Team:SCUT-China/Education
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1.Background Survey
Before conducting science education to the public, in order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of science popularization, we conducted a series of data review, hoping to find out the current problems and challenges of domestic science popularization in general. After a lot of data review, we learned that the following three problems exist in the current domestic science popularization.
1.1 Uneven scientific quality of audiences
The scientific literacy of audiences from different regions, different educational backgrounds and different age groups varies greatly.
Although the scientific quality of different groups of citizens in China is developing in an increasingly balanced direction with the increasing efforts of science popularization and the growing team of science popularization education in recent years, at present, there are still large differences in scientific literacy among various groups.
The level of scientific quality of citizens in each province of the country in the 2018 China Citizen Science Quality Survey Report indicates that the highest can be 22.0%, while the lowest is only 2.9%. The eleventh China Citizen Science Quality Sample Survey in 2020 also shows that there is still a certain gap in the quality of science among citizens in different regions, and the scientific literacy of the public in the eastern region is relatively higher than that in the central and western regions.
Fig.1 The level of scientific quality of citizens in each province
In addition, there are significant age differences, literacy differences, urban-rural differences and gender differences in the public's scientific quality. For example, the scientific quality level of the elderly group and people with low education level is significantly lower than that of other people. According to the eleventh China Citizen Science Quality Sample Survey in 2020, the scientific quality level of citizens aged 60-69 is 3.52%, and the scientific quality level of people with elementary school education level and below is 2.11%, which are lower than 5%. This shows that there are significant differences in the quality of science among the public, and the ability to understand and accept knowledge is not the same. If science popularization focuses only on a specific group, it may lead to the problem of poor acceptance or low efficiency of other audiences.
1.2 Lack of interest and motivation of the public to accept science popularization
1.2.1 The lack of scientific quality leads to the public's difficulty in developing a deep understanding of science popularization content
In the eleventh national sample survey of Chinese citizens' scientific quality in 2020, the proportion of citizens with scientific quality only reached 10.56%, and there are still nearly 90% of the public who do not have basic scientific spirit and scientific awareness, lack sufficient understanding of the most basic scientific terms such as genes, DNA, molecules, etc., and do not have a scientific way of thinking, which creates a huge hindrance.
1.2.2 The public is more interested in the content of life and health
Compared with other contents, the content of science popularization is boring and not easy to attract the public's attention and interest. And in science and technology-related fields, the public will also care more about the content in the field of life and health. 2018 research data show that the public is interested in life and health more than ninety percent, while relatively uninterested in new discoveries, new advances, etc.
Fig.2 Public perception of topics in technology-related fields
1.3 General lack of efficiency and topicality of previous science popularization efforts
1.3.1 Less communication between the two sides in science popularization work
In some science popularization education work, the problem of inappropriate science popularization methods is more serious. Many science popularization only focuses on one-way knowledge inculcation without paying attention to public participation, and does not take a two-way communication approach, resulting in poor science popularization effects.
1.3.2 Outdated and backward forms of science popularization
In addition to the content of science popularization, the means of science popularization should also be innovative and contemporary. Under the rapid development of new media and strict epidemic prevention and control, the paper-based science popularization articles and offline lectures may have certain limitations. Emerging science popularization means such as public number science push, short video and live science popularization have gradually become mainstream science popularization education channels. 2019 report on Chinese netizens' science popularization demand search behavior also shows that Chinese netizens' science popularization search index has reached 1.102 billion, i.e. the search volume for science and technology-related topics has reached 1.1 billion times in one quarter. This also shows that science popularization education in online platforms has become an indispensable and important part of the work.
2.Education program development
2.1 Initial development of the education program
Based on the uneven scientific quality of the audience, the relative lack of public interest in understanding science and the general lack of modernity of most science education work, we have developed the following science education program.
