To make sure our materials were suitable for the children, we worked with the educators of this same organization, to ensure the book would be fit for the children’s knowledge on the topics covered and to keep them interested and engaged.
Science classes for children
We came in contact with the organization “Somos Familia”, that gives academic tutoring to children in an underprivileged part of our city that dropped out of school during the COVID pandemic. The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) estimates that in Mexico, 5.2 million children, adolescents and young people between the ages of 3 and 29 did not enroll in the 2020-2021 school year for economic reasons and due to COVID-19.
The leaders of the organization expressed to us that many children feel that due to their situation they cannot pursue higher education or a career in science. During our visit we talked about the work that scientists do and encouraged them to visualize their dreams and how they could be scientists in the future. Furthermore, we helped them design their book covers for the illustrated books that we made. We wanted them to feel identified with the stories in the book.
Figure 2. Activities conducted with children: we gave a class on microorganism and went out to find the surfaces where we could find bacteria to grow on agar plates.
We also gave a class on bacteria and microorganisms, and the way that they impact our everyday lives, both positively and negatively. We conducted an experiment where the kids took samples from different surfaces and then plated them on petri dishes to observe the growth of bacteria present in different places. They hypothesized what were the places where more bacteria could be found, and observed the results of their experiments. After the visits, a program was designed with the organization where volunteers from our university will continue to give academic tutoring and biology classes to the children to give them the tools necessary to continue their studies.
Human Activations
As part of our work, we decided to have an activity every Wednesday during the course of two months called “Human Activations”. The purpose was to generate different activities to invite students to be more interested in antimicrobial resistance research. Among the activities, we created an awareness mural, where students wrote their knowledge and externalized their thoughts regarding antibiotic resistance.
Figure 3. Students visiting our Human Activation stand, donating expired medicine boxes and answering questions on antibiotic resistance.
Also, they were invited to answer a question related to antibiotic resistance to get an idea of the level of knowledge the community had regarding that topic, as well as to start dialogue. We asked participants to answer a survey to collect information regarding their knowledge of disease-causing microorganisms and the frequency of their self-medication practices. This information helped us design our Integrated Human Practices.
Another of the activities we did was to collect boxes of medicine no longer in use, to invite students to be part of avoiding clinical resistance through the recovery of said substances. Students were then invited to create a collaborative sculpture using the medicine boxes to create awareness about antibiotic resistance.
Figure 4. Proper disposal of expired antibiotics collected
In order to attract participants to the stand, we designed a game of loteria with a science and synthetic biology theme. Loteria is a traditional Mexican game that includes boards and playing cards with popular images. Our game of loteria was successful in catching the attention of students and introducting them to synthetic biology and antibiotic resistance themes.
Figure 5. Design of the synthetic biology loteria game
Figure 6. Students playing loteria at the Human Activation stand