classroom / field
	Noon	Lunch	DH
	1:00	Field Project 1: Analysis/Report Prep	Classroom
	6:00	Dinner	DH
	7:00	Field Project 1: Report presentations and discussion	Classroom
	9:00	Night walk!!	start @ classroom
July 10	6:00	Breakfast	DH
	7:30	Prep for Field Project 2: Forming hypotheses	Classroom
	9:30	Field Project 2: Methods, pilot study, and Data Collection	Classroom/Field
	Noon	Lunch	DH
	1:00	Field Project 2: Analysis & Report Prep	Classroom
	6:00	Dinner	DH
	7:00	Field Project 2: Report presentations and Discussion	Classroom
July 11	6:00	Breakfast	DH
	7:30	Group Field Project: hypotheses, methods, design	Classroom
	Noon	Lunch	DH
	1:00	GFP: Pilot studies, Data collection	Classroom / field
	6:00	Dinner	DH
	7:00	Botany of Tropical Fruits lecture (Pablo)	Classroom Patio
	8:00	Night walk!	Classroom / field
July 12	EARLY!	Bird walk (optional-Pablo)
	6:00	Breakfast	DH
	7:30	GFP: data, report prep	Classroom / field
	Noon	Lunch	DH
	1:00	GFP prep continued	Classroom
	4:00	GFP presentations & Discussion	Classroom/Field
	6:00	Dinner	DH
	7:00	Media workshop for Video Project 1: One-take wonders (OTW) Conceptualizing, storyboarding, , writing, voicing, filming	Classroom / field
July 13	6:00	Breakfast	DH
	7:30	OTW: production	Field
	Noon	Lunch	DH
	1:00	River Trip	Meet at DH
	4:00	OTW presentations	Classroom
	6:00	Dinner	DH
	7:00	Media workshop for Video project 2 Intro to editing using Davinci Resolve (free software)	Classroom
July 14	6:00	Breakfast	DH
	7:30	Video project 2: choosing a completed project, and determining the best way to film “science in action/process of science” including hypothesis formation, experimental design, data analysis, & conclusion Production: storyboarding, writing, filming	Field/classroom
	Noon	Lunch (order box lunches for trip to Monteverde)	DH
	1:00	Video project 2: continue post-production	Classroom
	4:00	Video Project 2: presentations	Classroom
	6:00	Dinner	DH
	7:00	Lecture (Joe): TBD	Classroom / field
	8:00	Open discussion, wrap-up, pack lab boxes, etc.	Classroom
July 15	7:00	Breakfast	DH
	8:30	Herbarium Collection at La Selva (Orlando)	Orquídea Building
	9:30	Plant-o-rama: Calculating estimates of plant diversity withOUT needing to identify each species; species area/sample size curves.	Academic Center Atrium
	Noon	Lunch	DH
	1:30	Workshop: iNaturalist + eBird Data bases and using it for teaching (Pablo)	Classroom and trails
	6:00	Dinner	DH
	7:00	Pack luggage and get ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow overview schedule. Joe talk: Arenal Hydro Project (we will pass by Arenal Lake)	Classroom
July 16	6:00	Bus pick up for participants at Cabinas Arriera-Zompopa *with luggage and room keys ready to check out* Transfer to dining room for breakfast (take motion-sickness meds if needed)	Cabinas DH Patio
	8:00	Check-out, pick up box lunches; load equipment, load bus for trip to Monteverde	DH, Patio Classroom Patio
	1:00	Lunch	Monteverde Bio Station
	2:30	Intro To Monteverde and Monteverde Bio Station (Marvin)	Monteverde Bio Station
	3:30	Check in and get into rooms	Monteverde Bio Station
	6:00	Dinner	Monteverde Bio Station
July 17	7:00	Breakfast	DH
	7:30	MV Bio Station Hike with Marvin the Administrator.	Monteverde Bio Station trails
	Noon	Lunch	DH
	2:00	Lecture (Joe): Global change and the tropics	Classroom
	4:30	Informal discussions; participant-driven topics; tricks & tips exchange, etc.	Classroom
	6:00	Dinner	DH
July 18	7:00	Breakfast	Soltis DH
	8:00	Nature walks	Various
	10:00	Media workshop for Video Field Project: pre-production planning	Classroom
	Noon	Lunch	Soltis DH
	2:00	Video Field Project initial discussion	Classroom
	6:00	Dinner	Soltis DH
July 18	7:00	Breakfast	DH
	8:00	Load Bus: Going into Monteverde Hanging Bridges	Selvatura
	Noon	Lunch	DH
	2:00	Video Field Project	Classroom/Field
	6:00	Dinner	DH
	7:00	Lecture (Joe): Strategies for Teaching Evolution
July 19	7:00	Breakfast	DH
	8:00	VFP con’t	Classroom / field
	Noon	Lunch	DH
	1:00	VFP con’t	Classroom / field
	6:00	Dinner	DH
	7:00	VFP presentations	Classroom
	8:30	Selected episode of Primal Survival	Classroom
July 20	7:00	Breakfast (*if prone to motion sickness, take meds*)	DH
	8:00	Repack boxes	Classroom
	9:30	Load bus for Souvenir shopping	Patio/Parking lot
	Noon	Lunch	Sarchi; TBD
	3:00	Check in to Hotel Aeropuerto (arrange @ reception for free airport shuttle for next day)	Aeropuerto Reception
	6:30	Farewell dinner	Aeropuerto restaurant
July 21		Fly home	SJO!

Tuition

We have already applied a tuition reduction using OTS´s scholarship fund for everyone who is selected to be in the course. The tuition for this course is $2350 (USD)

This section will be updated soon

Housing & Meals

It is important to recognize that the OTS program differs from your typical on-campus life in a few ways. Though you may have prior experience of living with one or two roommates on campus, during the course you will be living closely with 10–15 others. You will share bathrooms and common areas, and it will sometimes be difficult to find personal space. This means communication and respect will be crucial. We also need to have sincere respect for one another, regardless of different opinions and lifestyles. This includes respect for privacy, respect for rules and regulations, and even respect for the fact that unpredictability is an inherent feature of field-based programs such as ours. Indeed, next to communication and cooperation, flexibility and a good sense of humor are the most important characteristics of a successful student in our program.

Passport & Visa Information

You must have a valid passport to travel to Costa Rica. It is important that the passport does not expire within six months of entering Costa Rica. If you are NOT a citizen of a North American or European country, you will probably need a special visa to get into Costa Rica. We recommend that you contact your respective consulate or embassy services to determine if you need a visa to travel to Costa Rica. It is important to consider the requirements to get a visa approved before you apply for one of our courses. If you are accepted into one of our courses, we will provide any information necessary, within reason, to help with the visa application. Please keep in mind that the visa application process can take several months, depending on the country of issue. For more information on this topic please visit this website.

U.S. citizens entering Costa Rica are automatically granted a 90-day tourist visa. Students planning to stay in Costa Rica after the program end date need to take this into account.

Review the requisites about traveling and entering Costa Rica in the following links:

Entry requirements: https://www.visitcostarica.com/en/costa-rica/planning-your-trip/entry-requirements

US Embassy information: https://cr.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/

Please consult OTS if you have any questions.