Synthetic Biology Children’s Storybook

The Synthetic Biology Children’s Storybook engages young readers with space exploration and scientific research. Learn more about how we designed our storybook in this page!

Overview

Space exploration captivates youth of all ages, from toddlers playing astronaut to teenagers eager to understand the science behind planets and stars. The Space application of our iGEM project provided the bridge to bring synthetic biology to a demographic that may not be exposed with the topic. We created an engaging space-themed storybook that introduced children to our project’s key concepts and the challenges astronauts face during space travel. We designed the book to help young readers and their families think about sustainability and learn how synthetic biology can solve real problems, both on our planet and beyond.

How did we apply the “Three E’s”?

Expand

The storybook introduces young readers to sustainability and space exploration through an engaging narrative about the challenges of transporting building materials to space. It aims to broaden public understanding of synthetic biology and showcase how innovative solutions can advance sustainable practices.

Explore

The storybook models the scientific process through discovery and experimentation. Just as the UBC iGEM team developed solutions to address the high costs and energy demands of space transportation, the story follows characters who use scientific investigation and problem-solving to overcome challenges.

Engineer

Following knowledge expansion and exploration of possible applications comes the final stage of engineering the solution. In parallel to the “Design-Build-Test-Learn” cycle, this learning objective captures the process of testing and learning with an emphasis on implementation and execution. In the storybook, the characters overcome trials and errors to the problem before seeing the solution take shape. By concluding the storybook on a note of innovation, we invite readers to take part in this narrative of reducing carbon emissions and improving sustainable practices.

How did we produce our storybook?

Creating the storybook required multiple iterations informed by interdisciplinary expertise. We combined professional feedback from storytelling experts with input from our target audience---young readers ages 5-8---to weave together scientific concepts and learning objectives.

We organized the production into five phases:

1. Brainstorming and Research 2. Scripting and Storyboarding 3. Illustration 4. Finishing Touches and Details 5. Community Distribution

Analagous to the DBTL cycle, each phase encompasses distinct sets of iterations and the integration of professional feedback to deliver a cohesive and meaningful storyline.

1. Brainstorming and Research

The Brainstorming and Research phase was instrumental in establishing our storytelling approach. This initial phase took one month. We brainstormed storylines, researched effective narrative structures, and conducted interviews with storytelling experts.

Why do we write a Storybook?

Our Human Practices work focuses on bringing synthetic biology to the general public in engaging and meaningful ways. Explaining synthetic biology to elementary students presents unique challenges. Children this age haven’t yet studied genetics or molecular science, so concepts like protein synthesis and gene editing remain inaccessible. Most outreach for young children therefore focuses on general biology rather than project-specific details.

We aimed to do something different. Since children are already fascinated by space through popular media and books, we saw an opportunity to connect our space-themed project to their existing interests. A storybook proved the perfect medium---combining engaging visuals with storytelling to make our research accessible and fun.

How is storytelling beneficial to science communication? Why were children our target audience?

Communicating scientific concepts to the general public is challenging, especially for younger audiences without foundational science knowledge. This challenge intensifies with complex fields like synthetic biology. We addressed this by centering our story around space exploration, integrating synthetic biology and our meduCA project into an engaging narrative. The book sparks curiosity about science while showcasing synthetic biology’s potential to solve real-world problems.

Research supports this approach. Haber et al. found that children’s self-perception is influenced by the characters they encounter in stories ([1]). When children read about characters who demonstrate motivation and effort, they develop greater confidence in their own abilities. Similarly, stories about overcoming obstacles help cultivate growth mindsets and resilience.

How and why did we engage with storytelling experts?

To inform our approach, we consulted children’s storybook authors who highlighted a myriad of topics ranging from the content of the storybook to subsequently the dissemination of the work. Seeking professional expertise from children’s book authors provided guidance on how to convey scientific knowledge effectively via a readable and engaging storybook for an young audience between 5-8 years old. Therefore, we conducted outreach to storybook authors who are experienced with scientific communication and children’s storywriting.

How did we integrate feedback into our design?

In producing the storybook, we collected insights from both children’s storybook writing experts and the target audience of young readers between 5-8 years old. During early development, we consulted with experts in creative writing and children’s storytelling. Tanya, one of our iHP contacts, provided feedback on the representation of scientific concepts such as the in-situ development of building materials, leading us to conduct further brainstorming and revise the script. Hence, the feedback is integrated in a sequential manner and in accordance to the area of relevancy, introducing new iterations in our work stream. Shar Levine, our second iHP contact, gave us advice on a later version of our script. Through her input, we simplified vocabulary that may have been too abstract or complex for children to understand.

