Toast for Lunch bunch

Manduca sexta, a caterpillar widely used in research at the University of Arizona, also will be the focus of a teaching workshop during the last week of July.

The workshop links local elementary school teachers with UA scientists to provide educational activities for kids in kindergarten through third grades. Several middle school students will also have a role in the project.

In all, more than 20 teachers from the Tucson Unified, Sunnyside, Marana and Sahuarita school districts will participate.

The teachers will be on campus each day from Monday, July 24, through Friday, July 28, to learn how this versatile little organism can be incorporated in various ways into the curriculum. The obvious ones are science and mathematics, but opportunities for lessons in reading, writing, drama, art and music also abound.

The workshop, now in its sixth year, is team taught by Michael Wells, UA professor of biochemistry, and two elementary school teachers, Patricia Weaver and Cecelia Valenzuela. Classes are held in the Henry Koffler Building (CBS) in rooms 420 and 430.