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A new partnership between HHMI’s Educational Media Group and the Biomedical Neuroscience Institute (BNI) at Universidad de Chile will provide teachers and students in Latin America with free access to science education materials produced by HHMI BioInteractive.
A new partnership between HHMI’s Educational Media Group and the Biomedical Neuroscience Institute (BNI) at Universidad de Chile will provide teachers and students in Latin America with free access to science education materials produced by HHMI BioInteractive.


Teachers and students in Latin America will have free access to the award-winning multimedia science education materials produced by HHMI BioInteractive, thanks to a new partnership between HHMI’s Educational Media Group and the Biomedical Neuroscience Institute (BNI) at Universidad de Chile.

BioInteractive is translating its educational materials into Spanish, while BNI is conducting a series of professional development workshops for teachers in Chile focused on how to implement the resources in their classrooms. Through this partnership, BNI will provide free access to the educational materials through Loligo, a new Spanish-language science education websiteexternal link, opens in a new tab, and draw upon the HHMI Educational Media Group’s extensive experience in the area of educational outreach.

“We’ve become very interested in broadening access to our science education materials for Spanish-speaking students, to support science learning in the U.S. for a rapidly growing community, and for students throughout Latin America,” said Dennis Liu, head of the Educational Media Group at HHMI.

“Especially for reaching an international audience, partners are essential, and we couldn’t have found better associates than the scientists at the University of Chile who share our passion for science communication and advancing science education,” said Liu.

 

BNI started its education initiative with a grant from the Chilean government aimed at increasing scientific literacy and improving science education in Chile. BNI also hopes that other countries in Latin America will use the Spanish-language resources hosted on the Loligo website to improve science education in their schools.

BioInteractive, which is produced by HHMI’s Educational Media Group, has created an extensive English-language collection of resources for biology educators, including interactive activities for the classroom, 3D animations that explain the inner workings of different living systems, and its award-winning series of short films about key discoveries and the scientific process. BioInteractive offers these resources for free through its websiteexternal link, opens in a new tab.

The Spanish-language material available through this collaboration includes short films from HHMI’s “Great Transitions” series – “The Origin of Birds” and the “The Origin of Humans,” –“Lizards in an Evolutionary Tree,” “The Making of a Theory,” “The Double Helix,” “Natural Selection and Adaptation,” and more. New offerings such as “The Biology of Skin Color,” and “The Guide: A Biologist in Gorongosa” will be added soon. Eventually, most of HMMI’s short classroom films will be dubbed into Spanish and made available to Chilean educators through this collaboration. Apart from films, BioInteractive’s most popular animations, such as those illustrating DNA replication and the molecular mechanism of synaptic function, will be included in the collection.

BioInteractive’s Spanish-language resources are also available through its websiteexternal link, opens in a new tab and on its YouTube Channelexternal link, opens in a new tab.

HHMI has previous experience supporting science education in Chile. The Institute has provided eight grants to scientists working in Chile since 1997, and is currently funding an international early career scientist at the Catholic University of Chile.

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The Howard Hughes Medical Institute plays a powerful role in advancing scientific research and education. Its scientists, located across the country and around the world, have made important discoveries that advance both human health and our fundamental understanding of biology. The Institute also aims to transform science education into a creative, interdisciplinary endeavor that reflects the excitement of real research. Through its Webby-nominated BioInteractive website, HHMI provides a wide array of free science education resources for the classroom, including short films, interactive lessons, and animations. HHMI is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland. For more information, please visit www.hhmi.org