Sketch in dishes
Sketch in Dish_Best Education and Public Engagement:
Best Education!
We thoroughly understand that it's vital to spark new scientific curiosity among the youth. Therefore, this human practice is designed to introduce the magical world of life science to kids around 10 years old. With the help of a simple but interesting experiment, kids can know more about microbes and enjoy the fun brought by synthetic biology. Furthermore, we explain the principles behind every step to them when doing experiments together. Another meet-up is held latter to encourage them to bring their friends to come next year, which means our human practice is sustainable.
Best Public Engagement!
Voices or views outside the lab are important for iGEMers to optimize their projects. The human practice 'Sketch in Dish' could also be regarded as a public dialogue. Not only kids but also undergraduates of other major, parents and other family member of kids, etc. participate in Sketch in Dish. Thus we get an opportunity to explain the science behind synthetic biology to them and talk about the benefits and risks in this emerging field. Some views and conclusions are listed below:
1. "Even if we don't know what synthetic biology exactly is, we still encourage our kid to take part in such activities. Because we want them to know more about science but we lack the ability to explain those things to them." one of the parents said. Many parents are eager to develop their kid's interest in science and would like to take part in any relating activities.
2. People are more willing to learn about brand-new field than we expected before, especially when the development of the field might influence their daily life. Many parents are curious about the use of synthetic biology in medicine and the microbes that may apply in daily life in the future.
3. "Transgenic" was the word they mentioned the most. Parents kept asking us questions about this when we talked about the biobricks inside E. coli. Risks of such transgenic operations have been asked again and again. Therefore, we must pay more attention to explain our work to the public and reconsider the potential risk of our products more carefully.
Sketch in Dishes
-
Preparation:
- 1. "Colors" : GFP and RFP gene under the control of strong promoter and strong RBS on vector pSB1C3 are transformed into E. Coli separately. E.coli expressing GFP and RFP are cultured in Lysogeny-Broth medium.
Fig.1 E. Coli expressing GFP and RFP.
- 2. "Drawing Papers" : Disposable dishes were sterilized in an autoclave. Lysogeny-Broth medium (solid) with chloramphenicol was used to culture E.Coli after painting.
- 3. "Brushes" : Toothpicks were packed in groups of ten and sterilized in an autoclave.
Fig.2 All tools needed.
-
Sketch in Dish:
- We tried to attract people hanging out who noticed our posters to come, and also sent invitations to primary schools nearby.
- 2. We taught kids and their parents how to draw a sketch:
-
First, draw a sketch on a small piece of paper with pencils and stick it on the back of a dish; (see in Fig.3)
Fig.3
Sketch in dishes
-
Sketch in Dish:
- 2. We taught kids and their parents how to draw a sketch:
-
Second, lit an alcohol burner and clean their hands with 75% alcohol we provided; (see in Fig.4)
Fig.4
- Third, pick out a toothpick near the alcohol burner(see in Fig.5), wet the toothpick with bacterium liquid (see in Fig.6) and carefully copy your sketch to the dish ( patterns could be seen through the transparent dish ); (see in Fig.7)
Fig.5
Fig.6
Fig.7
- Forth, pick out another toothpick, select the other color if you like and repeat the thrid step.
Fig.8 Teaching a primary school child to doodle on the plate and explaining the principles.
Fig.9 Chatting with undergraduates, kids and parents.
Sketch in dishes
-
Face to Face:
-
We talked with them on topics like microorganisms in our daily life and the development of synthetic biology. Moreover, we encouraged them to know more about iGEM through the Internet. All participants were informed to check their email several days later for photos of their sketch. Some participants even paid a visit to have a look at their dishes. In the meantime, some of them were shown how our lab works.
- See in Next Year:
-
A lecture about Sketch in Dish was held in the Community Activity Center several days later. At the beginning, we played some video clips to show them the beauty of life. Then, some principles of our experiments and sketch in dish were explained to those kids for a deeper understanding. To estimate how much they learnt, we asked some questions based on the lecture above. Lastly, we warmly welcomed them to participate in our practices next year.
Fig.10 Answering a question raised by a kid.
Fig.11 Our audience from nearby primary schools.