After completing the storybook, we gathered feedback from the community, including readers aged 5-8, to understand how children engaged with the storyline. Through local distribution, we hope to assess community reception and introduce young readers to synthetic biology and scientific exploration.

How is our storybook related to meduCA?

From Seeds to Stars mirrors meduCA by presenting real-world problems and innovative solutions. meduCA tackles the environmental and economic costs of transporting cement for space construction. We translated this into a child-friendly problem: a spaceship too heavy to fly because of its cargo.

meduCA’s biological engineering is too complex for young readers, but its core idea is simple---using an engineered organism to produce building materials. We created the Starseed using this same framework: a fictional organism with reflective properties that becomes a construction material. The Starseed is constructed into a “looking glass”, allowing observation of the new planet from Earth. Though the details differ, both share a common purpose: harnessing biology to bridge life on earth with sustainable space exploration.

2. Scripting and Storyboarding

The Scripting and Storyboarding was critical in setting the direction for our storyline. Based on aforementioned feedback and research, we began to develop the script and determine the structure and progression of the plot.

Before drafting our storybook, we researched children’s literature to understand effective structure, design, and writing techniques. We then reached out to children’s authors for feedback on our story concept and themes.

What was the overall process?

We developed multiple drafts outlining potential scenes and character dialogue in one document while brainstorming illustration ideas in another. The scripting document proceeded through many revisions due to page limitations, external feedback and simplification requirements. After finalizing our core concepts, we combined the two elements into a unified storyboard where we refined the content and illustrations based on their cohesion.

What genres and book structures inspired our book?

Science fiction stories served us as our primary inspiration, with stories that imagined space travel with interplanetary adventures of young characters. This was the basis for how we aimed to portray our characters exploring the unknown and formulating general space themes and ideas for our setting. Environmental storytelling was also crucial in helping us determine how to shape and communicate our solution of Living Building Materials (LBMs) across to readers in a simple analogous way. Many tales focused on finding a balance between introducing scientific concepts like sustainability while using settings like nature as a central backdrop. To incorporate magical and fantasy elements into our story, we were also inspired by short fantasy stories for children that offered diverse and creative ways of seeing the world.

We found that picture books with panels modelled our storyboard style best, blending narrative text with structured illustrations across spreads to guide pacing. Pages were evenly spread out to highlight primary steps in a character’s journey, revealing new lessons and challenges at each stage. We aimed to model the problem-solution structure found in many adventurous and exploratory journeys in storybooks. These usually began with a challenge, multiple failed attempts, and concluded with a solution. To create an interactive and fun reading experience for our young audience, we looked at dialogic storytelling where characters discuss, question, and explore ideas together. Dialogue was also often used to simplify abstract concepts and make them clearer to readers. Most book structures also concluded with an educational overview to reinforce scientific ideas behind character choices that was essential to our project.

3. Illustration

How did we approach the illustration of the storybook?

For illustration, we began with preliminary sketches of our storybook design that aligned with each page of our script. First, we brainstormed ideas for our character design of Eliana and Kaia. Based on their chosen personality and physical characteristics, we coordinated with our in-house designers to prepare a rough sketch.

We then experimented with different settings and points of view for our characters with a bottom-up approach. We started from our main characters’ apartment building and then transitioned into their creative journey building and experimenting with the rocket ship.

Similar to meduCA, Starseed was our representation of a biological specimen that would connect the characters’ explorations in space with their lives on earth. For illustration introducingthe Starseed, we created a plant profile to guide the reader in understanding its characteristics as building material for transportation and space exploration.

• The layout for the illustrations was also adjusted multiple times according to the text to create a enjoyable experience for the reader as they follow along with our characters’ journey. Some illustrations were angular for the text to appear spontaneous while others were more zoomed in which helped the text appear concentrated.
• Colors such as dark purple, blue ombre and shadows were utilized to thematically create a sense of mystery and scientific discovery in space. This also establishes strong emotional connection with the reader through both warm and cool tones.
• Thought and speech bubbles were used to compliment the illustrations. More details about the scientific process as well as emotional cues that help narration can be found there.

How did we select our visual theme?

The overall design of the book uses a color palette of purples and pinks to match the theme of space exploration. The Starseeds are designed to parallel the appearance of stars in the sky. The spreads vary widely, ranging from full-bleed illustrations to draw attention to the environment, to vignettes to draw attention to the characters. We also included notebook-style pages to mirror the way that scientists and engineers record observations and develop plans. Often, visual storytelling is also conveyed through the passage of time, for example, the first few pages moves from sunset, to twilight, to nighttime. These variations help maintain visual interest for young readers.

