If you are an educator or community group intersted in virtual outreach programs, please check out the options listed below.
Virtual tour of the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center
Now you can visit the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center without leaving the comfort of your home or classroom. Filmed using 360° video technology, this virtual tour gives you behind-the-scenes access to our greenhouse, growth chambers, storage facilities, labs and robots. The self-guided tour includes video clips, photographs, and text descriptions. A guided version of this tour is also available (see Facilitated Virtual Programs below).
Self-guided virtual tour of the ABRC
This tour was made possible thanks to a collaboration with the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center. Funds for this project were provided by the Ohio State Energy Partners as part of a grant to support the West Campus Science & Sustainability Festival (WestFest).
Resources for hybrid & virtual learning
In response to the impact of the pandemic on K-12 education, ABRC developed a plant-free version of our popular Play Mendel module. Play Mendel 2.0 is designed for hybrid and virtual instruction. Download the materials below.
Play Mendel 2.0 Teacher Guide & Answer Key
Play Mendel 2.0 Student Worksheet
Greening the Classroom Terms & Concepts
View a recording of a teacher professional development workshop title Greening the Classroom: Using Plants to Teach Science from August 2020. This session demonstrates the Play Mendel 2.0 module.
Looking for a more traditional lab module for your curriculum? ABRC maintains a suite of ready-to-teach lab modules for classroom instruction. Visit Explore Our Kits to access those modules. ABRC provides seeds free-of-charge for K-12 teachers.
Short Educational Videos
Facilitated Virtual Programs
Guided Tour of the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center
Looking for more than our self-guided tour has to offer? Allow us to take the reigns in a guided virtual tour of our facilities. This guided tour uses a modified version of the self-guided tour, but instead of reading about the work of the ABRC you’ll hear about it from one of our staff. This format allows for interaction and Q&A with the audience, and the duration of the tour can be tailored to your group’s needs.
Virtual Classroom Visit
Whether your students are in the classroom or connecting from home, the ABRC is available to drop in for a visit. The topic of these programs can be tailored to your group’s needs - from a career talk, to ask a scientist, to a presentation on a specific plant science topic…we’ve got you covered.
How to Schedule
- Contact us at ABRC@osu.edu. Please include the type of program you are interested in, preferred dates and time, as well as a bit of information about your group.
- Please note that for all programs attendeed by minors, a teacher or group leader must be in attendance for the duration of the virtual program.
- In general, programs need to be scheduled at least two weeks in advance of your selected date. Every effort will be made to accommodate last minute requests, but availability may be limited.
- Please see our Accessibility Accommodation Statement at the bottom of this page. Let us know as soon as possible if anyone in your group needs an accommodation to fully participate in our programs.
Accessibility Accommodation Statement - If you require an accommodation including but not limited to live captioning, interpretation, or descriptions of visual elements to fully participate in these programs, please contact us at ABRC@osu.edu. Requests made at least two weeks in advance of the scheduled program will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the university will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.
Some links on this page are to .pdf files, which requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader software. If you do not have Reader, you may use the following link to Adobe to download it for free at: Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you need these files in a more accessible format, please contact ABRC@osu.edu.