In terms of the form of education, we hope to use a combination of online and offline lectures, WeChat public number article pushing, short video explanation, etc., both in the form of traditional offline education science, but also in the form of online media that the public prefers to promote. In terms of topic selection, we plan to choose topics that are closely related to our daily life and attract the public's attention from the perspective of life. In terms of science popularization methods, we hope to generate more communication with the public. We hope to collect feedback from the public on our science education work through questionnaires and online and offline questions from the public, so that we can improve and optimize our work in time to achieve better results in science education.
For the public with different educational background and scientific quality, we have set up four modules: science education for elementary school students, science education for secondary school students, science education for university students and science education for the whole public. In elementary school science education, we hope to stimulate the interest and enthusiasm of primary school students in biology through interesting classes; in secondary school science education, we hope to present them with the cutting-edge contents and experimental operations of synthetic biology, so that they can have a preliminary understanding and knowledge of synthetic biology; and in university students, we hope to let them have an in-depth understanding of synthetic biology and the intersection and connection between synthetic biology and various disciplines. For university students, we hope to give them a deeper understanding of synthetic biology and the intersection and connection between synthetic biology and various disciplines. In the education module for the public, we plan to integrate the relatively specialized knowledge of biology with the interesting aspects of life and entertainment to attract the public to understand synthetic biology. For some specialized knowledge, we also hope to explain it in easy-to-understand language to lower the threshold of science popularization and understanding, so that more public can read and understand our content, and become interested in synthetic biology and have further understanding.
2.2 Education program improvement
In order to understand the feasibility of our program and to learn from the experience of our predecessors, we asked the 2020 SCUT-China team many questions related to the method of science education.
1. How to set the content of science popularization to the public?
2. How to introduce the part of the science popularization presentation that involves professional knowledge? To what extent should they be introduced?
3. How to collect public opinion and feedback after science education?
4. What are the specific differences in science popularization methods for people with different backgrounds?
We have learned that the reading volume of life related contents in the science popularization activities conducted by 2020 SCUT-China is significantly higher than other contents. This partly proves the results of our previous literature review and data survey that the public is more interested in content related to themselves, such as life and health. Based on this, we set up a series of topics as our popularization themes. These include the selection of mosquito repellent, the application of synthetic biology in life and medical care, and mosquito hazards, which are more relevant to our project and to the public's life.
If the content of the science popularization involves professional knowledge, we need to adjust the content and depth of the science popularization according to the object of the science popularization.
If we need to educate the public or elementary school students with low education level, we need to use the terms or common knowledge known to the general public and introduce them in a proper way. Because it may be difficult for the general public with low education background to understand specialized terms such as gene, cell factory, promoter engineering, etc., it is also difficult for us to introduce them with accurate terminology. Therefore, we would like to introduce biology such as promoters and regulatory sequences with concepts such as trains and stations that are common in life. When introducing some concepts that need to be understood, we also need to explain them in a more concise way, paying attention to the point and avoiding large professional descriptions to make the public lose interest.
In the case of science education for biology-related students or university students, more consideration can be given to the professionalism and depth of science popularization, and the introduction and explanation can be done with accurate and professional vocabulary to stimulate students’ deeper thinking. In this regard, we also hope to invite teachers and professors in the field of synthetic biology to explain the knowledge and technology of the frontier.
As for the collection of opinions and feedback, 2020 SCUT-China suggests that we use questionnaires as the main feedback, and offline inquiries as a secondary method. For example, we can set up a questionnaire before and after each lecture to collect the public’s expectation and suggestions before the event, and listen to the public’s feedback and opinions after the event. By comparing the before and after, we can also detect what they have gained from the lectures. For elementary school students or elderly people who have less or difficult use of cell phones, paper questionnaires or offline interviews can be used to collect more comprehensive and valid feedback results.
Finally, we also introduced to 2020 SCUT-China the four groups we have classified and the science popularization program. We also need to consider the safety and accident factors of elementary school students when popularizing science to the elementary school group. We can seek the help of teachers to maintain discipline when explaining in class, and the experimental materials used need to be safe enough. For secondary school students, we were advised to make use of the convenience of online platforms to deliver online lectures to secondary school students across the country. Due to the multidisciplinary nature of synthetic biology, we can also educate university students in more than one field of biology.
