Asombro Institute for Science Education

In just the last 23 days, our amazing Asombro educators have already taught *70* science lessons in local public school classrooms. And we're only getting started!

One 8th grade student at Mesa Middle school said, “I remember seeing you in 6th grade, and in 7th grade when we smelled the desert plant. I'm going to remember that forever."

A 4th grade teacher at Sunrise Elementary said, "I am very pleased and honored to have witnessed an awesome science learning experience that made my students excited and engaged."

You heard it, folks. And we need your help to continue doing what we do, because there are less than 10 days remaining in our annual Back-to-School, Back-to-Science fundraiser, and we are still far short of our goal. Please consider helping us during this final push to bring more desert science to more local students!

Donate at https://asombro.networkforgood.com/projects/19671-give-the-gift-of-science?fbclid=IwY2xjawE1mL9leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHZ8D28k8-MJfvX51HEBcnl6cm2semLf2aQ_9KcZLoDmC7ST1j-ZY4IzunQ_aem_bsW2WFk0RmpLIIUWoLJHVw

Learn more at https://asombro.org/

Thank you!

Hey Teachers, Asombro is raffling off visits, class kits, and gift cards just for you! Join our Back-To-School Fundraising Raffle and you could win big while supporting Asombro's science education students across the SW! You don't have to be in Las Cruces to win prizes. Buy your raffle ticket by August 31st!

https://asombro.networkforgood.com/projects/230443-back-to-school-teacher-raffle

Join us fun, learning, and making a difference this month! Call the office or email [email protected] to get involved.

We all went crazy for the adorable live bats at our "Going Batty" event at our Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park on Saturday! A wide-winged thank you to all of our partners who joined us in spreading the word about bat conservation: RD Wildlife, Bat Conservation International, NMSU, DarkSky International New Mexico Chapter, and Endless Forms Game!

More Wildlife Wonders are on the way - join us!
August 24th, 9 a.m. to noon: Butterfly Flutterby
September 28th, 9 a.m. to noon: Bird Bonanza (part 2)
October 19, 9 a.m. to noon: Dive into the Playa

What has Asombro been up to this summer? We've been road-tripping, teaching teachers about climate change and cows, and going batty out at the Nature Park!

We have just one month left to reach our Back-to-School, Back-to-Science fundraising goal, and we need YOUR help to get there!

The Asombro Institute relies on individual donations to serve our community. That service includes visiting EVERY SINGLE middle school classroom in Las Cruces public schools once or twice a year to teach one of our professionally developed, curriculum-aligned science lessons. That's not to mention our popular elementary school programs, which are often multi-day visits, and our day-long field trips to our Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park.

If you know a young student in Las Cruces, chances are they have seen us before, and we want to make sure they get to see us again (and again)! Please considering sharing and donating 💚

https://asombro.networkforgood.com/projects/19671-give-the-gift-of-science?fbclid=IwY2xjawEXjZtleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHZdQKDOKBwdeLiqxgbZWUK1luDfF9hSyQl8mchx6z5p44v9J3e9ogLBFag_aem_NVM5Qe6kSN6e-oSqtLdZxQ

Bloom Report: the Fishhook Barrel Cacti are flowering!

Find these along any of the trails within our Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park. Flower color varies between individuals, from orange-yellow to scarlet-red and everything in between 🧡

Today marks the beginning of our Back-to-School Fundraiser, and we need your help to meet our $8000 goal for 2024!

Asombro's 34-year history of providing award-winning outdoor and indoor science education is fueled by our donors.
Basic science literacy is more important than ever, and we need additional funds to reach all students in our region.

Our talented staff and board are dedicated to supporting teachers and students in Las Cruces and beyond. Every year we reach more than 22,000 local school children by delivering hands-on lessons and field trips in schools as well as at our outdoor classroom, the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park, which is open to the public year-round.

If you want to support education in our community, support Asombro! Donate at https://asombro.networkforgood.com/projects/19671-give-the-gift-of-science

We're happy to report that the Graham's Ni**le Cacti are currently flowering in our Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park!

