Team:KEYSTONE/Education
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Before we started any public engagement activities, we first carried out first hand research to collect Chinese people’s viewpoints and opinions regarding synthetic biology and environmental protection to act as the foundational premise for our public education goals. The survey was distributed online through a WeChat article, and the sample contained a certain extent of variety in terms of age, educational background, social group, etc.
After conducting a thorough mathematical analysis of the survey, we found that the general Chinese public have considerably poor knowledge of synthetic biology and its applications and potentials in areas such as environmental protection, many have barely heard of the subject. However, we were happy to see that people’s impressions of synthetic biology are generally positively inclined. Therefore, we concluded that our educational activities should have the aim of further familiarizing people with the most basic concepts of synthetic biology and show them how this science can benefit our world in many ways.
*The original version of the survey is in Chinese
*The survey is filled anonymously, and surveyees were well informed and consented to the usage of their data.
This is an educational game that we created which teaches students about different concepts of synthetic biology. The idea behind this project is to develop a method of education that is fun, innovative, engaging and makes people interested in synbio. We got the inspiration from a Korean comic that many of us loved when we were young—Fantasy Math War, which teaches students about math concepts through the exciting adventure of the protagonist in to an imaginative world of mathematics, with challenges from time to time to test their understandings. We decided to create something of the similar nature, and thought making a game would be even more engaging than a comic.
The end product is a chaptered Keynote game created based on a continuous script, collectively written by a number of teams. The nature of the game and script allows it to be played by individuals or in classrooms, can be freely shared, accessed, edited, and new chapters can be freely added.
The finished 1st chapter of the game on the Central Dogma can be downloaded from this drive:
https://pan.baidu.com/s/1ACHW5vTJ7dK36buJZ_B3wg. Passcode: r9pt
The developmental process of this game we went through was as follows:
- We designed the setting and characters, and created the script for the first chapter on the Central Dogma.The plot follows the perspective of the protagonist, Bob Lelogy (rhyming with Biology), an ordinary school boy, who accidentally found himself in the microscopic world. In this world, all the important enzymes and molecules are personified, and the knowledge is conveyed through actions and oral explanations. Challenges are synthesized into the script to test players’ understandings.
The first chapter that we created explains all parts of the Central Dogma. We created both Chinese and English versions to enlarge the audience group.
Initial characters design - We found collaborators who each contributed a chapter that follows the first.Since game making is very time-consuming and requires all kinds of talent, and also because there are countless other topics to talk about besides the Central Dogma, we believe the game will greatly benefit from a collaboration. Therefore, we advertised the game through a number of iGEM related platforms, such as online meet-ups, and many teams were willing to join.A team from Estonia (Estonia_TUIT) even joined us through our post on iGEM Collaborations platform!
We came up with a list of synbio topics that could become individual chapters following Central Dogma, and each team chose one or suggested one to write the script of continuing with our characters and setting. Teams were also encouraged to create a chapter on their own project to demonstrate the applications of synbio. Nevertheless, we made sure each chapter was created as an independent unit so that they can be freely arranged and added. In each chapter, the protagonist Bob travels to a different place (human cell, E.coli…) and explores a different concept (genetic circuit, BioBrick, CRISPR…) through encountering new characters (ribosome, polymerase, promoter…). The current script contains 7 different chapters created by KEYSTONE and:
JNFLS
Nanjing_NFLS
BJ101HS
LINKS_China
Estonia_TUIT
BHSF
Worldshaper-Shanghai
(GreatBay_SZ has also written a chapter, however, it was later used to develop an independent project after GBSZ left the colaboration).
Some screenshots of scripts created by different teamsCurrently, the full script consists of chapters on:
1. The Central Dogma
2. Genetic Circuit
3. PCR
4. Biobrick: the concept
5. Biobrick: editing
6. Toehold Switch (suggested & created by Worldshaper-Shanghai)
7. Directed evolution
8. Cell cycle, mitosis & B-cell (as suggested and created by Estonia_TUIT).
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We created the game
Designing the format and recreating the characters in the style after discussing with all the teamsOur initial goal was to create a web RPG game with the help of capable coders from other teams, however, that turned out too time-consuming and unrealistic. Therefore, we came up with a more practical back-up plan, which is to use Keynote to achieve all the animation and option effects. This method should have its own advantages as well, as it makes the game easily editable and basically anyone can contribute new chapters without high technical requirements. Our artist made tutorial videos of how the pixel drawing app and Keynote can be used to create the game, and teams embarked on the long process of game creation.
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We tried it out on students!The first public trial of the game was in September, when we hosted a synbio fair at our school. We offered a playing station for with the first chapter of the finished game at our booth. Primary and Middle school kids were especially drawn by the game, we were really glad to see how they were highly engaged and entertained, and actually mastered the content! (as they nailed the challenges) Older students were also very interested and impressed by the game as they played. Then, we negotiated with the science department at our school and shared the game with teachers from the science department so that they can use them in class, and also as to test out this game as a mode of education. We also shared the game with students via our school’s student media and collected feedback. In addition, LINKS_China also used the complete first chapter to carry out educational activities in ShenZhen, reaching a wider audience.
