Team:DUT China B/Public Engagement

BALDR

• Project
  • Inspiration
  • Description
  • Design
  • Demonstrate
  • Expectation
  • Following Design
• Wet_lab
  • Experiments
  • Results
  • Protocols
  • Notebook
  • Safety
• Parts
  • Parts Overview
• Model
• Outreach
  • Human_Practices
  • Public_Engagement
• Team
  • Team Member
  • Attributions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Collaborations
• Awards
  • Medal Criteria

• Inspiration


• Background


• Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Contact Synthetic biology with children

1 Personalized WeChat public platform is a new tool for publicity of igem in China and redesigned QR code is just another beauty.

Background:
We found that most people no longer use newspapers to access new things, instead they use social media platforms on mobile phones. Further investigation and reference to the work of the SZU-China team in 2018 found that WeChat is the most popular and is used by almost every Chinese. In addition, we have observed that the use of QR codes in China has become more common and mature. The international public is not strange to the QR code, but after referring the education and public engagement of many old teams,we found that the QR code being applied to publicity of igem is still a blank. Preparations:
We built and operated a WeChat public platform to igem and synthetic biology. And we designed our own QR codes.People can scan the QR codes to pay attention to our WeChat public platform and do our electronic questionnaire. Procedure and results
Last year, the school’s igem club founded the WeChat public platform, DLUTIGEM.We used the public platform to send out igem and synthetic biology pushes, and in this way notify some offline activities. About 300 of people have noticed igem and synthetic biology in this way, and the club has grown prosper.Most of the students in the club were exposed to synthetic biology for the first time. They have shown great interest in this emerging biology department, and we had linked it to more traditional genetic engineering disciplines, and students felt that synthetic biology’s development in the future had the potential to benefit mankind and transform the world.
We designed and remodeled the QR code. As shown in the figure, the shape of the QR code is related to the creature of our project, “Chlamydonomas”. We also associated it with the character image, and the young people were more easily to be attracted . We also used it in publicity. The public can directly pay attention to our DLUTIGEM public platform by scanning the QR code.We used QR code to connect with our electronic questionnaire and bid farewell to the paper questionnaire,which is more environmentally friendly and convenient.

Feedback&reflection:
We had recruited more club members through the WeChat public platform.Igem club students reflected that our clubs activities can be more and the form of club activities can be more diverse. The president actively contacted the responsible teacher and proposed that in addition to inviting professors to teach us the basics of synthetic biology, we can also add more practical activities for middle school students and competitions within the club.The use of QR codes in publicity has been well received by the public. Our questionnaire can be done after scanning the QR code. We have found that these approaches reduces the complexity of leaflets, brochures, and handwritten questionnaires. The public has shown good acceptance of this kind of publicity.

2 Let synthetic biology be lively at all stages of education.

We note that the spread and continuation of synthetic biology requires continuous work, and we do our best to turn the publicity of our team into a systematic work that runs through all levels of education. Considering that the development of synthetic biology requires a new generation of student power, it is necessary for more students to get in touch with synthetic biology and become interested in it. We went to primary schools, middle schools,and universities and provided opportunities for these students to engage in synthetic biology.
1）Entering the classroom at Xianglujiao Primary School
Background:
Our teammates have previously participated in other practice activities at Xianglujiao Primary School and have contact information of the teachers responsible for popular science at Xianglujiao Primary School. Our team got in touch with this teacher and the teacher also hoped that the children could get some knowledge about biology. We decided to go to the primary school on September 24 to carry out our publicity activities.
Preparations:
The team decided to preach the scientific knowledge about algae in this small subject activity and make a certain prospect in the application of microalgae in the direction of micro-robot. The team carefully prepared the powerpoint display that the primary school students could accept, compiled some popular science videos that the primary school students could accept, purchased candy candy and the commemorative postcards of our university as the prizes for the quiz, and designed the painting activity of “The algae I imagined”. Procedure and results:
The session was about micro-alga, with an eye-catching title ‘ Life, make it with alga’. We briefly introduced the concept of microalgae to the students, using videos and leading questions. We were surprised to find that these pupils, though young, were exceedingly keen on learning algae-related knowledge. After asking them to demonstrate their own idea of combining algae with robots , we roughly depicted the concept of nano-robots and introduced the design of our project. At the end of the session, we also asked them to draw their design of converting micro-alga into robots. Some of them were simply unrestrained, almost impossible, yet some of them actually bring inspiration to our project.

