PLKLFC
Overview
For iGEM 2024, our team has developed teaching and lessons plans for learners of different ages. The aim is for these lesson plans to be easily replicable for educators. These ready-made materials are meant to be adopted for students ranging from age 9 to 14. We hope to prove that science education is simpler than it looks. And as a high school team, who better than us to take on this challenge?
Our school has introduced a school-based biotechnology curriculum for Year 7 – 9 students since 2004. Many of our members see this as a spark that led to us joining iGEM this year. As such, we wish to give back, in hopes that other learners could benefit from a similar curriculum as well.
The curriculum is differentiated for Year 7, 8 & 9. Each Year will receive no less than 3 lessons, each lasting 60 minutes, covering the basics of scientific investigation, Biology and more. Beside PowerPoint Slides for lectures, we have also designed printable handouts and worksheets. Beyond that, our curriculum also follows the Learning-Teaching-Assessment Cycle. First lesson is for input of new knowledge and more basic concepts. Another lesson conducted in the consecutive week would invite learners combine their own preexisting knowledge while incorporating real-life examples to better illustrate more complex ideas. The last lesson would be for explaining actual hands-on laboratory procedures while also allowing learners to showcase posters that they have designed based on a given lesson-related topic.
Curriculum design
Our educational framework is specified for students in Years 3 to 8 (aged 9-15), focusing on fundamental genetic concepts and cancer awareness. The overarching objective of this educational framework is to enhance scientific literacy among students and to raise awareness of prostate cancer.
By fostering discussions about prostate cancer within families and communities, the curriculum aims to encourage proactive health measures, including regular screenings for middle-aged men. To achieve our goals, we have designed an education program that can progressively build knowledge in genetics and oncology, foster scientific literacy, and promote health discussions related to prostate cancer.Since we aim to maximize the knowledge the students can acquire under a relaxing atmosphere,the majority of the lessons will be spent on performing experiments and games.
Year 3-6
For students in Years 3 to 6, the objectives center around foundational genetic knowledge. Key components include an introduction to genes and the molecular structure of DNA, as well as familiarity with the four nucleotide bases ATCG. We aim to pique their interest in genetic-related topics, as well as lay a solid foundation for their future studies in biotechnology.
Year 7
For Year 7 students, the curriculum advances to cover the principles of cancer biology, emphasizing the role of genetic mutations in oncogenesis. To reach the aim, students will get first-hand experiences on performing experiments. Our self-designed online game—Immunity Clash, will also be played during lessons to deliver the concept of body defense towards cancer. Students will explore various cancer treatments, alongside a debate of treatment methods and their mechanisms of action at the end of the lesson. We hope to maximize the knowledge that students can acquire through experiments and games other than verbal delivery.
Year 8
For Year 8 students, concepts about plasmid and drug-life cycle are introduced on top of knowledge delivered to Year 7 students. Similar activities with the same general aims will be carried out. Year 8 students will be able to access a more extensive degree and in-depth knowledge of related topics.
Year 9
For Year 9 students, the focus shifts to advanced concepts in cancer therapeutics, including an in-depth examination of plasmids and their utilization in targeted cancer therapies. Students are also expected to understand the drug life cycle, and how experiments are designed by scientists. Discussion of prostate cancer will be carried out in order to raise awareness towards the topic. We aim to enhance student’s understanding on how research and experiments are carried out, so as to lay a solid base for their future research, and cultivate their talents in this field.
Reflection on our Education
A research paper that documents and analyzes our findings on the education project has been accepted by the Education University of Hong Kong and will hopefully be published in the near future.
Our team is currently writing a research paper about us, titled ‘’Student as teacher role”, senior high school students teaching young students aged 9-14 biotechnology lessons. The lessons cover molecular biology, cancer and iGem. The research paper elaborates the advantages of students teaching other junior students, like catalyzing personal growth, leadership development, and the cultivation of essential interpersonal skills among students.
Apart from these, our lessons also benefit those young students educationally, as they are able to understand more about basic genetics, prostate cancer, conducting research and more. Our lessons can also increase young adolescent’s awareness of prostate cancer, so that they can encourage their family members and friends to do regular body checks in order to prevent and ensure early treatment of diseases like prostate cancer.
Furthermore, we also plan to extend our educational reach to university students. We believe our possession of detailed experiment protocols for plasmid construction, coupled with our experiences with cell culture and plasmid construction, will prove useful for conducting collaborative sessions about biotechnology for university students, solidifying both teams’ interests and desire to continue contributing to the biotechnological world. We can also utilize the help of universities to refine and perfect our project for developing prostate cancer test kits, kick-starting the revolutionary product for real-life use. Through our educational materials and research experiences, we can promote the cooperation between high school and university, spread the word about preventing cancer, and join forces into researching for a world free of cancer.
Resources
Genetic Day Camp
Organised annually at our school, the Genetic Day Camp aims to teach primary school students knowledge about biotechnology and science, utilising games and exciting experiments to cultivate young students’ interests in biotechnology. With this year’s topic circulating around prostate cancer, our team has designed a program named “Supporting Warriors : Fight Against Cancer”. On that day, around 120 young primary school students participated in this year’s edition of Genetic Day Camp.
Upon the arrival of the primary school students, the students were separated into 12 groups of 10, and a brief introduction was given to them with basic concepts about prostate cancer, such as its causes and symptoms.
Then, the 10 students in each group were separated into teams of 5. The students were required to find the letters of certain vocabulary items, such as cancer, treatment and surgery, in a ball pit. After they have found all the letters of the word and correctly shown it to us, a sticky ball was given to them. Then, they were guided to the shooting range in which they could throw the sticky ball at the cancer cell, which is a member from our team dressed in a cell costume. If they have successfully hit the cancer cells with the ball, 1 point will be awarded to the team. At the end of the game , the team with the most points wins.
This game simulates the action of our immune cells fighting the cancer cells, with the sticky ball acting as the antibody needed to kill the cancer cell. Through this game, not only can the students enjoy the fun of teamwork and ball games, but they can also learn about how immune cells fight cancer cells, and basic knowledge about biotechnology, such as vocabulary items, in a stress-free manner.
Following the game, a debriefing session was held to recall their memories of what we have taught. A piece of homework was also distributed to them, requiring them to use the words they’ve learnt to fill in the blanks of numerous sentences, in order to strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the biotechnological world.
Overall, this year’s Genetic Day Camp has been a resounding success, filled with joy, laughter, and at the same time, a pleasant educational atmosphere. With many young students expressing their newfound enthusiasm about this scientific field, our aim this year of raising awareness and educating the youth about prostate cancer has been definitely achieved.
In the future, our team will continue educating the youth and building up their interests in biotechnology, while also pursuing our project in detecting and treating prostate cancer, taking another step in building a future of rapid scientific advancement and a cancer-free world.
Game
Objectives
- Introduce cancer cell behavior in a fun and simple way
- Raise student’s awareness in cancer
- Cultivate teens’ interest in cell system and introduce them to the world of biology
Play the Game!
If you want to host the game on your own server, download here. If you want to further develop the game, download here for the open source file.