Presenting the game to science teachersBoth the students and the teachers provided useful suggestions on improving the game by pointing out errors and inappropriate places.
Game being played by students at the synbio fair (read more about this below) and in a G11 biology classThe feedbackThe quality of the game is undoubtfully good according to student feedback. Many who played it were impressed and drawn at the fairs, and said that they've learned a lot about DNA through the game. A computer sciences student asked our artist if we used professional RPG creator to make the game, while we actually used Keynote. Students from Shenzhen who played the game with Links_China also said they really liked the personified characters, as well as the challenges, which helped them learn the knowledge. In terms of educational effectiveness, most students, teachers and other players have reflected that they learned a lot about central dogma from their responses.
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OutlookSince a number of teams have not yet completely finished creating their game part (it is indeed extremely time-consuming), our plan is to make it into a long-term collaborative project that will hopefully be led by the next generations of team KEYSTONE, who will be formed under the lead of the Keystone synbio club that will be created by our members in the following semester (see the “Keystone Legacy” subsection below).
Furthermore, since the game is created in a way that allows free organization, unlimited chapters can be added. Therefore, we don’t want to set a limit for the finishing point of this project—new chapters can always be added, Bob Lelogy can explore any new synbio technologies and discoveries, and can be translated to any languages, since practically anyone has the ability to continue the creation as long as they know how to use Keynote. We hope The Adventure of Bob Lelogy would continue evolving with iGEMers’ diverse creativity and contributions, and expand its impact.
Through participating in online meet-ups organized by other teams, we deeply feel how discussing online has made it difficult for meet-ups to be engaging and have relaxed atmospheres that are open for free discussion. Therefore, we thought we can host some small scale in-person meetings for local teams, while also serving as a platform for public education. We decided to run a series of fairs where teams can introduce and demonstrate their projects to people in an interactive way, and sell their merchandises. Since hosting in only one school would only reach a limited audience, we planned to move the same fair to different host schools. We chose to host these fairs in middle schools because we thought we may be able to invoke their interest in synthetic biology and consider pursuing this subject in the future.
The teams that we invited to take part in creating this fair include:
BJ101HS
BHSF
QHFZ-China
RDFZ-CHINA
UCAS-China
BUCT-China
KEYSTONE-A
iBowu-China
Safety measures
The safety of all our activities are assessed and approved by the schools, and each team followed strict COVID prevention measures, including wearing masks, dining separately on campuses, filing their travel info with the school, etc.
1st Fair: in Keystone
The first fair was hosted in Keystone Academy. The audience ranged in age from 6&7 graders, high schoolers, adults, and older people, with middle school students being the predominant group. Considering the fact that much of the audience are being introduced to synthetic biology for the first time, we created introductory booklets that were handed out to each visitor before they entered the fair, in order to provide the fundamental information about synbio so that they can better comprehend our projects.
The fair was a success. Many people came curious about our project and left learning a lot. Many people bought merchandises, tried our game and wrote environmental messages to be put on our bin, including the principle of our school. Teams communicated actively with each other.
After the fair, the posters and banners that each team created was displayed on campus for one week, so that students and teachers who were unable to attend the fair also has a chance to glance at these projects.
A bonus outcome
A faculty in our school, who is also part of an environmental NGO, upon listening to had an in-depth discussion with us about the practical application and implications of our project, providing us with new insights and reflections on our project. See integrated HP Justin Lin section for elaborated information.
2nd Fair: In QHFZ_China (Tsinghua University High School)
Later, a second fair was put together in Tsinghua University High School. This time the audience group was composed of mainly high schoolers, who, comparing to curious and enthusiastic middle schoolers from the first fair, showed more academic seriousness and interest in the teams’ projects, and had better comprehension of them. This time, although a few of the teams were unable to participate, their banners and posters were displayed at the fair, and our KEYSTONE members, took the job of representing these schools and explaining their projects to the audience for them, since our members have gained thorough understandings of them from the last fair.
Feedback
Keystone’s head of school, Mr. Malcolm Mckenzie described the fair in a school meeting as “very successful”, he “learned a lot”, and wish Keystone, who is not a very strongly STEM-focused school, had more events that give students opportunities to get in touch with science like this fair.
A few students who were interviewed at the fair all claimed that they learned a lot about what synthetic biology is and what it can do, and enjoyed the exploration as well as our game.
iGEMers who participated in the fairs also said the fairs provided a platform to showcase and discuss their project with a greater audience, as well as to communicate and learn from other teams. Like the leader of KEYSTONE-A said, “Today I learned about a lot of amazing projects. I realize we can still have a lot of space to improve.”
We designed, manufactured and sold a series of merchandise (tote bags, key chains and t-shirts) with to introduce a wider public to the subject of synthetic biology and its applications, as well as promote our team and raise money for our genes.
The merches are designed to be educational. They are either incorporated with introductory information about synthetic biology and its applications, or a message about environmental protection, or both. This way, when people take the time to appreciate the merches they bought, they will be introduced to synbio and recognize that synbio can help protect the environment.
We found manufacturers on Taobao for each product and got them produced!