The illustrations maintain a simple yet inviting style, using varied textures to create depth and warmth. A cartoonish style was chosen to match the whimsical and playful theme of the story, while maintaining readability through high contrast and clear silhouettes.

What was our illustration process?

The illustrations were done in 3 steps: Sketch, Line art, and finally Colour. At each step, we exchanged opinions and made minor changes to ensure the visuals and text complemented each other.

4. Finishing Touches and Details

Completing our storybook involved bringing together our content with the illustrations. We built our book page by page, determining the most ideal font, size, and layout that would fit our book.

Final Edits:

In our last stage of edits, script changes were made to simplify and shorten vocabulary that could be too complex for younger readers to understand. These edits were influenced by the valuable advice given to us by Shar Levine. She stated that some of the word choices were inappropriate for this age group and we agreed that it would be beneficial to clarify certain words to ensure that readability issues would not interfere with the flow and overall message of our story.

How did we choose our book size?

Our book is being printed in the dimensions of 8” x 8”, but some of major factors we considered included:

• Ease of Printing We found that 8” by 8” was one of the standard storybook sizes and would not require extensive or costly customization to print

• Correspondence with the setting and theme As our book heavily emphasizes topics such as exploration and discovery, we looked to page layouts that could portray the vastness of our settings, both of their home on Earth to space and Syno. We avoided vertical page dimensions as it limits our ability to convey the sensation of exploration, discovery, and the unknown.

How did we choose our font?

The font size for our book was important to consider and research was conducted on how fonts can impact the following:

• Accessibility
• Readability
• Simplicity The absence of stylistic strokes in sans serif fonts makes it more legible. While serif fonts are more artistic, it can be much harder for a young audience to read and distinguish between letters. Sans serif fonts are cleaner and more consistent, as thickness is equal in each part of the letter.

The same components for different letters can look too similar and decrease legibility. For example, the circular parts of p,g,b,d can make it hard for younger kids to differentiate between letters ([2]).

Despite this consideration, sans serif makes words more readable and decreases the effort needed to comprehend full sentences. This was critical to consider as readers of our targeted age group are learning to construct full sentences with consistent flow.

Our finalized choice was Livvic. We found this sans serif style to fit the theme of our book while optimizing the readability and simplicity.

Formatting

One of the final steps was adding our script to the illustrations using Canva. The most critical step was distributing the content throughout the page, ensuring the reading sequences were as intended and easy to determine for younger kids and families. Additionally, the positioning of the text needs to be engaging for kids to read. This meant avoiding big blocks of text that were condensed in one area. In addition, we found that the text could intertwine with certain illustrations and increase the playfulness in certain pages.

Lastly, the positioning of the text were subjected to final changes due to concerns about sequential reading order on certain pages. We altered the text arrangement to reduce confusion regarding the progression of reading.

5. Community Outreach and Distribution

Our main goal for outreach was to distribute our book across Vancouver to receive feedback and thoughts from families and children. Our main targets for distribution were storybooks, community centers, and libraries.

What was our outreach process?

Community Surveying: How did we gauge interest?

To gauge initial interest with our program, we phoned local bookstores in Vancouver. Many of these stores were interested, but requested further information regarding our program and the book

Outreach: How did we present the storybook to local community centres?

The next step was to send out our fully written proposal to bookstores and community centers with possible options for external contacts to choose from. These options varied from putting up a poster to hosting reading sessions with children. Additionally, our team reached out to elementary schools in Vancouver to measure the impact of our storybook in a learning environment.

Storybook Distribution: How are we fostering community engagement?

• Currently, we are excited to collaborate with Cross and Crows to display and distribute our book in their bookstore. Our current plan is to visit the store to be able to speak to families about our book.
• Additionally, we have plans in place to share our book with elementary school classes where we can read the book to youth between the age of 5-8 years old and collect real-time feedback.

Community Feedback: How has the storybook been received so far?

To test the readability of our storybook, we shared the storybook with the younger siblings of the UBC iGEM team. We were happy to see that the book was received well and that the storyline was found to be engaging and refreshing with its twist on space exploration.

“I thought it was really cool. I really liked it because I like space. I really liked the part where two girls used their imagination because that’s kind of like me and my best friend. I give it a 10/10 rating.” - Volunteer Reader, Age 9

Follow along with our story as you explore the plot breakdown

How does the story Synbio with Kaia and Eliana: From Seeds to Stars unfold?

