Team:Mingdao/Education
Mingdao
Introduction
As a team based in Taiwan, Mingdao aims to raise social awareness on oral health issues prominent in the country via promoting the Education and Public Engagement plans we devised. In order to better engage the public, we decided the most effective way of educating them would be to design an oral-health-themed board game.
To test out the effectiveness of our game, we visited a neighboring elementary school and taught young schoolchildren how to play the game. We observed in our time teaching and playing with the children that they expressed great curiosity and enthusiasm, demonstrating the game successfully let them have fun while learning.
Moving onto the next stage of our project, we participating in the school’s STEAM FAIR, an exhibition held annually to provide students with knowledge in various scientific fields. With our main goal to raise social awareness in mind, we presented to an audience the importance of maintaining and spreading awareness of oral health in Taiwan. In addition, crafted an animation and introduced our project to maximize our takeaway from our STEAM FAIR experience.
As a result of STEAM FAIR, we had new, inspired applicants hoping to join the Mingdao iGEM 2021 team. Seeing this, not only were we further inspired to persevere with our project, but also overjoyed to see that our efforts inspired the minds of more next-generation leaders in the ever-expanding world of science.
To test out the effectiveness of our game, we visited a neighboring elementary school and taught young schoolchildren how to play the game. We observed in our time teaching and playing with the children that they expressed great curiosity and enthusiasm, demonstrating the game successfully let them have fun while learning.
Moving onto the next stage of our project, we participating in the school’s STEAM FAIR, an exhibition held annually to provide students with knowledge in various scientific fields. With our main goal to raise social awareness in mind, we presented to an audience the importance of maintaining and spreading awareness of oral health in Taiwan. In addition, crafted an animation and introduced our project to maximize our takeaway from our STEAM FAIR experience.
As a result of STEAM FAIR, we had new, inspired applicants hoping to join the Mingdao iGEM 2021 team. Seeing this, not only were we further inspired to persevere with our project, but also overjoyed to see that our efforts inspired the minds of more next-generation leaders in the ever-expanding world of science.
Board Game - Teeth Battle®
Based on our volunteering experiences in the local elementary school, we observed that awareness of the importance of dental care among the children was low. We realized that this was due to the general low awareness amongst Taiwanese locals, meaning that the children are barely educated about the tenets of maintaining a healthy oral cavity. As a result, Taiwan has a staggeringly high number of children suffering from oral diseases starting at a young age. Therefore, we decided to create an educational board game to help them understand the importance of a healthy oral cavity and have fun along the way.
The main reasons as to why we choose to create a board game one being how board games can take children away from their electronic screens and the other being its ability to connect different generations. Nowadays, with electronic devices occupying a large portion of modern entertainment, many children are seen focused on screens wherever they go. Taiwan is not an exception when it comes to this worldwide phenomenon, but what is especially concerning is that these devices do not contribute to the betterment of oral health. In other words, not only is it unlikely for us to find children conducting individual research on oral health, it also serves as a distraction for children when it comes to maintain oral health. When asking the children for their impressions of brushing and flossing, they expressed that they felt it was a bother, which aligns with studies done by the Taiwan Centers of Disease Control (CDC).
In order to incentivize children to learn more about the importance of oral health, our board game is designed to introduce the ecology of the human oral cavity in an entertaining manner. Although there are unfamiliar concepts, such as scientific terms like Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sanguinis in our board game, thorough explanations are given along with alternate names to make the game more relatable for younger children. For instance, Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sanguinis are described to be at war with each other while terms such as biofilm, H2O2, and bacteriocin are substituted by words like “weapons”, “shields”, and “poisons”. With its educational value and interesting concept, we hope to that our game can help connect several generations of Taiwanese families to sit down for a game.
The main reasons as to why we choose to create a board game one being how board games can take children away from their electronic screens and the other being its ability to connect different generations. Nowadays, with electronic devices occupying a large portion of modern entertainment, many children are seen focused on screens wherever they go. Taiwan is not an exception when it comes to this worldwide phenomenon, but what is especially concerning is that these devices do not contribute to the betterment of oral health. In other words, not only is it unlikely for us to find children conducting individual research on oral health, it also serves as a distraction for children when it comes to maintain oral health. When asking the children for their impressions of brushing and flossing, they expressed that they felt it was a bother, which aligns with studies done by the Taiwan Centers of Disease Control (CDC).
