Team:Hong Kong HKUST/Engagementsilver
Team Hong Kong - HKUST
Education & Public Engagement
1. Hong Kong Summer Science Party
We hosted arranged workshops on DNA models and DNA extraction in the “Summer Science Party 2017” organized by the Hong Kong Science Park on every Sunday from 23/07 to 20/08.
Aim:
- Investigate public’s opinions towards synthetic biology
- Educate children about basic biological concept important to synthetic biology
Achievements:
- Surveys collected from the parents
- Preliminary trial on the public's acceptance of our project and synthetic biology
- Tested children's knowledge on gene and DNA
2. High School Workshop
This workshop was held in Chinese as a medium of instruction to F5 (grade 11) students. In the workshop, a brief introduction of synthetic biology is first introduced, followed by explanation of relative concepts such as the Central Dogma, Recombinant DNA Technology and Biosafety. The process of transformation was carried out to familiarize students with what they had been learning in their biology class. Besides, materials for fruit DNA extraction experiments were given to groups of students to let them try out the implementation of scientific principles, and of course, have fun learning science!
Aim:
- Expose high school students with the general concepts of synthetic biology by holding a workshop
Achievements:
- Influenced sutdents in the field of synthetic biology
- Increased students' interest in engaging into the synthetic biology field
3. High School Workshop
We moved on from educating children mainly primary kids to high school students grade 11 from ___ school and UCCKE school. We used the same workshop which is the extraction of DNA as a medium of teaching the concepts of synthetic biology. materials for fruit DNA extraction experiments were given to groups of students to let them try out the implementation of scientific principles, and of course, have fun learning science! Not only that, we added more background about synthetic biology by introducing them the Central Dogma, the Recombinant Biology and the Biobricks using minecraft as an analogy. Biosafety was also briefly discussed as it is our project’s main focus.
4. UCCKE Sharing Session: How to start an iGEM project
From the previous activities, our theme circumvents about synthetic biology and biosafety. This time was a bit different, we were invited to share our iGEM experience and general approach on how to design an iGEM project to high school students. We got feedback that only a few high school students plan to join the iGEM in future.
We introduced a “Top-down Design” which is a common and easy method for high school students to brainstorm a project idea. We used the example of planning our summer vacation as a parallel comparison with the “Top-down Design” topic - building a system at hierarchical level (from large to small). We also mentioned some important issues that they should pay attention to. For example, biosafety and fundamental knowledges of synthetic biology.
5. Synthetic Biology 1 Translation
Throughout our interaction with general public in Hong Kong, one obstacles we spot when communicating with them is the medium of instruction. While Hong Kong is a place where English is the secondary language, students especially from public high school are taught in Chinese. Interesting sources for learning synthetic biology with Chinese as a medium of instruction is also limited.
At the same time, we encountered Mr. Ariel Lindner who introduced us Synthetic Biology 1 page and invited us to collaborate in Chinese translation with Mr. Edwin Wintermute. We translated subtitles and voice-over for four videos shared by Synthetic Biology 1. Each video has both Cantonese and Mandarin versions. Our translated videos have been uploaded on bilibili website: https://space.bilibili.com/178821464/#!/ which is also accessible in China.
6. Inno-Carnival 2017
As Jamboree is coming, we prepared ourselves to share this year’s HKUST iGEM project to public in Hong Kong. Throughout this summer, we have encountered many challenges, and also gained experience from lab and human practices. It is our time to share what we know and have done so far to public.
We had an interview for InnoCarnival whom we can share our iGEM experience and the idea of our project. We set our booth with our handmade DNA showcases, and also showing an animated video made by ourselves about our construct design on TV screen for better visualization and understanding. We also set a stand to distribute our leaflet containing biosafety information and our written articles.
We value that our knowledge is not only acquired from laboratory experience and interview with particular focus groups, but also from all public sources. Inno-carnival is a good opportunity to raise awareness of biological safety issues.
