Since Biosphere 2 opened to visitors in 1991, more than half a million K-12 students have explored the three-acre, glass-enclosed research facility that mimics Earth's ecosystems.

Now, the next half-million K-12 visitors will experience the University of Arizona facility with the help of a new smartphone app designed specifically for visiting school groups. The new Biosphere 2 K-12 app is available for free on the Apple App Store and on Google Play. It was designed in partnership with local K-12 educators.

"We wanted to create something that was more than just a tour; we also wanted to incorporate science standards – basic biology and earth science – with the uniqueness of Biosphere 2 and the research here," said John Adams, deputy director and chief operating officer at Biosphere 2. "It's a nice way to provide meaningful content for students as they come through Biosphere 2, and it adds to what they're learning in the classroom."

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The app takes visitors through 23 stops on the Biosphere 2 grounds, each one featuring a video in the app that explains a given area of the facility, its research or a broader scientific concept. The videos touch on Biosphere 2's origins in 1991 and the living quarters for the Biospherians who resided in the facility during two missions in the early '90s, before Biosphere 2 was operated by the university. The videos also cover in depth the five biomes found under the glass, which include an ocean, mangrove wetlands, tropical rainforest, savannah grassland, and fog desert – a desert that primarily gets its moisture from fog.

At the end of the tour, students learn how to create a digital model of their own biosphere and run a simulation to see how their ecosystems survive.

The videos include fun facts about the facility, such as how a series of tiny imperfections during the building process of Biosphere 2 led to the facility not being completely airtight. Added together, the small openings would amount to a hole about three fingers wide.

The app's designers used Arizona Department of Education science standards for grades five through seven to form the content, Adams said. They then explored ways to incorporate Biosphere 2 research.

Aaron Bugaj, a research technologist for Biosphere 2, helped coordinate much of the app's development and helped recruit Danielle Hunt, a College of Fine Arts student who graduated in May 2023, to create animations and other multimedia. 

With an early draft of the app in place, the team assembled a focus group of three educators – two from Chandler Unified School District and one from Flowing Wells School District in Tucson – to help refine the subject matter to ensure it aligned with curriculum goals and learning objectives.

"The use of technology allows students to explore complex ecosystems and scientific concepts in a hands-on, engaging way," said Anna Heyer, district science specialist for the Flowing Wells School District, who served on the focus group. "It enables them to visualize and interact with the content, making abstract ideas more concrete and understandable. This kind of interactive learning can inspire curiosity, deepen understanding and help students see the relevance of science in the real world."

Most K-12 students who come through Biosphere 2 have never seen a rainforest or even a beach, Bugaj said.

"So, the facility is a unique opportunity to give students a really approachable way to learn about these novel ecosystems," he said. "It's also a no-brainer for us and almost a service to the community for us to provide strong science communications and learning materials for future generations."

Though the app is designed for K-12 audiences, Bugaj said, it allows anyone to engage with more scientific principles than what's covered in the facility's main tour, which focuses on Biosphere 2 history and research more broadly.

The new app adds to a growing stable of digital resources Biosphere 2 leaders have built in recent years, Adams said. The first, a driving tour app, came during the COVID-19 pandemic, and gave visitors the opportunity to take a self-guided driving tour around the Biosphere 2 grounds, guided by the app.

The Biosphere 2 Experience app followed. It provides information about the facility at various tour stops but covers the history and research more broadly without going deep into the science. There are plans to translate all of that app's content into Spanish, which Adams hopes will be done by next spring.

All the apps are central to helping spread the word about U of A research as part of the university's land-grant mission, Adams said.

"We're lucky to have visitors who want to learn more," he said. "With this app specifically for K-12 kids, we can get across these key concepts that they hear about every day, and the hope is that we can provide a broader knowledge base for these students so when they're learning, they can make more informed decisions, rather than just relying on a gut feeling."