SEPT-DEC 2023 ISSUE - Flipbook - Page 38
BRINGING CONTEMPORARY
SCIENCE INTO THE CLASSROOM
The increasing focus on developing
practical skills in science classrooms
as well as a desire to connect young
people with professionals in diverse
STEM careers was the motivation for an
innovative new approach to GCSE and
A-level biology.
Scientists’ Collaborative Project
with Educators (SCoPE) is a public
engagement project in which teachers
worked with scientists from the Gurdon
Institute at the University of Cambridge.
In this research centre, scientists aim
to understand the fundamental
mechanisms of normal development,
to determine how these mechanisms
are subverted in human diseases such
as cancer, and to use this knowledge
to work towards developing new
therapies.
Scientists worked closely with
educators to co-create a free suite of
innovative teaching ‘toolkits’ for
students and teachers. The toolkits
aim to bring the GCSE and A-level
curricula to life by encouraging
students to not only better understand
biological concepts, but also to think
critically about science and understand
ways in which the concepts taught
in classrooms are relevant to
contemporary research with
real-world implications.
Four toolkits are currently available:
The Cell Explorer (an online
interactive 3D model allowing students
to investigate the structure of
eukaryotic cells), Explore Epigenetics
(a hands-on classroom exercise and
interactive animation), Fruit Fly Larvae
Dissection (for teaching about the size
and scale of cells, tissues and organs),
and Unlocking Genetic Editing
(a hands-on, team-based puzzle activity
for reviewing transcription, translation,
DNA and RNA and introducing the
concept of genetic editing).
SCoPE fostered a culture of
mutual learning between scientists
and teachers. Scientists developed a
greater understanding of how their
research fits in with the education
system and is perceived by students,
while the educators deepened their
knowledge of fundamental biology
and current techniques and are able to
expose their students to materials and
information that they may not otherwise have access to.
The toolkits launched in early 2020,
meaning that the Cell Explorer online
toolkit quickly became the most
popular and continues to be used
widely by teachers and students
across the world. This toolkit proposes
a 3D model of a cell designed to
help students realise just how tiny
but complex cells are, and how
important understanding cells is to
biology. Users can interact with the
model to gain a better understanding
of the cell structures, zoom in and out
to explore the relative scale of the
structures and watch demos showing
how cells divide and replicate. The
programme even allows users to create
presentations with the model that can
be used in their teaching and learning.
Due to the success of the Cell
Explorer, the Gurdon Institute is
working to create a brand-new online
toolkit which will be launched later
this year. The new kit, Unlock CRISPR,
is an online game that invites players
to explore the life of an early-career
researcher working on genetic editing,
and shows how current research may
lead to new therapies for human
diseases using cutting edge gene
editing technologies.
There are also 2 non-digital toolkits that
were designed as part of the project
that can be rented free of charge to
schools anywhere in the UK. The Fruit
Fly Dissection toolkit is a hands-on
resource that allows students to explore
the size and scale of cells, tissues
and organs using one of the model
organisms used by Gurdon researchers
in the lab. Unlocking Genetic Editing,
the second hands-on kit, is an escape
room-inspired puzzle game that
helps to explore and recapitulate the
concepts of transcription and
translation of DNA in our bodies,
and how these are key to gene editing
technologies.
All of the toolkits are accessible
through the SCoPE website
alongside worksheets, background
research, teachers’ notes, a list of
curriculum-linked learning outcomes
and all of the resources are completely
free to use.
To stay up to date with the SCoPE
project, including new toolkit
releases, and all of our other
educational programmes, sign up to
the Gurdon Institute Teachers’
Newsletter and follow us on Instagram
and Twitter @GurdonInstitute.