In the first month of school, our iGEM team hosted a school-wide event as part of Biology Week as organized by the Royal Society of Biology. For the event, all activities were based around the river that flows past our school. Because the main building resembles a castle, the river served as a thematic moat that we investigated.
We divided our team into different groups; each group was responsible for planning and hosting a different booth revolved around the topic of “Exploring the Moat.”
We had biology-specific booths: extracting water out of the river to examine water quality, placing water dropletsss under the microscope to identify microorganisms, and catching insects to try and identify them using an insect guide.
To make the event more interesting and diverse for the great range of students from Grade 1 all the way to Grade 12, we also incorporated other activities with different subjects integrated with biology: a Biology Week crossword puzzle booth, an art booth where students could draw different insects or the natural scenery, and even a recycling booth in which students can learn to protect the environment by picking up litter in the moat.
As the first project of our iGEM team, it was a great success as we saw both students and teachers engaging, the smiles never leaving their faces. It kicked off the year with a great start, giving younger students a peek into more advanced biology skills and stirring up students’ enthusiasm in studying biology.
By Benenden Team
Sharing what we have learned from the Pembroke Scholars with the community
To share what we’ve learned from our research and interactions with professionals, two iGEM members did a presentation session in front of the whole school on cardiovascular diseases and the corresponding diagnosing and treatment ways.
This presentation covered the basic definition of cardiovascular disease, a detailed explanation of some of the classic examples of CVDs such as myocardial infarction, angina, and atrial fibrillation. Furthermore, they also briefly talked about how to diagnose a patient—using the procedure of SOCRATES (which is the acronym for the eight-step way of diagnosis; stands for site, onset, character, radiation, associated symptoms, time, exacerbating factors, and severity), a doctor may be able to locate the patient’s illness in an efficient manner. Finally, the students also covered how to interpret medical equipments like ECG.
Presenting to a group of audience ranging from primary students to university professors, our team is challenged to tailor the pace and diction for a universal understanding. This opportunity serves as a great practice for prepared public speaking, where Toastmaster skills are utilized to engage a large and diverse audience effectively. Through this lecture, we successfully promoted knowledge concerning the heart to the audience, raising awareness in them.
By Benenden Team
Making educational items and souvenirs
Our iGEM team members designed and made different items to use as team educational items and souvenirs to advertise our team and to let more people understand what we are doing...what our team is about.
The items include a keychain inspired by our logo, badges and ties with fish and heart patterns. Our team’s designers, Bernice, Jacelyn, Nora and Cindy worked for weeks to make this happen. Each focused on one product, starting by designing it and going through the whole process till contacting online vendors to help us to print the different products.
We had some our items for sale at our team’s information booth at our charity BBQ sale and we got good feedback from the community.
By Bernice Hung
Education booth at school sports activity
Our team organized an educational booth during a school sports activity. While selling drinks and hamburgers on one end, providing the crowd with dinner and breakfast, we set up an educational booth on the other end to introduce everyone to our project.
We designed a large standee, where we had a basic description of our project in an understandable way for even primary kids. Moreover, we also attached informational posters about heart attacks, strokes, and CPR around our booth. Furthermore, pamphlets about heart attacks were designed and passed around to people who gathered over to the booth who wanted to know more about our project.
We believe through this combination, students and parents as well as teachers would be able to know what we’re doing and the importance of it—in an interesting way. While being attracted by either food or merchandise, we can take the opportunity to do a quick, small chat with them and educate them.
By Cindy Li
Educational Movie Screenings
As part of our science education drive, we hosted two screenings of the scientific documentary, “Seek out Natural Mysteries” directed by Wang Jie. The first screening was for for all boarding students and interested parents from the school’s international programme while the second screening was for the students in the bilingual junior secondary section.
The primary objective of these events were to enhance the existing science curriculum by providing real-world examples and practical experiments. Additionally, we aimed to inspire students to consider careers in science by showcasing groundbreaking developments and discoveries.
The events commenced with a brief introduction, by our team members Holdwent Yu and Carson Wang, to the film's background. During the audience interaction, the hosts posed two thought-provoking questions that effectively engaged the attendees. Following this, the film, with a runtime of one and a half hours, was screened. Upon its conclusion, refreshments—including soft drinks and crisps—were provided to all attendees.
The documentary presented two key scientific concepts: geomagnetic reversal and the Cambrian period. Both topics were explained in a manner accessible to all age groups.
In summary, the iGEM team gained valuable experience in event organization and received feedback from the audience, which we can improve on the next time we host similar events. Furthermore, we also successfully spread scientific knowledge to kids across different ages—from primary school to high school. We look forward to hosting another screening featuring more compelling topics to better engage our audience.