Find these small, fuzzy-white cacti on hillsides tucked in among the rocks. Our Desert Discovery Trail, which will take you by our amphitheater and around Vista Hill, is the perfect route to look for these beautiful splashes of color.

Thank you to on for sharing this photo from his recent visit!

Volunteer with Asombro this July!
https://asombro.org/contact-us/

Summer at Asombro is all about teaching teachers! In June, Asombro staff hosted two workshops on climate change and water conservation in New Mexico. We can't wait to hear how these teachers use what they learned next school year!

Check out our upcoming teacher workshops at https://asombro.org/teacher-workshops/

Calling all nature-lovers: This weekend is the beginning of the annual Horned Lizard Bioblitz! From June 22 - 29, people are encouraged to go out and record their horned lizard (or "h***y toad") sightings on iNaturalist, a free community science website and app. You can participate by going on a walk during this period and photographing any horned lizards you see. Even better, go on one of the New Mexico Herpetological Society's h***y toad hikes that they are organizing around the state for this week! Data from these efforts helps wildlife managers better protect these charismatic reptiles.

Our park manager William snapped this lovely shot just today near the Gateway to the Desert trailhead at our Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park, which is a great spot to start a horned lizard hike. If you see one, let us know!

Happy ! Pollinators like bees, beetles, wasps, moths, flies, butterflies, hummingbirds, and bats illustrate how interconnected our world is, and how much we depend on the activities of wild organisms that we often take for granted.

The Asombro Institute is celebrating these pollen-carrying critters this year with two free events at our outdoor classroom, the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park, as part of our "Wildlife Wonders" series: join us at "Going Batty" on July 27th from 7 to 9 p.m., and "Butterfly Flutterby" on August 24th from 9 a.m. to noon. At each event we'll have local experts, family-friendly activities, and free trading cards for visitors to collect. See our Events tab or visit https://asombro.org/events/ to learn more!

As the Spring semester draws to a close, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate all the middle school students we've had the pleasure of teaching this year! Thanks to Las Cruces Public Schools, we've had the chance to meet every 6th, 7th, and 8th grader across the LCPS district over the fall and spring semesters! These students engaged in our classroom visits to learn about energy transfers in kangaroo rats, creosote bush genetics, the evolution of blanched lizards at White Sands, local water conservation, and how animal migration is affected by the magnetic field!

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JOB ANNOUNCEMENT: We're hiring a Science Educator!

Our team of talented Science Educators lead K-12 students through our award-winning standards-aligned science lessons in the classroom, schoolyard, and at Asombro's outdoor classroom, the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park. For more details or to apply, visit https://asombro.org/careers/

Thank you to all who attended Wildlife Wonders: Radical Reptiles last Saturday at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park! We hosted over 100 visitors who got the chance to meet and learn about snakes, turtles, and lizards, collect Endless Forms Game trading cards, and more!

Our Wildlife Wonders series will be back and better than ever in July for a special nighttime event focusing on bats, bugs, and all things nocturnal. Save the date and click here for more info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1446924402525236/

Join us TODAY from 9am-12pm at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park for Wildlife Wonders: Radical Reptiles!

This family-friendly, all-ages event will feature live reptiles, a chance to chat with and practice reptile monitoring techniques with local herpetologists, collect 5 Endless Forms Game trading cards, and much more! For more info, click this event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/212945795174576/

Check out what's blooming at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park! Admire the cholla blooms (pictured), purple prickly pear flowers, and more. Or, better yet, join us at Wildlife Wonders: Radical Reptiles on Saturday to admire the blooms AND the reptiles!

Calling all Texas teachers! Last summer, we took our teacher workshops on the road to Oklahoma and Utah. This summer, we’re getting ready for round two!

This summer, we’re taking our hands-on teacher workshops to Amarillo, TX! We’ll have two different workshops, each paired with classroom materials for your classroom:

-Connecting to Climate: Global to Local (designed for middle and high school teachers): Join us to learn about Asombro’s free online lessons on climate change, now aligned to TEKS!
-The Science of Ranching (designed for 4th and 5th-grade teachers): Explore Asombro lessons on sustainable ranching, heritage cow breeds, and more. All lessons are now aligned with TEKS!