Introduction of Characters and Setting

Setting Breakdown

Our story begins with the introduction to our settings and characters. The first spread illustrates a condo building within a heavily forested area next to the ocean. The intention with this environment is to portray the Vancouver landscape. As a team from the Pacific Northwest, we wanted to highlight the beautiful scenery in British Columbia and allow readers to immerse themselves into a place that our team is proud to call home. There was lots of thought put into the space that the girls would live in; we wanted them to be close together to engage with one another about their space observations, but emphasize that they were two girls who were brought together by their passion. Combining all these factors, we opted for a countryside-woods theme where Kaia and Eliana lived in a wooden condo building. In the first few spreads, we wanted to highlight how vast space is by depicting many stars, moons, constellations, and planets across the night sky that the girls could see from their home. This introduction to various elements in space is crucial to our educational objectives and we hope younger kids can learn new vocabulary and terms from our book.

Character Breakdown

We wanted to create contrasting and distinct characters that would encourage the reader to explore the dynamic relationship between two best friends, Kaia and Eliana. Kaia is younger and South Asian. She symbolizes the energetic and youthful character archetype of an adventurous explorer. Her personality is also shown through visual design, with her messy hair, chipped tooth, and exaggerated movements reflecting her enthusiasm and recklessness. She wears more colorful clothing and prefers exploring with her own pair of binoculars. Eliana is older with short black hair and glasses. Contrary to Kaia, she represents a cautious, mindful, and more thoughtful explorer. We hoped to draw the readers’ attention to the inquisitive nature of the girls as they attentively study aspects in space such as planets and stars. She maintains a more minimalistic appearance, wearing darker, muted colors, and moves in a calmer, more measured way. Our aim is to spark the reader’s own curiosity and passion for learning.

How did we structure the storybook?

PG. 1-6: Introduction to Kaia and Eliana

As the story opens with a panoramic view of their settings, the vastness of the sky inspires a sense of hopefulness and anticipation. We are quickly taken alongside the characters’ curiosity for the extraterrestrial world as they go on their nightly ritual of looking into the galaxy. From this opening section, we set clear intentions to explore space and welcome new findings, shown by the characters’ enthusiasm to better understand the world around them. While space may seem an abstract concept to young readers, we set the scene with vibrant astronomical illustrations and provided names of common cosmic structures such as Orion and the Big Dipper.

PG. 7 - 12: A New Discovery

One night, Kaia and Eliana make a new breakthrough by discovering a new planet. Soon enough, the girls set their mind to travel to space and explore this new planet. This ambition is followed by steps taken in constructing the rocket. We illustrated different preparatory stages in the characters’ journey to assemble the rocket, from drawing out the rocket, collecting different parts to assembling the pieces. This stepwise experience is analogous to the engineering cycle where an individual is tasked to design and build the product.

PG. 13 - 20: Introduction of the Problem

Furthermore, it was critical for the characters to assemble the rocket and undergo rounds of trials and errors. After loading on cargo and materials for their expedition in space, the rocket ship experienced an overload, unable to lift off due to the cumulative weight of all the supplies. Symbolic to our synthetic biology project, this hiccup represented the real-life issue with constraints in materials transportation to space. This new challenge would encourage the characters to problem-solve and apply their creative thinking. As one of the objectives is to expose readers to scientific experimentation, the characters’ first failed attempt to leave earth becomes a turning point in the story. With redirection, Kaia and Eliana are driven to problem-solve and innovate.

PG. 21-24: Solution with Starseed

To explore the latter half of scientific process, we focused on developing a solution that would be analogous to our scientific concept of biobricks, addressing the challenges in space transportation. By bringing on the Starseed and leaving behind the heavy cargo, the rocketship successfully lifted off, affirming Kaia and Eliana many attempts in finding a sustainable solution for their travels. The concept of Starseed mirrors our project aims in reducing the weight and costs of transporting building materials. Notably, UBC iGEM genetically engineered cyanobacteria to utilize atmospheric CO2 to create biobricks. With this new building material, UBC iGEM aims to reduce the carbon emissions associated with traditional cement production while alleviating high costs and environmental damages.

How did we connect Starseed to our project meduCA?

To simplify our concept in a fun, interactive, and practical way for young audiences, we first brainstormed using magic and creatures to depict biobricks as an imaginative solution. This portion of the plot posed the most challenges as we struggled to reflect the complexity of meduCA through a simple object or creature.

