Norwich, United Kingdom
March 31, 2015
The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC) visited the Robert Kett Junior School in Wymondham to enthuse and engage students and teachers with the Institute’s innovative research. The event focused on the genome analysis of microbes, keeping in line with the school’s current biology curriculum.
As part of the TGAC4Kids on the road programme, the public engagement school workshops aim to get teachers and pupils interested in the fundamental research being carried out at TGAC and demonstrate how it relates to their everyday life.
The primary school visit to Robert Kett included five workshops with all the Year 6 pupils. The day of science activities began with five different ‘microbe islands’ mapped out for the pupils to visit, each one representing different types of microbes that are analysed at TGAC.
For example, on the ‘Island of the Gut’, the group were asked to complete fact sheets on microbes such as E.coli, as well as digestive-related props such as microbe fluffy toys, fake faeces and model digestive systems to explain the gut process further.
Each Island colour coded in relation to its microbe area; easily identifiable by the students eg, pink for Gut Island. Other microbe islands represented microbes that can be found in the ocean, bacteria, plant and soil, and yeast, where pupils used microscopes and UV lights to identify the organisms.
With their TGAC ‘passports’, the students travelled to each microbe island completing a variety of interactive activities, rewarded with passport stickers from TGAC’s specialist scientists along the way. To wrap up the day, the student who made the most progress on the day was awarded a giant E-coli toy.
As feedback, students were given the task of remembering keywords from the different microbe islands to send a text message back to TGAC on what they had learnt, as well as postcards to fill in to express their views on the event.
Jamie Edwards, Education & Public Engagement Manager at TGAC, said: “This event is important as not only does it engage pupils and teachers with the type of work that we do at TGAC i.e. genetic and bioinformatics but it makes learning fun. It encapsulates everything that we stand for at TGAC with regards to inspiring the next generation of young scientists.
“By using effective feedback methods, we can achieve the overall goal of the 361⁰ Division at TGAC and promote best practice for education and public engagement throughout the TGAC4Kids programme.”
Lead teacher of the visit at Robert Kett, Trevor Child, said: “The kids had a thoroughly exciting time, they were fully engaged when learning about the good and bad features of microbes sequenced at TGAC. It was lovely to see such a variety of activities that were bright and colourful with lots of fascinating facts, which complemented the microbes topic that the pupils have been working on, while linking directly to the National Curriculum”.
Topics
Species
