The 1999 CORE Institute in Biology focused on biodiversity and addressed the following questions:

• What is biodiversity?
• Why is it important?
• What are the threats facing life on Earth right now?
• What can be done to stem the tide of habitat destruction and species extinction?

Participants examined microbes across habitats, exploring their complex interactions with humans. They visited the Epidemic! exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History and spoke with museum curators and researchers who specialize in infectious disease. Participants also spent two days focusing on human health with researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Throughout the institute teacher-participants processed their activities in light of how National Science Education Standards were driving the experience, how the activities could be translated into local issues, how secondary students could engage in similar research projects, and how through inquiry-based science teaching all students can achieve higher quality learning. To this end, every teacher worked in a small research group and went through the complete cycle of scientific inquiry on a project related to biodiversity. Web pages based on their work can be found here.