Engagement

Giving back to the scientific community

Our team had decided to give back to the community by developing genetic engineering and synthetic biology educational material for future scientists and the general public to use. We developed workshops for different age groups (ages 11-13, 13-16, and 17-18) and made them relevant to their school science curriculum.

For each age group, we created a teacher guide, worksheets & lab instructions deliverables. These materials are now available for free use to the public to educate the community on the matters of genetics, synthetic biology and genetic engineering.

//*Include PDF files to each category*//

We have tested our developed workshops this summer at the Sir Winston Churchill High School and in the Minds in Motion University of Calgary summer camps.

We also developed an iGEM-specific curriculum, which can be found on our education page.

Minds in Motion Workshops

Minds in Motion is an established University of Calgary science and engineering summer camp. It welcomes kids from diverse backgrounds and from various age groups with a single goal in mind: satisfy kids’ endless curiosity. This year we organized one 1.5 hour long workshop for campers aged 11-13 and one 1.25 hour long workshop for campers aged 13-16.

The workshops developed for the 11-13 age group included:

• an introduction to genes and DNA
• an explanation of DNA’s role in the body
• an interactive activity where campers were presented with a gene-making "kit" which included twizzler candy and gummies

In the interactive “gene-building” activity, campers had a chance to create their own gene, while keeping in mind the nucleotides’ compatibility and trying to come up with the trait that their gene is coding for. Afterwards kids were organized in pairs and had a chance to create a longer genetic sequence out of their individual genes and name the traits that their organism would posses.

The workshop was concluded with a discussion and Q&A session on myths and facts about GMO products. We also discussed why and how genetic engineering is used in various industries.

The workshop for the 13-16 age group started with an apple as Earth metaphor, which allowed the campers a chance to envision how little is the percentage of Earth available for the crop production. The metaphor was followed by a discussion of the role of genetic engineering in improving agricultural yields and feeding the planet. Then. we discussed the main steps of the genetic engineering process. The final part of the workshop was a strawberry DNA extraction experiment.

Our team was impressed with the kids’ interest in genetics and synthetic biology. It was encouraging to hear that the campers we met throughout the summer are aware of GMO products and entertained the idea that GMOs can be used to benefit humankind.