For more info or to apply/register, visit https://asombro.org/teacher-workshops/.

Yay for summer hours! Please enjoy our outdoor classroom, open to the public, from 7am-7pm now through August!

Great news folks! Starting May 1st, the park will be returning to its summer hours: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday - Sunday.

Did you know Asombro is offering TWO teacher workshops in New Mexico this summer?

If you’re a New Mexico middle school science teacher, join us for Climate Champions, an exciting two-day workshop in Albuquerque. You’ll have the opportunity to learn two different modules, each containing five different, hands-on science lessons. Then, you’ll have the chance to take ALL the materials for one module back to your classroom!

Are you a high school teacher? We also have a workshop for you! Our Climate Change in the Schoolyard workshop in Las Cruces is open to both middle and high school teachers. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to take your students outside to explore and perform experiments, bettering your students’ grasp on the effects of climate change in their region.

For more information or to apply/register, visit https://asombro.org/teacher-workshops/.

Thank you to all who donated on Friday for Southern New Mexico Giving Day! With your help, we raised $5,475 towards quality, hands-on science education. Thank you!

Southern New Mexico Giving Day is drawing to a close in the next few hours! BUT, it isn’t over until midnight! Please consider making a donation before the end of the day to support place-based hands-on science and provide students and teachers with outdoor learning opportunities. Thank you in advance for your support and thank you to the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico for allowing us to be a part of an amazing non-profit community and fundraiser! Click here to donate:
https://bit.ly/give4asombro

Students and teachers are at the heart of what we do. When students get excited about science, Asombro staff can barely contain their own excitement!

One Asombro staff member was recently teaching a second-grade class and asked the class after their science experiment, “What kind of math do we need to do now?” One student couldn’t contain their enthusiasm and shouted, “Science math!” with glee. Excitement like this is made possible through our generous supporters and their donations! Please consider giving to Asombro on this . Click here to donate: https://bit.ly/give4asombro

Happy Southern New Mexico Giving Day! Today marks one of the most important fundraisers for Asombro, as we rely on generous donations to provide quality hands-on science education to the Las Cruces and other New Mexico communities. The Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico and a few generous donors have pledged to match the first $850 in donations that come in during today’s fundraiser! If you’re able, please consider donating so we can continue to reach students, teachers, and community members with place-based science, rooted in the desert that we all love and call home. Click here to donate: https://bit.ly/give4asombro

Asombro’s classroom programs are the “bread and butter” of what they offer. Every Asombro classroom program is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards to complement what K-12 students are learning in their classrooms. Designed to be engaging, interactive, and hands-on, Asombro lessons leave a lasting impact on the students who experience them.

We are officially one day away from Southern New Mexico Giving Day! The Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico has designated this coming Friday, April 26, to be dedicated to raising funds for non-profits in Southern New Mexico... and we’re honored to be included! Over the next week, we’ll be highlighting the many different aspects that make Asombro a worthwhile cause as well as counting down to the big day. Thanks for following along and sharing our story!

Asombro strives to meet the needs of teachers and students, employing creativity to ensure all have access to science education. One inventive way Asombro does this is through Schoolyard Field Trips! These “field trips” take place right on the school’s playground, eliminating the cost of buses and organization of permission slips and lunches. Students discover their playground through a different lens, one of nature and science! Currently, Asombro offers two different schoolyard field trips; one focusing on Spadefoot toads and another about American kestrels.

We are officially two days away from Southern New Mexico Giving Day! The Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico has designated this coming Friday, April 26, to be dedicated to raising funds for non-profits in Southern New Mexico... and we’re honored to be included! Over the next week, we’ll be highlighting the many different aspects that make Asombro a worthwhile cause as well as counting down to the big day. Please feel free to share our story with those you know! Thanks for following along!