So with the help of 2020 SCUT-China, we made some modifications and refinements to the original proposal and finally decided our science education route.
3. Primary school science
3.1Objective.
The age of 6-12 is an important stage in the cultivation of one's interest and the initial establishment of one's ideals, so the science education work for elementary school students also we are a very important part of the process of promoting synthetic biology. In order to stimulate the interest of elementary school students in biology and give them the opportunity to get in touch with biological knowledge that is usually difficult to reach in the classroom, we decided to introduce some of the more common biological knowledge in life to elementary school students with the theme of protein and chlorophyll.
3.2Content.
We also found that many elementary school students are not interested in some relatively specialized knowledge, and it is difficult to attract their attention with one-sided knowledge. In the actual science classroom, teachers tend to pay more attention to students' mastery of theoretical knowledge and neglect the cultivation of students' interest, which to a certain extent leads to the problem of poor education in science classrooms. Therefore, we decided to let elementary school students conduct hands-on experiments to provoke their thinking with visual experimental phenomena and stimulate their interest in biology.
Due to the limited experimental conditions in elementary schools, we purchased disposable plastic cups and chopsticks as props for the experiment, and used the more easily available milk and leaves as experimental materials. The precipitation of protein in milk and the obvious change of leaf color during the experiment also gave the elementary school students a deeper understanding of protein and chlorophyll, two common substances in life.
Fig.3 We give lessons to elementary school students
Fig.4 Elementary school students doing experiments with joy
After the class, the elementary school students also expressed that they were very impressed with this science class that combined experiment and theory, and asked us many questions related to biology, showing a strong interest in biology.
In general, this volunteer teaching was effective, not only introducing a series of biology-related terms such as protein and chlorophyll to the elementary school students, but also allowing them to participate in experiments and experience the fun of biology experiments first-hand, and successfully engaging them and stimulating their strong interest in biology.
3.3 Improvement.
During the teaching process, we also found some problems. Although we have reduced the difficulty of the experiment and used simple and easy-to-understand language in the choice of language, there are still a small number of students who cannot follow our rhythm well when we introduce the concept. Not only that, after explaining the laboratory rules, there are still some students who do not follow the experimental procedure we introduced, resulting in some interference with the experimental results.
Therefore, we will consider students' receptiveness more in our future lectures, and estimate the possible operation mistakes in the experiment in advance, and emphasize and introduce them before the formal experiment to avoid them from making the same mistakes.
Fig.6 Feedback from elementary school students
4.University Science
Synthetic biology is a multidisciplinary and cutting-edge discipline, which is closely related to materials, biomedical engineering, computer science and other disciplines.
Because of the high scientific quality of university students, we have invited Sun Le Ping from Prof. Chen Tingjian's group in the School of Biological Sciences and Engineering, Zhou Yi from Prof. He Maochun's group in the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and Xu Yi from Prof. Zhang Honglu's group in the School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering to introduce the connection and frontier between biology, chemistry and biomedicine. development. They will introduce us to the work of their groups in the multidisciplinary intersection of unnatural bases, chemical synthesis of proteins and DNA origami and the frontier technologies in this field, respectively.
4.1. Purpose and content
Since the students attending the symposium came from different majors with different levels of biological expertise, we used the registration questionnaire to find out how much they knew about synthetic biology, how much they knew about biological basics, and what they hoped to gain from the symposium. In addition, we also collected their knowledge of synthetic biology and their awareness of the connection between their majors and synthetic biology, so that we could compare and count them at the end of the seminar. Through the Synthetic Biology X Symposium, we hope that the students will improve their understanding of synthetic biology and see more possibilities for their own majors or other majors through the intersection between these majors and synthetic biology.
Students showed great enthusiasm and interest in synthetic biology, and the number of participants far exceeded our expectations, with some students even willing to stand for the whole symposium or choose to sit on the floor. In the free question session, students actively asked questions and interacted well with the speakers, not only that, the speakers also exchanged ideas with each other in the free question session, which means the intersection of synthetic biology and other disciplines crossed each other in the free question session.
