Team:TECHNION-ISRAEL/Havayeda

Science in the socioeconomic periphery

“Havayeda”

Educational Activity at “HAVAYEDA” - A journey into the immune system

We organized a scientific activity under the "Tolerance umbrella" for children in the socioeconomic and geographic periphery of Israel. "Havayeda" is a community science center for children in the northern city – Karmiel. The goal of this center is to make science accessible to children who, due to geographical or economic difficulties lack exposure and access to science education. We designed a diverse array of activities which elucidate and illustrate how the immune system works, and we named it: "A journey into the immune system". The activity was comprised of four parts: an introductory play about the immune system, an immunology quiz game, a demonstration of phagocytosis and creation of an antigen-antibody craft project. Additionally, the director of the center consulted with us and organized two additional activities related to our main topic: preparing healthful foods which strengthen the immune system (carrot salad and orange juice) and screening a film about the immune system "Once Upon a Time… Life".

First section of the activity- show:

We acted out a play wherein a child gets a cut by a small thorn and describes how his immune system is mobilized to prevent infection. Each one of us played different component of the immune system. The children enjoyed the show very much and identified with the characters. The entire screenplay is shown below.

Dan's Thorny Adventure

One bright and sunny day, Dan went out for a walk. Suddenly, he fell down and got a thorn stuck in his leg. Let's see how Dan’s body will deal with this problem. After the thorn cut through Dan’s skin, which is the body's primary protective barrier, bad bacteria and foreign invaders could get into the body through the open wound. The next protective elements are phagocytes – the guardian cells. These strong cells can ingest any type of bad bacteria in the world. But it isn't fair! There are many bad bacteria and so few phagocytes. This is why the phagocytes call their friends – T-cells. T-cells help the phagocytes in their fight against the bad bacteria. T-cells are very special. Every T-cell can recognize a specific invader and attack it. For example, in Dan’s case, there are specific bacteria. T-cells also call for additional reinforcement from their friends, B-cells. B-cells arrive and produce antibodies against the bad bacteria. The antibodies bind specifically only to compatible antigens (bacteria). When the B-cells are tired, T-cells encourage them to keep fighting the evil bacteria. Some of the T-cells are memory T cells, and the next time Dan will be cut by a thorn they will remember exactly how to fight and those bacteria, and will even fight better and faster so that this time, Dan will not feel any pain.

In the end, the phagocytes, T-cells and B-cells are responsible for Dan’s whole healing process. They protect his body from invaders and keep him healthy.

Second section of the activity- quiz:

We organized a quiz based on the information that was taught during the play. The children received boards with illustrations on them and complementary puzzle cards with words matching the illustrations. The children were tasked with matching the correct puzzle cards to the illustrations on the board. For example, the word "antibody" appeared on a card and had to be matched with the picture of an antibody on the board.

Third section of the activity- experiment:

Immune slime

We performed a demonstration of a phagocytic cell. We prepared a model using magnetic Slime which is made of Elmer’s glue, laundry detergent (Borax) and iron oxide. We showed the children this phagocyte and asked them to attach a small magnet to the dummy cell. The dummy phagocyte actually engulfed the magnet due to magnetic attraction between the magnet and the iron oxide in the slime. The resulting “ Immune Slime” worked well and really illustrated the phagocytic process in the human body. The children were very excited when they saw the magnet being “swallowed” by the Slime.

Final section- craft activity:

We conducted a creative crafts activity that simply illustrated the mechanism of antibody-antigen binding. In this activity each child received several drawings of different bacteria and was asked to color and design them uniquely. We asked the children to choose which bacteria would be "good bacteria" and which would be "bad bacteria" – simulating our own body, which contains both harmful and harmless bacteria at the same time. A small metal paper clip was inserted into the bad bacteria. Afterwards, the children prepared an antibody on which they attached a small magnet that allows the antibody to specifically bind to "bad" bacteria as a result of the magnetic attraction between the antibody and the paper clip inside the "bad" bacteria. The children took the completed game home in a special bag so they can play and recall the lessons learned from the comfort of their own houses.

In conclusion, we had a great time teaching this important subject matter, and the children had an amazing experience. They thoroughly enjoyed learning about the immune system. We received many enthusiastic responses from both children and their parents. We helped create a dialogue between our group, families from the socioeconomic periphery and the educational staff at the "Havayeda" center. After the activity, Ayelet Bartov, the director of the 'Havayeda' center was so impressed that she decided to add our educational program to the activity schedule for the rest of the summer. We prepared the necessary equipment and instructed the centers resident employees so that they may continue running this program in our stead.

Department of Biotechnology & Food Engineering
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Haifa 32000, Israel

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igem.technion.2017@gmail.com