Fingers Crossed

When I was 12 my family came to Arizona for Christmas break because my dad was selling Christmas trees in Sierra Vista. One of the places we went to visit was the Biosphere 2 complex. For those of you who don't know, the Biosphere 2 is a lunar environment that was built just outside of Tucson to see if it would work if we ever decided to colonize the moon. The base of it is metal and the top is all metal and glass structure. The inside has multiple environments from tropical rain forest to grasslands. It also has the largest man made ocean in the world. (Or at least to that point.)   The Biosphere 2 got its name because the first Biosphere is Earth, making this the second one. When it was first built they had scientists that specialized in each environment live within the facility for two years, conducting experiments and observing the successes and failures of each area so that they would be able to adjust and make it better should they build it on the moon.

Anywho, I became obsessed with this place. I even had a poster framed in our TV room when we got home and I swore upon all that I had that I would be the marine biologist who got to take care of the ocean. I just knew that I was meant for that path. Unfortunately, when I was in high school we went to Hawaii and I tried snuba diving. I learned that I can not go under the water more than about 10 feet without having horrid ear pain. I can't regulate my ears to save my life. So, I followed my second love and became a teacher. However, my love for the Biosphere 2 has never faded.

I learned recently that they do a STEM institute every summer for different grade level groups. My grade level group is up this summer and I have applied to attend. It is a 15 day institute where I would go to the complex and live in one of their casitas and they would teach me how to effectively teach my classroom to fit the STEM model. (STEM stands for Science Technology Engineering and Math). Not only will they teach it, they allow us to try it and give us all of the materials to take home. We also get to conduct a research project and take that home with us as well. I was beside myself when I found out about this opportunity! The application deadline was last Friday and we are supposed to find out in the next couple of weeks whether we got in or not. I will definitely let you all know the outcome, but as of now, I am anxiously waiting, saying some pretty hefty prayer and keeping my fingers crossed. I have never wanted any experience as badly as I want this one! It would truly be a childhood dream come true.

Random side note: They are designing a biosphere that will be built out in the ocean! Soooo cool! (I am such a science geek it isn't even funny!)