The iGEM Outreach Bank is a list of good quality outreach activities and resources that previous teams have created, which can be sorted based on variables such as age group and documentation level. The aim of this is to enable future iGEM teams to quickly search for resources to be adapted and reused, to make preparing for quality outreach events more time effective.
Team= material suitable for iGEM teams; Primary= material suitable for primary school aged children; Middle= material suitable for middle school children; High= material suitable for high school students; University= material suitable for univeristy students; Any= material for a general audience.
Documentation: 3= Very comprehensive documentation; 2= Incomplete documentation; 1= Little documentation
Related to project?: Y= Yes, related to project topic; N=No, not related to project topic
| Outreach activity | Age range | Documentation | Wiki! | Description | Related to project? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0001: Curriculum Design Guide | Team | 3 | Rochester 2023 | A guide to iGEM teams on how to create effective outreach events. | N |
| 0002: Designing Biobricks presentation | High | 3 | Rochester 2023 | A presentation explaining the basics of synthetic biology, and the concept of biobricks. The presentation contains embedded activities, such as a biobrick bead activity. | N |
| 0003: Museum Curiosity Camp | Middle | 3 | Rochester 2023 | A collection of resources including genetic engineering slides, genetic engineering worksheets, strawberry DNA lesson plan, worksheets and activity instructions. | N |
| 0004: SynBio Lecture | High | 2 | OUC-Haide 2023 | In Chinese. A presentation of the evolution of synthetic biology. | N |
| 0005: Peer Guiding | University | 2 | OUC-Haide 2023 | A short course directed at university students who are interested in doing iGEM in the future. Resources include a course program and course plenary questions. | N |
| 0006: SynBioGenius Board Game | High | 1 | OUC-Haide 2023 | Some in Chinese. A synbio based board game for teens. An excellent idea to use, but not well documented. | N |
| 0007: A guide to scientific communication | High | 3 | VITVellore 2023 | A presentation on a guide to science communication, including tips on how to read scientific literature. | N |
| 0008: Microplastics, the Trojan horse effect presentation | High | 3 | VITVellore 2023 | A presentation on the science of microplastics and cancer. | Y |
| 0009: Net Zero forum presentation | High | 3 | VITVellore 2023 | A presentation on net zero and the plastic paradox, as well as a lot of detail on the iGEM process, and their university's previous iGEM teams. | Y |
| 00010: The plastic pestilence booklet | High | 3 | VITVellore 2023 | Account on plastic pollution in Japan and India. Information booklet. | Y |
| 00011: Raising a voice against plastic pollution with Community Radio | Any | 2 | VITVellore 2023 | Podcast on Spotify on the topic of plastic pollution. | Y |
| 00012: Comic book raising the PET problem | Primary | 3 | VITVellore 2023 | Indian mythology based comic book on the problem of PET pollution, for children. | Y |
| 00013: Biodiversity and bioethics presentation | Primary | 2 | TJUSLS-China 2023/a> | In Chinese. Presentation and painting activity on biodiversity and bioethics. | Y |
| 00014: Microtopia game | Primary | 3 | William and Mary 2023 | Well documented microorganism based game for children. | N |
| 00015: Sleuth game | Any | 3 | William and Mary 2023 | Well documented synthetic biology Clue-style board game. Looks absolutely brilliant. | N |
| 00016: K-12 Activity packet | High | 3 | William and Mary 2023 | Well documented activity packet, that exposes students to key core concepts and procedures in synthetic biology. | N |
| 00017: Codenames | University | 3 | William and Mary 2023 | Codenames game to encourage young students to engage with vocabulary and concepts crucial to the field of synthetic biology. | N |
| 00018: Guide to fieldable soil synthetic biology | Team | 3 | William and Mary 2023 | Resource to guide other research teams in their pursuit of fieldable synthetic biology solutions. Comprehensive insights to soild biology, chassis selection, metabolism, measurement and phage interactions. | N |
| 00019: Synbio Hourstory | Any | 2 | WHU-China 2023 | In Chinese. Comic to popularise the major events of synthetic biology to the public. | N |
