The Kansas-based Caps iGEM team has worked to reach out into our community in order to engage and encourage the future generations of scientists by hosting a series of indepth, fun, and informative science experiments and activities. These activities were oriented toward current middle school students interested in biology. This program has developed into the current Middle School Bioclub (MSBC), which our team now runs.
As a part of MSBC, we strongly believe that the best way to expose the younger generation to science is through full immersion. In MSBC we continuously emphasize the use of creative, hands-on experiments such as the Elephant Toothpaste lab and Penny Alchemy lab. Thanks to the advanced technology provided by the CAPS program, we are able to fully achieve this immersion. In addition to the MSBC, our team members worked with Bayer through their Making Science Make Sense program to teach local elementary school teachers on performing a strawberry DNA extraction lab with their students. It is our goal to not only teach the future generation about science, but also to instill a lifelong love for learning science, for innovation, and for discovery.