Team:Duke/Marbles Kids Museum
Visiting the Marbles Kids Museum!
As part of our overall Human Practices strategy, we wanted to engage with our local community. One way we do that on an annual basis is by visiting our local children's museum where we teach young kids about synthetic biology.
Our team were Guest Star Scientists at the Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh, NC. There, team members worked with youth volunteers to teach kids about synthetic biology. Candy DNA, and homemade DNA extractions were all the rage with the young demographics. Kids enjoyed learning about the shape of a double helix while they built their own double helices with Twizzlers and marshmallows. The kids then went on to make DNA necklaces out of tubes filled with DNA they extracted from wheat germ. Both our team and the kids we met had a great time and we gained some good insight into how to connect with younger demographics. Below are details about each of the activities as well as pictures from our fun filled day.
Candy DNA
One of the kids favorite activities was making candy DNA! We originally came up with the idea from a Guardian article. We used this basis but through some image searches of Google, we found a good alternative to jellys would be marshmallows (a little easier for the kids to manipulate). We then made up a set of instructions for volunteers that is attached below. The kids had a really good time playing with their food and learning about their DNA too! We took this opportunity to explain the base pairing through different colored marshmallows. Overall, we all had a great time playing with our candy DNA!
Extracting Wheat DNA
The final activity of our Marbles trip was from the Building with Biology Kit. The See DNA activity was held for all of the kids. The kids found the activity really engaging and loved being able to see the DNA they extracted from wheat germ!