| 00020: CRISPR Brochure | Any | 2 | WHU-China 2023 | In Chinese. Brochure to introduce CRISPR technology to the public. The brochure shows the advantages of CRISPR technology compared with other gene editing technologies, highlights the application prospects of CRISPR in different fields, and arouses public attention to CRISPR technology. | N |
| 00021: Podcast series | Any | 1 | WHU-China 2023 | In Chinese. Podcast series to share stories of distinguished synthetic biology researchers, iGEM teamsm and industry advancements. | N |
| 00022: BioFrame Riddles game | University | 1 | BNU-China 2023 | Game to impart knowledge about synthetic biology and iGEM in an enjoyable and engaging manner. | N |
| 00023: Card game, "To see Biotech in a tree" | High | 3 | BIT-China 2023 | A science themed card game to have a deeper understanding of the development process and applications of synthetic biology. The game resources and instructions are well documented. | N |
| 00024: Microbial painting | Middle | 1 | BIT-China 2023 | Using E.coli with exogenous fluorescent protein genes to create patterns in petri dishes. Looks like a brilliant idea! | N |
| 00025: Four panel comics | Primary | 2 | BIT-China 2023 | Comic to personify common microorganisms, making science communication concise, clear, vivid, and interesting. | N |
| 00026: Synbio rainbow colouring book | Primary | 3 | BIT-China 2023 | Short synthetic biology based colouring book for children. | N |
| 00026: Synbio rainbow colouring book | Primary | 3 | BIT-China 2023 | Short synthetic biology based colouring book for children. | N |
| 00027: Biosensor design project | High | 3 | Cambridge 2024 | Biomedical engineering summer course, project. Short project where students design their own biosensor on Benchling. Supporting presentation introduces the students to the basics of synthetic biology. | N |
| 00028: Biomedical engineering summer course masterclass | High | 3 | Cambridge 2024 | Biomedical engineering summer course, masterclass. Short presentation to introduce students to the basics and applications of synthetic biology. | N |
| 00029: Magdalene college residential presentation | High | 3 | Cambridge 2024 | Presentation and activity to introduce students to the basics and applications of synthetic biology. | N |
| 00030: Girls in maths residential presentation | High | 3 | Cambridge 2024 | Presentation for mathematically gifted students on the use of maths and modelling in synthetic biology. | N |
| 00031: CAU-China x Beijing Bozhi School Presntation | Primary | 3 | CAU-China 2023 | Presentation introducing primary aged children to microbes. | Y |
| 00032: Adaptive science education course | Middle | 3 | CAU-China 2023 | Engage middle school students in discussions to explore life sciences and synthetic biology. Science education and games. Microbial themed. | Y |
| 00033: Class meeting exchange | High | 3 | CAU-China 2023 | In depth introduction to their team's project and opportunity to engage students in discussions about synthetic biology. | Y |
| 00034: Open laboratory exchange activity | University | 3 | CAU-China 2023 | Presentation and practical activities to teach undergraduate students basic laboratory techniques. | N |
| 00035: "I want to do research" game | Any | 3 | CAU-China 2023 | Monopoly based game, with molecular cloning activities. Well documented. | N |
| 00036: Online biological knowledge competition | High | 2 | Peking 2023 | In Chinese. Biological knowledge quiz. | N |
| 00037: Chinese/English podcast on cancer | Any | 2 | Peking 2023 | In Chinese and English. | Y |
| 00038: Handbook of microbial mediated tumor therapy in synthetic biology | Team | 3 | Peking 2023 | Specifically, we completed a review on oncolytic viruses, discussed ethical considerations regarding the use of viruses for tumor therapy, and provided a summary of our human practice activities. | Y |
| 00039: Popular science handbook on breast cancer | Any | 3 | Tsinghua 2023 | In this handbook, we introduce the incidence and development trend of breast cancer, compare it with other cancers, and provide a detailed and comprehensive introduction and analysis of the specific symptoms, risk factors, prevention methods, screening methods and possible treatment strategies of breast cancer. | Y |
| 00040: Bioluminescence in the natural world presentation | Primary | 3 | UCAS-China 2023 | In Chinese. Presentaion based on bioluminescence for children. | Y |
| 00041: Popular science booklets | Any | 3 | UCAS-China 2023 | In English and Chinese. Two books on "Exploring Synthetic Biology" and "The Secrets of Neurotransmitters." | Y |
| 00042: Microbial painting | University | 1 | UCAS-China 2023 | Pictures and description of the microbial painting activity facilitated for university students. | Y |
