Team:METU HS Ankara/Engagement
Introduction
iGEM is not about some weird guy with a white coat working in the lab all day. It’s about going beyond the bench, and making a difference, whatever small it is, in your community, your city and maybe your world. The public engagement activities are a great way to do that. In our activities, we aim to engage and educate the people around us while learning new things and getting a new perspective on our project in return.
Public Event
To increase the awareness of colon cancer and exercising we organized a running activity in Lake Eymir. We had a group of around 60 people including team members teachers parents and students. We asked them all to wear blue since blue is the color of the colon cancer awareness ribbon. The 10 km run lasted for 3 hours and thanks to the lovely weather in our city, half of run was under heavy rain. Nevertheless, we had great fun and were thrilled to see so many people show up to join our cause. Because of the interest and support from our participants we decided to repeat this activity twice every following month for three months.
DNA DAY Celebration with Middle Schools
On the 25th of April we celebrated DNA day with middle school students. We decorated their entrance with balloons and posters about DNA to attract their attention. For that day, we designed a little DNA base pair matching game. We made base pairs out of papers and told the students to match A with T, and G with C. It was a very simple and fun activity. We realized that, although DNA base pairs are taught at school, few students actually understood them. With this activity, we enhanced the students’ learning and made them more interested in biology. Also, seeing students younger than us reminded us of ourselves when we were their age. We wished that someone did this type of activities to us then. That would have increased our interest in biology.
MAX FM – Radio Interview
To reach even more people we participated in a broadcast talk in a well known radio channel, MaxFM. We had an interview with Özgür Aksuna in his famous morning show. We talked about the importance of a healthy diet and exercise and it’s effect on prevention of colon cancer. For many of us that was the first time talking in a live broadcast and it was a life changing experience. We knew that we reached a lot of people and made a difference that day.
News & Interview on TV – NTV Chanel
Our interview with Özgür Aksuna gained the attention of NTV reporters and they included us in their show “Güncel Haberler” meaning “current news”. They filmed us while working in the lab and then they interviewed our primary instructor, Tuğba İnanç Gök, our team leader Göksu Bayrak and a team member, Özgür Can. Our goal was to produce a short clip that educates everyone about synthetic biology and introduces iGEM. Because it was on tv, we had a chance to address a wide range of audience. From students to teachers, CEOs to housewives, mothers to children had watched us and gained information about synthetic biology and iGEM. We managed to get inside of every house in Turkey and made our voice heard.
To raise public awareness about colon cancer and synthetic biology, and also to explain our project we took part in the most popular radio broadcast of Turkey, MaxFm in the most listened hour. By this way, we were able to reach thousands of people and inform them about the significance of maintaining a healthy diet, exercising, and reducing stress in order to prevent colon cancer. We also had the chance to explain our project, and to talk about synthetic biology and iGEM.
Then, our team was interviewed by Turkey's most popular TV channels: Kanal D and NTV. We talked about our project, the process, colon cancer and synthetic biology. We raised awareness among millions of people and also shared our excitement with them.
PUBLIC WORKSHOP – Colon Model
We contacted Dance with Cancer Association and brought a giant model of colon to our school. The children were very interested in our model. They were all very eager to touch and learn more about it. As always, the hands on learning is the best type of learning and those kids learned a lot that day. We were able to show them directly what happens when they don’t eat healthy and exercise regularly. They were impressed by our model and were more inclined to finish their vegetables that day. We know that, many children at that age would rather eat chocolate and candy than vegetables and fruits, so it is very important to teach them the ramifications of junk food early on. By that way, they can avoid the twenty first century problems like obesity. We invited kindergarten and primary school students to the high school building to meet with our colon model. They seem fascinated about the information that is given to them. We emphasized on importance of eating healthy food and avoiding from junk food and carbonated drinks. They were so little and adorable and we were really happy to be with them. We gave brochures about simple colon anatomy for children and comic books about nourishment.
As a team, we introduced the model and give information about digestive system . We asked questions about alimentation and effects of it on cancer to them. We were able to show them directly what happens when they don’t eat healthy and exercise regularly. They seem fascinated about the information that is given to them. We emphasized on importance of eating healthy food and avoiding from junk food and carbonated drinks.
BOOKLET
We prepared a booklet to inform people about colon cancer and also to draw attention to important facts and statistics about it. The booklet included information about the importance of a healthy diet and a regular exercising program to prevent colon cancer. We distributed the booklet to the students and teachers of our school, to our families and to our friends, making almost 3000 people in total. By preparing and distributing the booklet, we were able to raise awareness on colon cancer. We also explained our project in the booklet which made it easier for us to find people to support our project.
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
The success of our team in 2015 draw attention of the media. Lots of newspapers, including the most popular ones such as Sabah, Yeniyuzyil and Hurriyet, included us in their newspapers. By this way, people all across Turkey have become informed about iGEM, synthetic biology, and our team.
Conference Speech at Acıbadem University – iGEM and METU HS Ankara 2015 Project
Because of our successes in the IGEM competition of last year our tutor Tuğba İnanç Gök was invited to do a presentation on the team’s IGEM experience to many different students from many different schools. She discussed what the competition is all about and the project we participated with. Her presentation was viewed by many and was put on YouTube to be viewed by a broader audience.
Article in our School Magazine
The school magazine, called Devinim, had a whole page which included information about iGEM and last year's team's success. Because every student of our school reads through this magazine, every student and teacher learned what iGEM is, what synthetic biology is and how it can be used. It was a simple but a very effective way to explain what we do, what our project this year is about and to inform people about synthetic biology and iGEM.
