Team:Stony Brook/HP/Silver
Human Practices: Silver
Maker's Faire
Our team went to the maker’s faire at Port Jeff on June 10th to interact with enthusiastic learners and students about biology with specific focus on synthetic biology. We organized numerous activities and games such as building with biology to engage our young learners and enable them to see the “fun” side of synthetic biology. Hot topics for discussions with parents were subjects that are invoked in everyday sociopolitical discourse such as GMO products , pros and cons of genetic engineering, importance of renewable products, etc. Overall, it was a very insightful experience for the whole team to spread awareness about a branch of science that is still relatively young and is packed with immense potential.
Merrick Elementary School & Camp Avenue Elementary School
Team members visited Harold D Feyette Elementary School and Camp Avenue Elementary School to talk about science and biology with the students in different 4th grade classrooms. A lesson plan was designed in consultation with teachers there to discuss scientific topics in ways that the students could effectively learn and comprehend them. Different hands-on activities were carried out in the class which sparked curious discussions and questions. Chloe and Juliana were happy to help the young scientists and answer any questions that they had. The visit was a learning experience for everyone and made possible because of the cooperation of Principal Howard Merim and Principal Ronald Reinken of Hardold D. Fayette and Camp Avenue Elementary schools respectively. In fact, the students at Camp Avenue liked the program so much that Principal Reinken invited the team back there to help them with a cow eye dissection that they had scheduled. We would like to thank both principals for allowing us the opportunity to talk to their students and show them a tiny glimpse into the world of synthetic biology.
LaValle Movie Night
Our team went to the LaValle movie night held in Stony Brook University’s LaValle stadium where a showing of the movie “Beauty and the Beast” was organized. There, we promoted our fundraisers and talked to interested movie goers about synthetic biology and about our project. Our team enjoyed promoting synthetic biology and had fun watching the movie as well as eating a ton of popcorn.
Stony Brook University Summer Programs
Our team had the pleasure of hosting tours of our lab for summer programs such as EOP/AIM, Museum of Natural History summer program, Stony Brook College of Arts and Sciences pre-college summer program. The programs consisted of students who were either incoming first year students or high school seniors/juniors. We discussed a wide variety of topics with the students such as synthetic biology, iGEM, engaging in research in college, a brief overview of our project etc. Our team was happy to help them with their queries about the subjects we discussed. The incoming freshmen were also curious about the world they were going to step into this fall, so we gave them some advice and told them of some tips and tricks they should keep in mind. We strongly encourage every student to participate in research when they enter college to earn a truly insightful and stimulating experience.