In order to incentivize children to learn more about the importance of oral health, our board game is designed to introduce the ecology of the human oral cavity in an entertaining manner. Although there are unfamiliar concepts, such as scientific terms like Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sanguinis in our board game, thorough explanations are given along with alternate names to make the game more relatable for younger children. For instance, Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sanguinis are described to be at war with each other while terms such as biofilm, H2O2, and bacteriocin are substituted by words like “weapons”, “shields”, and “poisons”. With its educational value and interesting concept, we hope to that our game can help connect several generations of Taiwanese families to sit down for a game.
Education project in Chiao-Jen Elementary School
We visited Chiao-Jen Elementary School, a local elementary school, in June to raise awareness about oral hygiene amongst young schoolchildren as well to teach them how to play our board game. When teaching the children the importance of oral hygiene, topics such as tooth anatomy, causes and prevention methods for cavities, and the standard procedure of brushing and flossing. Additionally, we also checked for the presence of dental plaque to give feedback on the condition of their oral hygiene.
After our brief lecture, we played the board game with them. Due to their ages, we simplified the game without taking away the essential elements. The feedback we received from the children exceeded what we had originally predicted. Despite expressing confusion from time to time, the children were enthusiastic about learning and proactive when it came to participating.
In short, our first volunteering experience at Chiao-Jen left us excited for more future collaborations with the school. We left feeling accomplished we helped raise local awareness on oral hygiene while creating enjoyable memories with the schoolchildren. In addition, the experience inspired us to plan similar volunteering experiences with other institutions in the future.
After our brief lecture, we played the board game with them. Due to their ages, we simplified the game without taking away the essential elements. The feedback we received from the children exceeded what we had originally predicted. Despite expressing confusion from time to time, the children were enthusiastic about learning and proactive when it came to participating.
In short, our first volunteering experience at Chiao-Jen left us excited for more future collaborations with the school. We left feeling accomplished we helped raise local awareness on oral hygiene while creating enjoyable memories with the schoolchildren. In addition, the experience inspired us to plan similar volunteering experiences with other institutions in the future.
Animation Introducing Synthetic Biology
After our volunteering experience at Chiao-Jen Elementary School, we realized orally introducing the children to the concept of synthetic biology was not enough as most still found the idea vague. By identifying this problem, our education team came up with a solution to help people better understand the nature of synthetic biology- to introduce synthetic biology using an animated film.
When our team members were undergoing the process of crafting an animation, they several hardships such as learning how to utilize animation software, understanding the basics of coding, as well as finding the balance between providing ample information while keeping it simplified and concise. Despite such setbacks, we persevered and never stopped asking questions in order to continue refining the animation video. Eventually, our hard work paid off and we were able to premiere our animation at the Mingdao STEAM FAIR and upload it the Mingdao iGEM 2020 official YouTube channel.
When our team members were undergoing the process of crafting an animation, they several hardships such as learning how to utilize animation software, understanding the basics of coding, as well as finding the balance between providing ample information while keeping it simplified and concise. Despite such setbacks, we persevered and never stopped asking questions in order to continue refining the animation video. Eventually, our hard work paid off and we were able to premiere our animation at the Mingdao STEAM FAIR and upload it the Mingdao iGEM 2020 official YouTube channel.
STEAM FAIR
The Mingdao BioLab, our school’s center of biotechnology, hosts Mingdao’s annual STEAM FAIR, the school’s main event for young and aspiring scientists. The STEAM FAIR is a large interactive exhibition where participants can receive lectures given by domestically renowned scientists, take part in practical biotech workshops and experiments, and share knowledge via conversations with others interested in any field of science.
Last year, our team signed up to be presenters for a three-day STEAM FAIR workshop. On the first day, we demonstrated how to conduct electrophoresis. A thorough, step-by-step demonstration was given to the participants, including how to operate the equipment as well as an introduction of its real-life applications. We also premiered an animation introducing synthetic biology crafted by our team. The following day, we taught them the role of DNA in life utilizing a simple interactive game. Last but not least, we demonstrated the procedures of plasmid DNA extraction on the third and last day of our workshop. The principles of each step were patiently explained by our team members to an attentive audience, who were then given a worksheet to test their basic understanding of the experiment.
To conclude, our experience of hosting a workshop at the STEAM FAIR was extremely fruitful. Not only did we spark numerous meaningful conversations, we also managed to recruit new members for the upcoming Mingdao iGEM 2021 team. In addition, our team was also able to utilize the knowledge we obtained of science during our hours spent at the iGEM lab as well as each member and their role in team.