By Holdwent Yu
Educational posters and flyers around the school.
We want to spread awareness about the risks and dangers of strokes and heart attacks and educate the community about what to do if someone is suffering from heart attacks or strokes so that the correct action can be taken in a timely manner and lives can be saved.
Within the IGEM team, our team members created three different posters and posted them in various parts of the school. The first poster is about the warning signs of a heart attack, quickly identifying the "danger signals" emitted by the body, being alert and seeking help at the earliest possible time. The second poster is about what a stroke is, understanding the crux of a stroke and recognizing its manifestations, not delaying the golden rescue time. The third poster is about how to perform CPR, mastering basic first aid movements, and being able to "act correctly" at critical moments. We also produced a pamphlet about the risks and prevention methods of heart disease, to enable students to pay more attention to and promote various knowledge about heart disease. We distributed this booklet to the students. In addition, we played our project promotional video in the cafeteria. We did this to promote our project and educate students and the community.
By Jacelyn Jiang
Gopher Science Lab
Aiming to introduce young primary kids to the intricate field of biology, we designed lessons for students from Grade 4 and Grade 5. We collaborated with the Royal Society of Biology, as part of the “Gopher Science Labs,” where senior school students present lessons to primary kids. Both the presenters and the attendees will be awarded with certificates from the Royal Society of Biology.
Over the course of four weeks, our team separated into four groups where each made a different lesson introducing genetics to the kids.
Group 1
Introduced our project in an understandable way. Raised awareness about heart disease in kids, informing them of potential risks. We presented a lesson on the heart, including: importance, structure and function. Finally, we did a pig heart dissection, where they are grouped in twos to cut open a heart to identify the different chambers and vessels under our guidance.
Group 2
A lecture on DNA—the essence of iGEM. We introduced the structure and function of DNA. To demonstrate the concept of DNA better, we instructed students to make a DNA model from candy, allowing for a visualized and clear image.
Group 3
Exploring more on DNA. Conducted a lab on extraction of DNA from strawberries, giving students a peek into advanced biology.
Group 4
Lecture on how to separate DNA using gel electrophoresis.
Through this valuable experience, our team gained leadership skills by planning and preparing lessons, passing on what we’ve learned to primary kids and sharing our passion with them.
By Benenden Team
In School Presentation
To wrap up the education side of our project and to prepare us better for the final presentation, we organized a lecture for students from Grade 6 to Grade 12.
Before we head into the actual content, we did a brief introduction on iGEM. Then we put on our two-minute promotion video to give the audience an idea of what our project focuses on. Explained in simple language, our video aims to be understandable for kids across all ages.
We then first focused on introducing the human practice and education side of things. We started talking about how we decided on the topic of using hirudin from leeches to prevent blood clotting in fish — including our whole journey from originally studying CVDs in humans to switching to fish stress and heart attacks, and how we continued to accumulate knowledge while exploring different ideas and learning from different experts. How learning from others have changed our thought process and how we eventually reached the conclusion that scientists’ qualities are what leave a lasting impact on science.
Then, the lab team summarized their findings: how the experiments were conducted and how there were constant failures but solutions were eventually figured out with the determination and persistence of the crew.
By Benenden Team
iGEM Toastmasters
In the iGEM competition, a brilliant idea needs to be shared brilliantly. That's why our team meets every Thursday for our Toastmasters session. This isn't just about practicing speeches; it's a key part of our training to become confident science communicators ready to explain our project to anyone.
Each session is built around two main parts that help us grow. First, we have Prepared Speeches. Here, team members practice a specific part of our project presentation. Someone might explain a complex lab procedure in simple terms, while another person works on a short and catchy elevator pitch for our entire project. This is our chance to get comfortable with our material and make sure we can explain it clearly.
The second part is the exciting Table Topics session! This is all about thinking on our feet. A random question is thrown our way, often about science or our project, and we have to give a clear answer right on the spot. It's fun, challenging, and the perfect practice for handling tough questions from judges.
The best part of these meetings is the supportive and helpful feedback. After every speech, our teammates share what we did well and offer one or two practical tips for improvement. This friendly and constructive environment is what helps us all improve so quickly.
The benefits for our iGEM journey are huge. We are not only polishing our final presentation for the Giant Jamboree but also building the skills we need for interviews, outreach events, and explaining synthetic biology to the public. Most importantly, Toastmasters brings our team closer together, turning us into a strong group of communicators who can share our science with the world.
By Cecily Yang
