The Maker Faire is a two day event where scientists, engineers and other “makers” gather to promote their craft to the public. We partnered with the Atlanta Science Festival in hosting the venue where the public could learn about synthetic biology. The events we hosted were from a kit provided by Building with Biology, a foundation dedicated to the education of synthetic biology to the public. Lambert iGEM informed the public about synthetic biology utilizing models of ClpXP demonstrating its function in protein degradation. The Chrom-Q was also shown as a cheaper option to the plate reader for underfunded labs. In addition, we asked the children that stopped at the Lambert iGEM booth ”why are you interested in science?” We could not have hosted this event without the support of Atlanta Science Festival who hosted and provided us with materials.

Lambert iGEM introduced its 2017 project to companies, parents, and students in our community. Individuals were able to conduct lab protocols and work on lab techniques such as gel electrophoresis and micropipetting. Furthermore, Lambert iGEM held a banquet for Lambert iGEM graduates.

At RESA, a professional learning agency focused on improving the work of educators, our team met with science educators across the region and held a workshop on synthetic biology. Throughout our presentation, we focused on how teachers could integrate synthetic biology curriculum into high school classrooms. In order to do this, we introduced the teachers to iGEM and told them how they could start a team at their own school. We also showed them how to perform a simple pipetting lab that could be recreated in their classroom. Our iGEM team also explained our current project by creating an actual electrical circuit displaying the pathway our synthetic biology mechanism follows. Our overall purpose was to expose more high school science teachers to iGEM, as well as encourage them to include more synthetic biology based lab experiments and learning into their lesson plans.