Innovative educational tools and outreach activities have the ability to establish a two-way dialogue with new communities by discussing public values and the science behind synthetic biology.
Our iGEM team engaged in several activities to increase the number of opportunities for members of our community to learn more about synthetic biology. Our three main activities were the biology-based summer camp we held for middle school-age students, the survey intended to gauge the amount of knowledge community members had about our project topics and synthetic biology as a whole, and social media posts sharing fun facts related to our project.
The 2024 RBHS iGEM Summer Camp was the second camp our school iGEM club hosted. This time, our target participants were mainly Middle School kids. During this, our main goal was to raise some money while teaching kids about biology, specifically molecular biology. Due to this, we went over topics such as biomolecules, cells, synthetic biology, and cell division. In particular, we spent a lot of time going over the 4 types of biomolecules. This foundational knowledge is crucial for understanding biology in general and will aid them in their middle school science studies.
The camp lasted for two days and although we spent a good amount of time learning about the material, the camp was also filled with hands-on activities to help children visualize the material. On the first day, the kids participated in a magnet activity where they replicated structures of different molecules using magnets. They also performed a strawberry lab, extracting DNA from strawberries using a special solution. The second day included a gummy worm activity, where the gummy worms were used as chromosomes to recreate each phase of cell division. At the end of day 2, there was a bubble lab where the kids created a solution and tested the strength of the dish soap-based solution.
The camp, despite some bumps, was a success. We were able to raise some money for the club while providing a valuable educational experience for the participants. Additionally, we have the slides we used to discuss the topics covered (molecular biology, DNA, cell division) as well as some lab safety slides, which can be useful resources for future educational events.
We conducted a survey to gauge the amount of knowledge members of our community had about the issues our team decided to address, as well as document the feedback they may have for our project. This survey was promoted through our Instagram, class presentations, member referrals, and any RBHS iGEM-related posters in September, especially our club rush board. The first section of the survey focused on the demographics of the survey-takers, including age group, gender, and education level. The second section of the survey entailed more project-specific questions, especially about UV radiation and sunscreen, as well as a question asking about the degree to which the survey-taker supports the use of synthetic biology in DNA repair processes.
We gained valuable insight on how much our community knows about UV radiation and the applications of synthetic biology in a more specific context, particular DNA damage repair processes.
We regularly posted on our Instagram page @rbhsigem during the month of September. We included posts about our project and its goals as well as fun facts about space, UV radiation, and DNA repair. We may attempt to expand our social media presence in future seasons.
Social Media by Andrew Tolentino and others