IES Azuer (Manzanares) – Melanogaster Catch The Fly

The IES Azuer center is a public secondary education center located in Manzanares (Ciudad Real) and belonging to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of Castilla-La Mancha. This center is characterized by being very dynamic, family-friendly, tolerant, inclusive with initiative, which promotes equal opportunities, scientific vocations and respect for the environment, as well as practices and healthy lifestyles. His commitment to science is reflected in his participation in various science fairs and competitions such as Science in Action or the Young Researchers Contest. In addition, the Center’s Science Club encourages all students who voluntarily want to develop their interest in the world of research and science.

IES Azuer students and faculty have joined the #MelanogasterCTF project by participating in the collection and classification of biological samples of Drosophila during the months of September and October 2020, making use of all anti-COVID precautions.

From left to right: Jesús Márquez Duque, Antonio Novés Prieto, Jorge Serrano Herreras y Javier Manzanares Casilla.

María Criado Peña (director of the center)

It is an excellent way to involve students in values of cooperation and teamwork as well as to disseminate and promote Science and give it the value it should have in our society.

José Luis Olmo Rísquez (Biology teacher)

It is a project that in a very practical and real way brings students closer to Science through the use of the scientific method and enhances their scientific concerns. It is a privilege and opportunity to participate in this type of citizen science projects.

Antonio Novés Prieto (student)

The activity was very good. It was fun and interesting to go looking for fruit flies in a melon grove and then distinguish if they were male or female as well as the species in the laboratory with the magnifying glasses. The only bad thing about the experience is that it was very short.