We are big fans of citizen science! Of course, science is always cool, and STEM/STEAM projects are an increasing part of everyone’s work and school experiences. So understanding how science works is not just fun, but a good way to understand what is going on in the world around us all.
So we are sharing some neat science you can do, contributing toward large projects, and learning new things. Maybe you can use this today; maybe you will save it for later. As long as you enjoy some exploration and learning new things – citizen science is for you! And it is definitely something you can use to bring some good programming to your library.
Check out this project from SciStarter:
| Presented By | Centre for Research and Interdisciplinarity, Paris |
|---|---|
| Goal | Study game-based learning, and raise synthetic biology awareness |
| Task | Fill in a survey before and after having played a video game. |
| Where | Online |
| Description | Hero.Coli is a biology-themed adventure game. It is designed to help discover and learn about synthetic biology. In the game, the player explores a rich environment by controlling a bacterium, modifies its abilities, and even crafts new skills using BioBricks™ they collected. No prior knowledge in biology required. Hero.Coli is a free and online computer game that contributes to research in game-based learning. In order to so, game data are anonymously gathered through an open-source, open data, home-developed analytics service. These data are then combined with survey data, and analyzed using open-source Python scripts. |
| How to get started | Go to http://herocoli.com and click “play game”. You will be prompted to fill in the survey. Once it’s done, the access to the game will be unlocked. Complete the game or play for an hour and then fill the survey again. |
| Social Media | Follow Hero.Coli on Twitter Find Hero.Coli on Facebook |
| How-To Video | Check out the how-to video |
| Total expense | 0.00 |
| Ideal Age Group | Adults, College, Graduate students, High school (14 – 17 years), |
| Spend the time | Indoors |
| Ideal Frequency | Just once |
| Average Time | |
| Type of Activity | Exclusively online, At school, At home, |
| Topics | Education, Biology, |
| Tags | ampicillin, biobrick, cell, cell biology, data analytics, dna, e. coli, flagellum, gfp, open data, open source, protein, python, unity, video game, |
| Website | Hero.Coli |
And if you want to bring in a few of these ideas to your library, it is useful to have a variety of different program strategies to help share this project. We have a few suggestions to help you get started:
- What kinds of bacteria do you think are in your house, school or library? What are common types?
- Draw a picture of a bacterium – a real one or an imaginary one
- Write a story about swimming with a bacterium.
- What kinds of games could you play that help you learn more about science?