Feedback&reflection:
After we finished speaking, the pupils painted with their imagination and creativity,which also brought new eyes to our project. We also gave our contact information to the pupils and told them “if you have questions about synthetic biology, you can ask us to continue consultation”, and we also invited them to visit the school in the future. We find that primary school students have some difficulty in understanding some relatively abstract biological knowledge, but when we combine video, pictures and some forms of drawing games, they will be more active and their ability to accept knowledge will increase accordingly.

2）Middle School Students ——"Mini Engineer" Summer Camp
Background:
Middle school students have a high interest in biological knowledge, and the school plans to open summer camps for some students who love biology. Team members participate in the teaching and organization of high school students' "mini engineer" summer camp. Considering that high school students have mastered some biological knowledge, we brought the focus of synthetic biology teaching and interpretation work to the laboratory, and high school students accepted after the education of synthetic biology, experiencing the charm of synthetic biology by doing some basic experiments related to synthetic biology.
Preparations:
Team members understood the knowledge level of high school students, did a lot of work in teaching preparation for lessons, relevant experiments,and experimental materials.
Procedure and results:
The team members taught high-school students to do experiments such as extraction of plasmids, electroporation, restriction enzyme digestion, electrophoresis, etc. High school students were able to approach biology in the form of experiments and increased their interest in synthetic biology.
Feedback&reflection
In the end, the high school students gave a detailed report summary, telling about their newly acquired knowledge and experimental skills, and thanked the school and team members for helping them to experience the charm of synthetic biology through experiments.

3）Advocating synthetic biology for undergraduate freshmen
Background:
Freshmen of the Bioengineering College are enrolled, and the leaders of the college invited the member of the team, Liu Huan, to give a speech at the school’s opening ceremony. Preparations:
The team member carefully wrote the speech draft and were familiar with the college lab to prepare to lead the new classmates and parents to visit the lab.
Procedure and results:
At the opening ceremony, the team introduced igem to the students and described their experiences in igem. It conveyed that synthetic biology is an interesting new biology department. Participating in igem can enhance their ability in all aspects. While leading the students to visit the laboratory, the team members introduced the synthetic biology and what to do. The students were very interested and hoped to participate in igem and learned more about synthetic biology in the future study life

Feedback&reflection:
Most freshmen were exposed to synthetic biology for the first time and showed a strong interest. After our publicity, a freshman student took the initiative to purchase synthetic biology books and began to learn about synthetic biology and asked the team members about relevant knowledge. Our members were moved too,in addition to focusing on our own competition projects, we devoted ourselves to the wider ocean of synthetic biology knowledge. This two-way dialogue made us not only feel the joy of promoting synthetic biology, but also feel the encouragement of college students and teachers.

3、School festival--we are connected by synthetic biology and igem.

Background:
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of Dalian University of Technology, we welcomed a cheerful campus carnival. And our DUT-CHINA-B also spread the concept of igem and synthetic biology to the students of different grades and different majors in this campus. The event was open to the public and attracted people from different ages and professions to pay attention to igem and synthetic biology. Procedure and results:
We recorded the personal experience of the the old igemers of our school through video,and introduced the charm of igem to the visitors in a vivid way.
We introduced the knowledge of synthetic biology in the way of explanation and microscopic observation. We explained microbes under the microscope and briefly explained how synthetic biology uses them to make great results. In the crowd, most of the students of other majors and the people engaged in the work unrelated to biology showed great interest in microscopic observation and synthetic biology, and the children experienced the fun of the biological micro world.
Before the show, we held a petri dishes design competition. The petri dishes on the display and on the table attracted the attention of many children and the public. We cultivated microorganisms such as yeast and sclerotium to make specific patterns. Visualize microorganisms are impressive and we spread biological knowledge during the process of explanation.

Feedback&reflection:
The students who participated in the carnival were impressed with the design of our culture dishes. High school students also made their own culture dishes in the laboratory and sent photos to us. We have found that if synthetic biology is linked to art and presented to the public in a visual form, it is easier to impress the public and make the publicity better.

---