WATERBORO - On a beautiful fall day, seventh-grade science students at Massabesic Middle School were searching for anything that might make the woods surrounding their school less beautiful.

The specific focus was on Asian bittersweet, a vine that will wrap itself around healthy trees until it chokes them. The students had been searching the woods for any invasive plant species for weeks. On this day they were collecting data, including photographs, to make sure they were right - the plant they found was not the dreaded vine and the woods were safe.

"We proved it wasn't," Jennifer Hanson said. "The leaves are similar but they are not as glossy."

Aaron Sabine pointed to a suspected vine held up by a small wooden cross. If it were Asian bittersweet, then it would have tried to wrap itself around the cross.

"We don't want any invasive species here," Sabine said.

Michelle Bozeman is more than an interested observer as the students wind their way around paths in the woods. A University of New England graduate student studying marine sciences, Bozeman plans to use her master's degree in geographic information systems to build a map based on the students' data collecting efforts. But Bozeman, a native of Brunswick, is doing more than providing her technical expertise. She is part of a program aimed at doing exactly what she is doing on this day - talking to students about science.

"When I talk about the science that I do, I usually throw out the jargon of the discipline," Bozeman said. "It's tough, but it is getting better."

That's the goal behind the University of New England SPARTACUS program. Program manager Henrietta List said SPARTACUS, short for Systemic PARTnership Aimed at Connecting University and School, is using a study on the impact rain has on discharges from the Saco River watershed and its influence on coastal weather as an opportunity to bring graduate science students into K-12 classrooms 10 hours a week.

List said this is the first year for SPARTACUS at the university. The program is funded by a $2.87 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

Six school districts are involved in SPARTACUS, including Biddeford and School Administrative District 6.

"It's a lot of fun," Bozeman said. "And it's really rewarding. Students are using the vocabulary developed in the context of our work."

Teacher Patrick Parent said groups of students were each given a 5-meter by 5-meter area to study.

"It's a challenge," said Parent, because students are typically outside of school only for recess. "We have to make sure the kids understand this is not recess. But for some who do not shine in the classroom when they are taking quizzes, this provides an opportunity for these kids to succeed."

It appears the work was having an impact. Student Andrew Mongiet also discussed the potential Asian bittersweet threat and repeated a lesson his teacher wants students to learn.

"As Mr. Parent said, if you write down you saw Bigfoot it doesn't mean you saw Bigfoot," said Mongiet, reinforcing the need to collect data and evidence to support the findings made by students.

The invasive species work also supports a group Parent is involved with known as Vital Signs. Scientists and educators at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute designed a program geared for middle-school students to become citizen scientists. The information gathered by students will be submitted to the institute.