| 00043: Science education camp presentations | High | 3 | NTHU-Taiwan 2023 | In Chinese and English. Presentations teaching students about the concept of synthetic biology, iGEM competition, our project, biological information, current disease and experimental skills. | N |
| 00044: Wiki game | Any | 3 | NTHU-Taiwan 2023 | Wiki game with links to colorectal cancer. | Y |
| 00045: BioSTEM-Educational tool | Middle | 1 | Patras 2023 | Little documentation. Card game idea. | Y |
| 00046: Comic Book | Primary | 3 | Patras 2023 | Available in English, Indonesian, and Greek.Comic book to turn science communication into a game. | N |
| 00047: Bioremediation card game | Any | 1 | Sorbonne 2023 | Happy families inspired card game. Not well documented, but a great idea. | Y |
| 00048: Tallehassee Bioengineering Symposium | University | 2 | FSU 2023 | Description of the speakers at the symposium the team hosted. | N |
| 00047: Game ideas | Any | 1 | REC-CHENNAI 2023 | Select "Beach" to see a collection of synthetic biology based game ideas suitable for the general public. | N |
| 00048: Poster presentation on their project | University | 3 | Princeton 2023 | Included as a good example of a poster presentation, based on the team's project. Poster based on the experimental results and presented at Princeton's summer research event. | Y |
| 00049: Synthetic biology board game | Middle | 3 | Tianjin 2023 | We have developed a board game called "Engineered Microorganism: Under the Sword of Damocles", inspired by the ancient Greek legend of the Sword of Damocles. In this game, scientists use anti-escape system to stop genetically modified cells from fleeing the laboratory, while the modified cells attempt to break free, creating a gripping story of microbes entwined with scientists. | N |
| 00049: Synthetic biology board game | Middle | 3 | Tianjin 2023 | A board game called "Engineered Microorganism: Under the Sword of Damocles", inspired by the ancient Greek legend of the Sword of Damocles. In this game, scientists use anti-escape system to stop genetically modified cells from fleeing the laboratory, while the modified cells attempt to break free, creating a gripping story of microbes entwined with scientists. | N |
| 00050: Inspiring Young Minds with DNA Education | Primary | 1 | Maastricht 2023 | Describes a series of activities to introduce younger children to the concept of DNA and inheritance. Includes an activity on filling in complementary base pairs, and DNA isolation. | N |
| 00051: Blog series | Any | 3 | Maastricht 2023 | In Dutch. A series of 4 blogs produced in collaboration with Biotechnologie, a Dutch company. The blogs make a concerted effort to explain the technology behind our project in a way that is understandable for individuals of all ages, whether or not they have a background in science. | Y |
| 00052: Blog series | Any | 3 | Maastricht 2023 | Interview with Kate Seymour, art historian and current Head of Education at Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limburg (SRAL).They discussed current restoration methods and talked about the influence synthetic biology can have on the world of restoration. | Y |
| 00053: Science career in India | High | 3 | IISER-TVM 2023 | Powerpoint on how to get into a science career in India. | N |
| 00054: Popular science book list | Any | 3 | IISER-TVM 2023 | List of popular science books. It's a great list. | N |
| 00055: Collection of general synthetic biology quizzes | High | 3 | IISER-TVM 2023 | A collection of synthetic biology related quizzes, including a dartgame and queer quiz. | N |
| 00056: Equipment database | Team | 3 | IISER-TVM 2023 | The equipment database provides details of different scientific equipment and other helpful resources that can be helpful in projects related to synthetic biology that are available in institutes across the state of Kerala. The database contains details such as the name of the institute, its location, the resources available and the link to their respective website. | N |
| 00057: Outreach memory card game | Middle | 2 | IISER-TVM 2023 | Simple memory game based on famous scientists and their discoveries. | N |
| 00058: Short introduction to synthetic biology presentation | High | 3 | IISER-TVM 2023 | Short, basic presentation on an introduction to synthetic biology. | N |