Through our iHP with Tanya, we discovered that we were attempting to incorporate too many components that were unclear and disconnected from scientific concepts. We have now revised the story to be more straightforward for a younger audience to understand. As a result, we created a more relatable analogy of growing seeds called Starseeds that were lightweight, could be easily transported, and grown without environmental costs. Once planted, they blossomed into glowing orbs --- like looking glasses --- that connected a child’s home on Earth to a new planet. This became a sustainable and effective way to share our vision of building a meaningful solution to tackle obstacles in space transportation.

Before we finished developing our solution of Starseed, we implemented a problem that would parallel the high costs and environmental constraints of transporting heavy building material. Our first idea was to reconstruct the rocketship to accommodate the heavy building material or using the narrative pattern of three failed attempts before arriving at Starseeds. However these approaches slowed the plot and placed too much weight on transportation constraints. Instead, we shortened it to simply “leaving all the cargo behind” which better emphasized the importance and uniqueness of our Starseed solution.

When we were developing our Starseed solution, we were mindful of ethical considerations, such as avoiding an overemphasis on the theme of human settlement. For instance, one preliminary idea was to use the Starseeds to grow a laboratory on the new planet. However, this risked framing our approach as establishing a permanent home which would deviate from our focus of temporary exploration and sustainable transportation. We also altered our text wording many times to ensure our message was not distorted and aligned with this theme.

PG. 25 - 28: Exploration of the New Planet Syno

As Kaia and Eliana land on Syno, we introduce them to a new world with an unfamiliar landscape, emphasizing the discovery of new elements in space. Mixing the girls’ curious nature with a passion for exploration, we aim to create a space where our young readers feel inspired to exercise their own imagination to unlock new possibilities.

We highlighted the importance and potential of the Starseed early on as a building material. The characters first planted the seeds in the extraterrestrial sand. A key focus of our story is to foster kids’ adventurous and inquisitive nature, so we used the pattern of three to highlight different elements in their new environment such as purple sand and chilly waterfalls, while still leaving room for speculation. Afterwards, the girls face the dilemma of leaving behind Syno to return to Earth, foreshadowing a new functional purpose of the Starseed.

PG. 26-29 : New Discovery and Capabilities

As they were about to board their rocketship, Eliana noticed that the seeds they planted had grown leafy branches with clusters of glowing bubbles. This highlighted the importance of scientific research and experimentation, as the story circles back to the characters’ earlier efforts made in planting the seeds. Additionally, Kaia’s reluctance to leave the planet presents a new concern, requiring attention and resolution.

With these Starseeds, the girls develop a new solution to their conflicted views on leaving Syno. Combining the seeds would form a crystal ball, bridging the two planets and allowing Kaia and Eliana to stay in touch with activity on Syno. They come to this conclusion by extending their observations to build a hypothesis: they see that the Starseeds illuminate their home so they wonder if the reverse can be true. By making a larger ball from the seeds, they hope this plantable seed act as a new lens into Syno, perpetuating their journey on the planet while returning to life on earth.

Finding an appropriate representation for the Starseed required extensive discussion as we aimed to focus on sustainability and science exploration without introducing implications of human settlement. The “looking glass” connects to meduCA by highlighting key objectives:

• Building materials: Our iGEM project utilizes cyanobacteria to create building materials for space. In our book, we wanted the girls to utilize the new Starseeds to reflect the advancements in sustainability behind meduCA.
• Home on Earth: Mentioned earlier, we wanted to distinguish exploration from settlement. The crystal ball portrays the opportunity for Kaia and Eliana to continue their learning journey without disrupting the new planet. By introducing the idea of sustainable science and building tools, we aim to reduce the impacts of material transport.

PG. 30: Conclusion

Our story ends in an open-ended manner as new opportunities for further exploration arise.

The illustration of a new Starseed tree persuades the readers into more theoretical and solution oriented ways of thinking. Ultimately, we hope readers are inspired to practice to active problem solving, and generate solutions to emergent challenges.

At last, we aim to embed an understanding of the scientific framework through the character’s research and experimentation journey. We aimed to provide a glimpse into UBC iGEM’s greater mission to explore sustainable and efficient methods for the transportation and production of building materials.

What is the future of Synbio with Kaia and Eliana: Seeds from Stars?

• We hope that this book can be the first of many to come that feature the same characters
• We aim to create different stories based on new projects developed by our team
• Through community feedback, we intend to improve our science communication and develop more books integrating education and storytelling