Theme of the Month

Advances in biodesign, in which principles of engineering and technology are applied to the life sciences, are moving out of laboratories and into daily life. However, they have not made their way into K-12 classrooms. Today’s students need to become familiar with biotechnologies so that they can make informed decisions about how they will be applied in the future. Yasmin Kafai and Justice Walker describe some of the programs that can help K-12 students and their teachers to build understanding of this new area of science.

Synthetic biology is a field that leverages design, biology, engineering, and computation to genetically engineer organisms to make usable products such as sustainably manufactured textiles, biodegradable chemicals, and personalized medicine. Despite increases in access, we know little about what younger learners know and think about these modern applications. This is problematic for reasons related to civic engagement and field participation. This research addresses this by examining a group of middle school youth in the US.

Amino Labs’ mission is to empower the next generation by making learning biotechnology engaging and accessible. Currently, most science equipment is designed for trained professionals. Amino Labs develops hands-on biology kits, free learning software, easy-to-use science laboratory equipment, and curriculum-aligned learning resources so that non-scientists educators, parents, makers and kids 12+ can learn genetic engineering and biotechnology. We offer a wide variety of free STEM teaching resources for educators.

Established in 2011 from an award-winning teaching team at MIT, BioBuilder takes a comprehensive approach to the emerging field of synthetic biology, providing exceptional programming available for students and educators alike. BioBuilder offers resources to students, educators, and industry leaders.

Biodesign Challenge is an education program and competition that is shaping the first generation of biodesigners. We partner high school and university students with scientists, artists, and designers to envision, create, and critique transformational applications in biotech.

BUGSS (Baltimore Underground Science Space) is a non-profit public laboratory offering classes, seminars, and lab access so that anyone can safely and affordably investigate the living world. By democratizing these technologies we hope to facilitate more nuanced dialogue and exploration of the incredible potential, as well as limitations and ethical issues.

A space for the global community of DIY biologists / community biologists / biohackers / biomakers and members of independent and community laboratories to convene, plan, build fellowship, and continue the evolution of our movement.

A National Science Foundation-funded workshop report on connecting computing and biodesign in K-12 education. It draws on discussions that took place during a series of workshop meetings and public panels in which biologists and science educators, artists and designers, and computer and learning scientists came together to examine three critical areas: the way we can think about biology and design, the role computational metaphors can assume in biodesign, and approaches and tools of biodesign for K-12 education.

In our new curriculum unit, students explore electronic textiles (e-textiles): articles of cloth­ing, accessories, or home furnishings with embedded electronic and computational elements. After conducting various studies on curriculum design, teaching strategies, student learning, and portfolio designs, this unit is ready for download and classroom implementation by ECS teachers.

In our new curriculum unit, students explore electronic textiles (e-textiles): articles of cloth­ing, accessories, or home furnishings with embedded electronic and computational elements. After conducting various studies on curriculum design, teaching strategies, student learning, and portfolio designs, this unit is ready for download and classroom implementation by ECS teachers.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the designed cultural ecology of a hip-hop and computational science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) camp and the ways in which that ecology contributed to culturally sustaining learning experiences for middle school youth. In using the principles of hip-hop as a CSP for design, the authors question how and what practices were supported or emerged and how they became resources for youth engagement in the space.

This study describes the literacies practices of three bi/multilingual fifth-grade students attending a French-language school in an urban community in Canada during a digital-physical Maker activity that included three phases: Plan Making, Instrument Making and Multimodal Making.