Last year, our team signed up to be presenters for a three-day STEAM FAIR workshop. On the first day, we demonstrated how to conduct electrophoresis. A thorough, step-by-step demonstration was given to the participants, including how to operate the equipment as well as an introduction of its real-life applications. We also premiered an animation introducing synthetic biology crafted by our team. The following day, we taught them the role of DNA in life utilizing a simple interactive game. Last but not least, we demonstrated the procedures of plasmid DNA extraction on the third and last day of our workshop. The principles of each step were patiently explained by our team members to an attentive audience, who were then given a worksheet to test their basic understanding of the experiment.
To conclude, our experience of hosting a workshop at the STEAM FAIR was extremely fruitful. Not only did we spark numerous meaningful conversations, we also managed to recruit new members for the upcoming Mingdao iGEM 2021 team. In addition, our team was also able to utilize the knowledge we obtained of science during our hours spent at the iGEM lab as well as each member and their role in team.
Mingdao iGEM 2021 Team Recruitment
Aforementioned, our team recruited a batch of potential Mingdao iGEM 2021 members at the STEAM FAIR. When it comes to recruiting new members, Mingdao believes that academic performance or familiarity in biology isn’t the defining factor of a student’s capabilities and eligibility. As young leaders of the 21st century, we value traits such as the ability to communicate effectively, critical thinking, perseverance, and collaborative skills in our iGEM team members above all else.
After many conversations at the STEAM FAIR, the selected students were given introductory lectures by iGEM 2020 members. We briefly went over the nature of iGEM, member roles, expectations, and obligations. Members from each respective iGEM group, such as HP, Experiments, and Education, also shared their personal experiences of working on our project. As a team, we believe that it is crucial that we have such conversations as it creates a sense of unity and continues Mingdao’s scientific legacy built on inspiration, innovation, and collaboration.
After many conversations at the STEAM FAIR, the selected students were given introductory lectures by iGEM 2020 members. We briefly went over the nature of iGEM, member roles, expectations, and obligations. Members from each respective iGEM group, such as HP, Experiments, and Education, also shared their personal experiences of working on our project. As a team, we believe that it is crucial that we have such conversations as it creates a sense of unity and continues Mingdao’s scientific legacy built on inspiration, innovation, and collaboration.
GM Foods Debate
Genetically modified foods (GM foods) have always been in debate on whether the trade of such edibles should be permitted. Despite being constantly mentioned as cause-and-effect, there is no positive correlation between GM foods and health issues. Therefore, we decided to encourage critical thinking among young scientist by conducting a supervised debate evaluating the pros and cons as well as real-world impact of genome editing. During the event, participants debated the official legalization of GM foods based on their impact in environmental, social, and economic aspects of the world.
The debate ended with more people in favor of the legalization of GM foods, aligning with poll results from the National Academies of Sciences. The main arguments made in favor of GM foods were their ability to help solve the current food crisis prevalent in third world countries and their effectiveness in helping to mitigate the carbon emissions excreted by the agricultural industry. In addition, genetic engineering aids farmers in cultivating crops that are better fit for harsher climates. For instance, altering the genetic makeup of rice to make it need less hydration could increase its availability in drought-prone countries.
Reflecting on the experience, the debate allowed us to practice several skills necessary for modern-day youth such as critical thinking, effective communication, and awareness of global issues. The debate was conducted in a civil manner, with participants of opposite blocs politely responding to questions asked and providing logical arguments in support of their stance. In the end, it was a fruitful event for all of us, motivating us to host more similar events in the future.
The debate ended with more people in favor of the legalization of GM foods, aligning with poll results from the National Academies of Sciences. The main arguments made in favor of GM foods were their ability to help solve the current food crisis prevalent in third world countries and their effectiveness in helping to mitigate the carbon emissions excreted by the agricultural industry. In addition, genetic engineering aids farmers in cultivating crops that are better fit for harsher climates. For instance, altering the genetic makeup of rice to make it need less hydration could increase its availability in drought-prone countries.
Reflecting on the experience, the debate allowed us to practice several skills necessary for modern-day youth such as critical thinking, effective communication, and awareness of global issues. The debate was conducted in a civil manner, with participants of opposite blocs politely responding to questions asked and providing logical arguments in support of their stance. In the end, it was a fruitful event for all of us, motivating us to host more similar events in the future.
Mingdao Intramural Presentation
On September 4th, 2019, Mingdao held its annual presentation. As a iGEM team specializing in bioengineering, we presented the results of several case studies we conducted over the school year. Teachers, parents, and students were invited to the intramural presentation to see our learning results. With that in mind, we took the opportunity to ask for first impressions, questions, and feedback from the attendees. Most of the questions that we received was mostly centered on the safety of our product while the feedback provided us with insights on how to polish our project and improve our product.