| 00059: SynBio book for young children | Primary | 3 | IISER-TVM 2023 | To introduce young readers to this captivating world, they made a 'SynBio Book' introducing the idea of synthetic biology to the youngest readers. The book combines playful storytelling with vibrant illustrations and interactive activities to make learning about synthetic biology an exciting adventure. | N |
| 00060: DIY SynBio Kit | Primary | 3 | IISER-TVM 2023 | Simple, practical biology experiments students can do on their own with almost all materials that are available in their day-to-day life. | N |
| 00061: Microalgae and bacteria popular science book | Middle | 3 | FZPt-CHINA 2023 | The FZPt-CHINA team disseminates scientific knowledge by publishing popular science books, with the fundamental goal of increasing public awareness and understanding of science. Through popular science books, we can enable more people to understand science, its history and current situation, make science more popular and close to people's lives, and greatly enhance the scientific literacy of the public. | N |
| 00062: Poster on bioremediation using synthetic biology | Any | 3 | UNILausanne 2023 | In English, French, German and Italian. The poster exhibition at the Aquatis aquarium-vivarium enabled us to reach a vast audience with a wide age range, in a place meaningful for our project. | Y |
| 00063: Plasticbusters board games | Middle | 3 | UNILausanne 2023 | Board game and simple quiz card game. | Y |
| 00064: Lecture and workshop resources | High | 3 | Gdansk 2023 | During the workshop part, each group of students was tasked with preparing their own iGEM project. A detailed description of it, along with a technical drawing of the genetic puzzles we created, can be found in the document below. | N |
| 00065: Children's story book | Primary | 3 | HKU-Hong Kong 2023 | The storybook, centered around the theme of scientific discovery, combines imaginative storytelling with educational content to engage young readers. | N |
| 00066: Card game, based on exploding kittens | Primary | 3 | HKU-Hong Kong 2023 | A card game inspired by the game exploding kittens, made for younger children. | N |
| 00067: Synthetic biology picture book | Primary | 3 | HBUT-China 2023 | Among them is the promotional video Tomato on the Sea by the HBUT-China team, which tells the story of the maritime Silk Road as the background, the traveler travels across the ocean along the maritime Silk Road to the mysterious remote eastern continent, presents the tomato to emperor’s concubine, and claims that the tomato can help people remain young. The concubine orders him to bring the tomato to the public. Finally, the traveler extracted lycopene and spread it around the world. | N |
| 00068: Training 2024 iGEM team | Team | 3 | OUC-China 2023 | Some in Chinese. Training guidance and a presention for future iGEM team members. | N |
| 00069: Bio-film salon | University | 3 | BNUZH-China 2023 | Very well documented synthetic biology based film club. | N |
| 00070: Children's educational drama | Primary | 3 | BNUZH-China 2023 | Art Alive is a series of educational activities aimed at engaging young audiences with the world of art and science in an entertaining and informative manner. One of the highlights of this series is the captivating children's educational drama titled "FeFighterS". This drama unfolds an imaginative journey into the human body, where cells and microorganisms come to life, and the battle against a formidable foe, cancer, takes center stage. | N |
| 00071: Ethics debate resources | University | 3 | BNUZH-China 2023 | Detailed documentation for a debate. | N |
| 00072: Drawing with microbial art | University | 3 | BNUZH-China 2023 | Under our guidance, university students from various majors embarked on a microbiological adventure. They initiated their journey by working with culture mediums to establish their distinct bacterial colonies. They then explored the laboratory, accompanied by our team members, acquainting themselves with lab equipment such as decolorizing shakers, magnetic stirring hot plates, pipettes, gel imaging systems, small centrifuges, and temperature-controlled shaking incubators. | N |
| 00073: Ethics debate resources | University | 3 | BNUZH-China 2023 | Detailed documentation for a debate. | N |
| 00074: Biobuddies: Activities for primary schools | Primary | 2 | BNUZH-China 2023 | A description of 3 different activity sessions for primary aged children. | N |
| 00075: Primary school bacteria presention | Primary | 3 | SUSTech-Shenzhen 2023 | In Chinese. A presentation for primary school children on bacteria. | N |
