Our Projects
This cycle our education and communication was expanded from our book, Go Away Pollution to also including a STEM kit. Last cycle, our education and communication section of human practices focused on writing and illustrating our book. This cycle, we want to now focus on community implementation of our book to further education in younger audiences. Through observation and collaboration in the Michigan College Alliance grant, we observed that hands-on learning and application helped students understand the topics. Thus, the creation of the STEM kit. This kit provides many hands-on options that teach synthetic biology topics. The main components of the kit include an interventive manual. The manual is structured to flow from explanation to application. The manual is attached below. Together the STEM kit and children’s book have endless possibilities to benefit young audiences.
Application
This cycle our team has so far been able to have some small scale implementation of the children's book. Human practices member Jordan Prielipp was able to read it to the children that she babysits as well as do the included activities. Head of Human Practices Mackenzie Harwood and Human Practices member Allyson Ehlert did the first run through of the STEM kit. Ehlert has connections to the Girl Scout Troop of Peace Lutheran Church in Saginaw, MI. This connection allowed us to apply our STEM kit and get great constructive feedback. Photos are listed below. Overall the troop loved getting to know about our project and how pollution comes in many different forms.
Future Plans
Moving forward we hope to continue to educate the younger communities. We plan on creating more connections with schools to implement the book and STEM kit further. Working on making connections with local schools to Alma and making connections with schools from our hometowns will allow us to educate here within the alma community along with branching out our education statewide.
Younger students, once made aware of this problem and how synthetic biology can fix it, may want more complex ways to get experience. We have been refining our approach for high school students as well, and have included in our research bootcamp manual a simple lab activity on safety. We want to make sure that the next generation not only views synthetic biology favorably, but carrys out experiments responsibily. We hosted several students in the laboratory this summer, and all reported having a positive experience.
A Gap in the STEM World
There is a large gap between the availability of STEM resources and laboratory opportunities for students who are neurodivergent– especially those who are in primary and secondary education. Our goal in the next upcoming iGEM cycle is to develop toolkits and updated safety procedures for hands-on interaction with laboratory equipment for students in special education classes. In relation to the current DDT research developed in our wet laboratory sector, we aim to create a small scale sample test kit that can be used within classrooms as a stepping stone into analytical biochemistry and how the sciences are relevant to the very region we live in. When doing qualitative outreach with local special education school teachers in the surrounding district, it was concluded that there is a discrepancy. This discrepancy unfolded when contacting a current high school special education teacher about their current STEM based activities in classroom settings, and their response revealed that they were a qualified mathematics teacher for middle school children who was involuntarily moved into the secondary special education role. Due to the current teacher shortage, we are forced to relocate teachers into classrooms that do not match their area of study. This means alongside a teacher shortage for neurodivergent youth, there is a STEM education shortage, a laboratory accessibility shortage, and a potential for students to find their passion shortage.
Video Game
The video game is for educational purposes. It has three levels with different scenes and background characters. The main protagonist, Margo, is on a mission to rescue her friend Ollie from the Boss Level DDx; but Margo has to go through a journey that tests her abilities first.
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC by 4.0) Copyright Disclaimer:
Ghost and Slime assets created by Pixel Frog. Designs were modified to create DDt monsters.
Tiles 6, 18, 22, and 37 assets created by Wishforge Games in level 1.
