Camp Launch & SEP - Not all students attend schools where they have the chance to work with lab equipment and are exposed to many of the potential careers in science. We partnered with Camp Launch and William & Mary’s School of Education to reach students from diverse socioeconomic statuses.

Not all schools offer students the chance to work with lab equipment and many students are not exposed to the wide range of potential careers in science. William & Mary’s School of Education hosts Camp Launch and a SEP (Summer Experience Program) to reach students from diverse socioeconomic statuses. These programs provide enriching opportunities and advanced academic instruction in a variety of disciplines including STEM. We partnered with the STEM sector to help promote a love of synthetic biology, and facilitate an exploration of the potential careers in STEM.

To insure our programs were a good fit for the students we connected with Deanna Marroletti from Camp Launch & SEP. Deanna emphasised that one of the most important parts of the program was helping the students feel successful. With this in mind we worked to incorporate techniques from our activities booklet that could be mastered quickly. We also adapted our lessons to match what the students would be covering in their classroom lessons with camp launch. The students would be covering DNA structure and function as well as forensics just before arriving at our class so their minds would be primed to learn about Gel Electrophoresis and DNA editing techniques. The goal of this project was to provide give students practice with synthetic biology techniques and develop their confidence, encourage them to feel like they could grow up to be amazing scientists. The goal of the presentation we gave later in the week was used to present some of the exciting careers in STEM and get students interested in the field.

The leaders at Camp Launch and SEP requested an in lab experience for their students. Our team needed to focus on framing the science in a context that was engaging for the students. We designed an overarching “lunch thief” story line to encourage the students to get excited about gel electrophoresis, and then encouraged students to brainstorm what bacteria they would like to create with synthetic biology techniques to get them excited about DNA editing. Although developing technique proficiency requires being in a lab for practice, learning about the potential careers in STEM doesn’t require a lab. We decided an interactive powerpoint presentation would be the best way to reach a large group of students and share with them the many STEM careers available.

One special consideration with this group was that the students in Camp Launch are middle schoolers. To keep students focused and to prevent lab tools from becoming lightsabers we created a fast paced program and kept student to instructor ratios close to 3-4 to 1.

On June 29th the SEP 8th grade group came in to complete a DNA extraction, learn about synthetic biology and gene editing, and create some bacterial art with our edited RFP and GFP E. coli before solving a gel electrophoresis mystery.

On July 20th two groups of Camp Launch students came to develop micropipetting skills by completing a gel electrophoresis mystery. We also discussed the potential uses for synthetic biology and the ethical implications of our work before completing a RFP/GFP bacterial art project. To conclude we had students complete the strawberry DNA extraction, allowing them to take DNA home to show their parents.

On July 21st we presented Careers in Science to more Camp Launch participants who weren’t necessarily in the STEM section of the program. We broke down STEM careers down into a set of values and skills rather than attempting to list every potential career path. Those values were Problem Solver, Communicator and Inquirer. The powerpoint can be found here

To keep students engaged throughout our presentation we had interactive questions, a few funny comics and a video that connected to our learning objectives. We also had a problem solving challenge at the beginning of the session which energized the students. There were candy prizes for students who answered questions or who successfully completed the problem solving challenge.

The lab visits utilizing the activities booklet went very well and were a good fit for the age group, ability level and time allotted. Students were excited and engaged by the material, they responded well to the questions and brainstorming prompts.

The presentation content was a good fit for the students, however, the opening problem solving activity was more challenging than anticipated and made for a challenging transition into the formal presentation. We are excited about partnering again next year with this group and we will be improving upon our presentation to make it smoother for next year.