| 00076: Synthetic biology and creativity online course | Middle | 3 | SUSTech-Shenzhen 2023 | In Chinese. At first, we briefly introduced the history of microbial discovery. Then, we compare microbes to pets and ask the students to think about how we “domesticate” microbes. With the help of the students' answers, we introduced the latest synthetic biology techniques. In the introduction of synthetic biology techniques, we also just gave the framework of knowledge but let them state and argue their thoughts on the principle or application of these techniques based on what they already knew and guided them to the right answer. | N |
| 00077: Health equity symposium presentation | Any | 3 | UChicago 2023 | The presentation focused on the ability of enzymatic synthesis to improve accessibility for the highly-prescribed hypothyroidism drug levothyroxine. | Y |
| 00078: Connections engineering gel electrophoresis workshop | High | 3 | Queens-Canada 2023 | This activity taught the students about the properties of DNA and how similar applications to this technique is used in this field. | N |
| 00079: Science Quest: 8 workshops | Middle | 3 | Queens-Canada 2023 | Workshop topics: Is water colourless?, Soap films can behave like membranes, S.O.S Save our seas, Can we boil at room temperature, Enzyme activity, Unveiling the secrets of bubbling oceans, Corn Plastic workshop. | N |
| 00080: STEM kit | Middle | 3 | Alma 2023 | The 2023 STEM kit: Zooming in! teaches students about organisms and how we are made of organs, tissues and at the smallest levels cells. The kit includes a demonstration of zooming into the body to look at each level. The kit also includes an activity where students can build their own bacterial cells. This biology centered kit can be simplified for younger audiences or more in depth for advanced students. | N |
| 00081: Science blowout bioart | Primary | 3 | Alma 2023 | Then when shown the examples of BioArt students were encouraged to look into premade microscope slides and draw what they saw for their own piece of BioArt. This activity allowed students to learn how to use microscopes, and use their creativity to display biological samples. | N |
| 00082: ArtXScience events series | Any | 3 | Vilnius-Lithuania 2023 | ART X SCIENCE is an educational science actualization event cycle, consisting of nine events. Throughout the event cycle, we introduced the participants to the world of science through the prism of art. Our first events started at the dawn of human cognition - where everything in nature appeared strange and mystical. Each event corresponds to a successive scientific milestone, ultimately concluding with modern science, synthetic biology, and even the speculations of the future of science. | N |
| 00083: Atrask.bio: An online learning tool/platform | High | 3 | Vilnius-Lithuania 2023 | A website with synthetic biology educational content on. Well thought out and delivered. | N |
| 00084: Monsoon camps | Primary | 3 | IISER-Kolkata 2023 | The students were treated to an engaging presentation on bacteria and its harmful effects, accompanied by informative and impressive poster presentations. | N |
| 00085: Science camp | Middle | 3 | IISER-Kolata 2023 | During this camp, we conducted captivating activities, including the mesmerizing Plasma Ball and the thrilling Elephant Toothpaste experiment. Besides, we showed them how a stethoscope works, letting them hear the heartbeat. | N |
| 00086: CRISPR and synthetic biology presentation | High | 3 | IISER-Kolata 2023 | In Bengali script. A presentation on CRISPR and synthetic biology principles. | N |
| 00087: MD Simulation workshop | University | 3 | IISER-Kolata 2023 | hosted workshops on MD Simulations and in-silico genetic circuit design. These workshops aimed to introduce Molecular Modeling, Molecular Dynamics Simulation, and the use of Snapgene software for in-silico gene editing and designing. The workshops combined lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on training to familiarize participants with these concepts and empower them to apply these techniques in their studies and research. | N |
| 00087: MD Simulation workshop | University | 3 | IISER-Kolata 2023 | hosted workshops on MD Simulations and in-silico genetic circuit design. These workshops aimed to introduce Molecular Modeling, Molecular Dynamics Simulation, and the use of Snapgene software for in-silico gene editing and designing. The workshops combined lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on training to familiarize participants with these concepts and empower them to apply these techniques in their studies and research. | N |