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<h2>Public Forums</h2> | <h2>Public Forums</h2> | ||
− | <p1>September 28, 2016 | + | <p1>September 28, 2016</p1> |
+ | <p1>October 18, 2016</p1> | ||
− | <p1>At Broad Run High School we held two public forum events to discuss and educate students about genetic engineering and synthetic biology. These events took place in the Independent Science Research class and Research Chemistry class of Ms. Kieninger, also our iGEM instructor. Each class had over 30 students and we used the entire hour and a half block for the forum | + | <p1>At Broad Run High School we held two public forum events to discuss and educate students about genetic engineering and synthetic biology. These events took place in the Independent Science Research class and Research Chemistry class of Ms. Kieninger, also our iGEM instructor. Each class had over 30 students and we used the entire hour and a half block for the forum. We discussed the effects of genetically engineered mosquitoes to combat the various harmful mosquito borne diseases such as Zika virus and malaria, that are rapidly spreading. Students weighed the pros and cons of releasing genetically engineered mosquitoes, and at the end, they decided whether or not the benefits outweighed the potential risks. During the public forum, we utilized components from the Building with Biology kits to give students a better understanding of how genetic engineering works, and understand their views and questions about the subject. </p1> |
<IMG class = "displayed" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/8/8d/T--BroadRun-Baltimore--BuildingwBio_Forum.jpeg" style="width: 901px; height: 676px;"> | <IMG class = "displayed" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/8/8d/T--BroadRun-Baltimore--BuildingwBio_Forum.jpeg" style="width: 901px; height: 676px;"> | ||
− | <p1>Students recorded on notecards their final stance on the issue of releasing genetically engineered | + | <p1>Students recorded on notecards their final stance on the issue of releasing genetically engineered mosquitoes. </p1> |
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− | <p1>We were invited by Loudoun STEM Day director Laura Siko to be a facilitator at the 2016 Loudoun STEM Day. We used Building with Biology kits | + | <p1>We were invited by Loudoun STEM Day director Laura Siko to be a facilitator at the 2016 Loudoun STEM Day. We used the Building with Biology kits Super Organisms, See DNA, and Kit of Parts. Additionally, we also used the popular Plasmid bracelet activity from William and Mary iGEM team’s teacher curriculum. At the full day event, students had fun while interacting with the kits. Working through the activities, we aimed for the students to get a sense of the interconnectedness of the activities from the DNA they extracted to the genetic parts they interacted with to create a super organism with special abilities. As we requested adults to fill out the survey, we had many interesting conversations. These ranged from general inquiries, expression of concerns on safety, to vehement opposition to synthetic biology. We even had a person who read our iGEM poster and surprisingly commented on how his father held a patent on microbial use in wastewater treatment. In total, we worked with over 300 students at the full day event.</p1> |
<IMG class = "displayed" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/5/52/T--BroadRun-Baltimore--2016LoudounSTEMDayt.jpg" style="width:969px;height: 1236px;"> | <IMG class = "displayed" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/5/52/T--BroadRun-Baltimore--2016LoudounSTEMDayt.jpg" style="width:969px;height: 1236px;"> | ||
− | + | <br></br> | |
<h2>Surveys taken at Loudoun STEM Day on October 1, 2016 by the Broad Run iGEM Team</h2> | <h2>Surveys taken at Loudoun STEM Day on October 1, 2016 by the Broad Run iGEM Team</h2> | ||
− | <p1>We designed a survey of 11 questions and | + | <p1>We designed a survey of 11 questions and distributed it at the event. We used the 2013 LMU-TUM Munich iGEM team’s survey as a model and created our own survey questions. We had 120 responses. The data from the survey are summarized below.</p1> |
<IMG class = "displayed" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/5/56/T--BroadRun-Baltimore--Survey.jpg" style="width: 843px;height: 1053px;"> | <IMG class = "displayed" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/5/56/T--BroadRun-Baltimore--Survey.jpg" style="width: 843px;height: 1053px;"> | ||
+ | <p1>We confirmed our suspicions that people are more unfamiliar with the term synthetic biology than genetic engineering, perhaps attributable to familiarity with GMOs. Approval for genetic engineering in food had the lowest approval rate in comparison to medical, military, and industrial applications. More than half perceived risk with GMOs. A majority found the survey to be informative. While the preferred method for learning about genetic engineering favored reading articles, about a quarter liked to talk to scientists and another quarter liked listening to talks such as TED talks.</p1> | ||
+ | <br></br> | ||
<h2>Farmwell Station Middle School</h2> | <h2>Farmwell Station Middle School</h2> | ||
Revision as of 22:44, 19 October 2016
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