Difference between revisions of "Team:Cornell NY/Engagement"

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Overview

Some things are meant to be kept private, but our 2016 iGEM project on mastitis was meant to be shared. We seized some of our most unique outreach opportunities yet this past year, working with a science museum, educating underprivileged youth, and being put on a public stage at the Great New York State Fair. We aimed not to demonstrate but to engage, having conversations about mastitis and synthetic biology.

Humans and SynBio

“What is synthetic biology to you?”

Here’s what they told us.

The Great NY State Fair

1 million people. The Great NY State Fair is called great for a reason--it sees a huge influx of people every summer. New York State is one of the top five agricultural producers in the country, and so agriculture is rightfully showcased at the fair. The fair served not only as a place where we could raise awareness about synthetic biology, but also, in light of the agricultural focus, the perfect field to showcase our mastitis project.

We were stationed at a booth near the Youth Building, one of the main attractions for youth and their parents at the fair. As people came through--people from all over New York, Pennsylvania, and other neighboring states--we engaged them with an activity from Building with Biology, an initiative funded by the National Science Foundation.

The activity, called the “Kit of Parts,” illustrated synthetic biology as a way to put different pieces together to solve a problem. After the activity, we asked them to participate in our photo campaign known as “Humans and SynBio”, inspired by Humans of New York.

YOURS Program

The future of science is dependent on inspiring the next generation to develop a passion for observation, discovery, and creation. We wanted to help instill a love of science in the children of our local community at Cornell. We partnered with the 4H Dryden OURS (Opportunity, Understanding, Respect, Success) program of Tompkins County, run by Cornell Cooperative Extension, and participated in the YOURS (Youth Outreach Undergraduates Reshaping Success) program. The children we worked with were from mobile park homes in nearby Freeville, New York. They were between 8 and 11 years old and chose to participate in the program because they wanted to learn more about science.

The goal of our program was simple: to make biology and engineering fun while teaching about our project dealing with mastitis. For 6 weeks, students visited our classroom and lab space at Cornell for 2 hours. They were taught concepts in science through visuals and hands-on demonstrations. Every class included activities and experiments in which the students applied their new knowledge, seeing the power of science in action. We emphasized the ideology of learning through doing. Each student was paired with a mentor who was part of the Cornell iGEM team. This personal connection made students’ experiences with science all the more meaningful.

Week	Lesson Plan
1	To begin, we gave students a survey to gauge their interests and previous knowledge. We then gave them an introduction to the science of biology and the concept of genetic engineering. We introduced how our team works in the field of synthetic biology, and subsequently introduced our project dealing with mastitis. After we talked about the importance of measurements in scientific experiments, the students measured out water and food coloring using graduated cylinders and micropipettes. Throughout, the students gained an understanding of the properties of water that cause a meniscus to form. They learned how to properly label a tube with necessary information.
2	In this lesson we talked about DNA. Students created drawings of the double-helix structure of DNA, and then extracted DNA from strawberries. During the DNA extraction, the students also learned about emulsifiers and the role of soap in the experiment. They learned why DNA is called the blueprint for the body and how iGEM uses different techniques to change DNA to achieve our goal. After protein was extracted from both regular milk and soy milk, the structure and function of protein in the body were discussed.
3	The purpose of this week’s lesson was to learn about the separation of molecules. We extracted the colors from different types of candy and permanent markers. Then students loaded a gel to separate the molecules using gel electrophoresis, and also performed paper chromatography on their samples. They learned why certain molecules move faster than others and hence separate. The concepts were reinforced with a modified game of tag with the mentors. The class ended with a demonstration of the Marangoni effect in water using soap, and floating a bread tie on water. This built on the previous week’s discussion of the properties of water, and this week the students learned more about surface tension.
4	We moved from a biology focus to talk about engineering, since that is a big part of what our team does. This week the students created a contraption to allow an egg to survive 20-foot, 40-foot, and 60-foot drops. Before starting, we discussed Newton’s three laws of motion and why the egg broke when it fell. This gave the students a scientific basis on which they could build an approach for saving the egg. Students went through the process of identifying a problem, brainstorming solutions, designing a concept, budgeting materials (through a point system), building under timed conditions, and testing a prototype. The act of deliberately using logic to solve a problem was emphasized. The students enjoyed creating physical models of their ideas. The activity was followed by a discussion of how iGEM uses engineering concepts to tackle biology-related issues.
5	This week we wanted to showcase our project’s impact and connection to the real world. We brought the children and mentors to Cornell’s Vet Dairy Teaching Barn and were given a tour of the facility by the director. Students were able to see and pet the cows and learn about milk production and processing. They also saw the milking process take place and the tanks where the milk is stored. They learned about milking and dry periods, the different types of feed and antibiotics, and met baby calves. There was a discussion of mastitis and how it affects cows as well as milk production at a farm. We talked about how iGEM was going to tackle the problem in a multifaceted approach, using bacteriocins, a new milking shell, and an app for farmers.
6	To further the children’s understanding of the dairy industry, this week we visited,the Cornell Dairy Bar, an on-campus ice creamery that serves dairy products made from milk produced at the Dairy Learning Barn. The students got to see the facility where the ice cream is made, which was full of interactive displays and videos to learn from. The students then enjoyed ice cream from the Dairy Bar, amazed with the understanding that the ice cream was made from the same milk they saw the previous week. We finished the program with one last fun experiment with chemical reactions. Students saw the reaction between vinegar and baking soda, and then tried to capture the chemical energy released as mechanical energy by blowing up balloons with the reaction. They tinkered with different set-ups and amounts of reactants. Students enjoyed using logic and the understanding of the reaction to figure out how to get the largest balloons. The YOURS program ended with a fun game of tag with the mentors and superlative awards for all of the students.

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 <p class="lead mb40" style="color:black;">The future of science is dependent on inspiring the next generation to develop a passion for observation, discovery, and creation. We wanted to help instill a love of science in the children of our local community at Cornell. We partnered with the 4H Dryden OURS (Opportunity, Understanding, Respect, Success) program of Tompkins County, run by Cornell Cooperative Extension, and participated in the YOURS (Youth Outreach Undergraduates Reshaping Success) program. The children we worked with were from mobile park homes in nearby Freeville, New York. They were between 8 and 11 years old and chose to participate in the program because they wanted to learn more about science.
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