The merches are first sold online by mailing, reaching quite a variety of audience from all over the place. They were also sold at our fair. They were really popular and we got very positive feedback from buyers!
We wrote an article surrounding our lab researches. One of the lessons we learned from our survey result is that many people are concerned about synthetic biology technologies that actually influence their lives, we decided to write an article about our experiments and lab practices, to show them that labs are not as “cold” and unrelated to our lives as some people may think, and that labs can be something that everyone can participate in and enjoy in. We also edited some short videos about funny moments in our lab. We talked about how we invented shakers on our own when the shaker in the lab isn’t working; we talked about mishaps that happened with the clean bench, and also how we manually created ice pieces to be used for the plasmid transformation experiment. While telling these funny stories, we also educated about the usage of some simple lab materials.
The article was published through WeChat, a popular social media for Chinese audiences. The article earned hundreds of views, and people send feedbacks to us, saying that they really enjoyed reading about our experiment experiences. The article can be viewed in this url: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/P2UU9CHnZtiZ_PNGaiDE7w. (If you don't understand Chinese you can watch the videos.)
As we are the first Keystone iGEM team, we think it would be significant for us to continue our students’ engagement with synthetic biology. Before iGEM, we never knew synbio was such an interesting subject. Therefore, some of our team members are creating a synbio club in the school that would provide other students with chances to get in touch with synbio and participate in iGEM as school teams. (This idea was officially formed when we discovered in September that our school lab possessed large quantities of equipment for molecular biology experiments that no one ever used). The activities carried out this club will include teaching students about synbio, doing basic experiments, etc., and hopefully forming future iGEM teams. The club will be registered as a KAP (Keystone Activities Program) which students can sign up for to attend after school.
The head of school is very supportive of us and science teachers are also very happy to see how we brought synbio to Keystone students. Keystone has not had many STEM related extracurricular opportunities for students compared to other subjects, but our legacy for the school will definitely unfold the beauty of synbio to more students.
From the second part of our survey, which collects the public opinion on environmental awareness, we found that most people that were surveyed have quite a strong sense of environmental awareness. However, our sample is likely to be somewhat biased since most people who were exposed to the survey belong to the more environmentally aware group of people in China. From the fact that the majority of surveyees indicate that their travelling experience has been undermined by the commonly seen plastic waste polluting natural sceneries, we could conclude that environmental education was still very essential. Only when people’s environmental awareness has been established, can B.B.Bin and synbio technologies truly make a change to the world.
We utilized the Head of School Assemblies that happened every Friday in our school as an important platform of communication with the students and staff. Presenting at these assemblies allowed us to communicate informatively to the entire community and get more people acquainted with synthetic biology and iGEM, and the things we are doing.
Our first presentation introduced the subject of synthetic biology, its approaches and applications, our project, our future plans and our merchandise. It was most likely many students’ first time encountering this topic. Since Keystone is a highly environmentally aware school, our students and staff are highly sensitive and passionate for global issues and environmental issues. Therefore, since our project and presentations demonstrate how science can be used to help the environment, they echo with the key values of our school, and were most likely effective in intriguing more students with synthetic biology.
Afterwards, we presented and promoted our following activities and progress to keep the students engaged and updated.
Upon reading our WeChat articles, an editor who works for the China Environmental News (www.cenews.com.cn) run by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, PRC, reached out to us wanting to interview us and produce a column on scientific environmental education. A journalist was arranged to have a virtual interview with our student leaders, and the article was published both on the printed newspaper and their web.
The article faced readers of the Environmental News, who are the more general public concerned with environmental topics. It introduced how we utilized synthetic biology to do good for the environment.
One of the most important lessons we learned from our interviews with environmental workers is the fact that public education, raising people’s awareness for environmental protection awareness and waste-management, is one of the most important areas that need to be worked on in order to combat environmental issues like this. Therefore, we believe that in order to make B.B.Bin truly fulfill its purpose and maximize its impact, it is crucial for us to endow educational significance to our hardware. (see our interviews with Bali environmental workers, Great Wall environmental workers and Justin Lin sections in our integrated HP page).
Therefore, on the face of our bin, we designed introductory pages to be pasted which tells tourists about what PET is, how the bin is used and how we used synthetic biology to degrade plastic. In addition, we also planned to gather messages from environmentally aware citizens and paste them on the bin. This was primarily done at our synbio fair. We invited students, teachers, other visitors, members from other teams, and our school principle to leave handwritten messages for visitors who will encounter our hardware, reminding them of the importance of environmental protection. The pages are made in both Chinese and English.
The messages come from people of different ages, races and backgrounds. A lot of them are contributed by primary school kids, who represent the future and hope of human race. We believe these heartfelt messages will be effective in awakening tourists’ and local people’s consciousness for the impact of their behaviors. Besides, the comments look unique and eye-catching on the bin and should be able to attract tourists.
*People were informed and consented to the use of their handwritings/drawings on our hardware.
Zhang, M. (2020). Picture of cat in bag.
Chen, Y. (2020). The greater the creativity, the wider the stage is--the different approaches to environmental protection by these high schoolers. www.cnenews.cn.