Fig.7 Students listen attentively to the lecture
Fig.8 Group photo with the guests
4.2.1 how do you think your major can be combined with synthetic biology
We asked a reflection question in both the pre and post questionnaires, how do you think your major can be combined with synthetic biology. Many students submitted blank Q&A during the pre questionnaire, but after the lecture, they gave sky-high answers, including mathematics, economics, automation, software, business administration, computer, law, design, journalism and communication, chemistry, environment, biomedical engineering, medical profession, etc. Here are some of the more interesting answers.
Fig.9 Some interesting answers from the audience
4.2.2 Questionnaire analysis
The total number of valid participants in this complete lecture was 159. In order to rate the effectiveness of this lecture, we divided the majors into three major categories according to the degree of mastery of basic biology knowledge, including those who had not studied biology at all; those who had some basic biology but were not biology-related majors and those who were biology-related majors. The average growth value was defined as the difference between the knowledge of synthetic biology as judged by numbers in the questionnaire before and after the lecture, and the average growth value was calculated for each category of students.
Table.1 Questionnaire analysis
Based on the data, it was found that the higher the Initial level of understanding of synthetic biology, the higher the increase in understanding of synthetic biology after listening to the lectures. It is not the case that students with less relevant knowledge base can improve more through a lecture compared to those with more relevant knowledge base, as is commonly believed. We speculate that the existing knowledge base affects the receptiveness to new knowledge. In other words, to increase the effect of science popularization (Average Increase) for people with low relevant knowledge, we should：
(1) Keep the new knowledge in the lecture within a reasonable range, i.e., some background knowledge, such as special terms and definitions, should be introduced first, followed by the introduction of cutting-edge knowledge.
(2) Pre-science before the lecture to improve the Initial level of understanding of the audience.
We analyze the data to understand our shortcomings and draw lessons learned, which we hope will help the team behind us and improve our later lectures and the push from scratch series.
4.2.3 Audience Feedback
Although we got a lot of affirmation in the feedback, it was the negative voices that made us better. In the post-questionnaire, all the problems were caused by the high professionalism of the lectures, except for the organizational problems of the event such as the venue was too small. So how to improve the effectiveness when conducting a more professional science lecture? In addition to the above two points, one can also consider.
(3) communicate with the guest speaker in advance, so that the language of the lecture is more generalized
(4) set up more interactive links, such as guests to ask a simple question, play a small game, or set up a lottery, you can liven up the atmosphere, but also to improve audience participation.
(5) Diversification of lecture activities, not only in the auditorium and other fixed scenes, can carry out some relevant thematic activities, such as laboratory visits, etc.
(6) Diversification of lecture content. In addition to text, the content of the lecture can add more pictures and videos, etc.
5. High school science
For high school students who have certain biological foundation, we can carry out certain synthetic biology science popularization. Considering that the distribution of educational resources in different regions may be different, we contacted eight high schools to conduct online science lectures based on the city rankings selected by the expert committee of the New Tier 1 City Institute according to the five dimensional indices of business resource concentration, urban hub, urban people activeness, lifestyle diversity and future plasticity, covering first-tier, new first-tier, second-tier, third-tier and fourth-tier The total number of viewers was 242, and the main target group was sophomores.
Through the analysis of the questionnaire after the lectures, we have obtained the difference of the content that high school students are interested in, the content that is difficult to master, and the level of understanding of synthetic biology among different regions.
Due to limited capacity, we were not able to contact more schools in the same area of the sample, and the questionnaire data collected were very limited, so we cannot guarantee that the data and suggestions are representative, and the following analysis are only some of our reflections without any emotional color.
Fig.10 The location of the high school we held the lecture
5.1 Course content design
We start with synthetic biology in life, using the example of adding heme to artificial plant meat to raise the interest of high school listeners. Next, we introduce what synthetic biology is, basic concepts of synthetic biology, advances in the field of synthetic biology and experimental parts, from simple to difficult contents, from theoretical parts to practical parts. The details are shown below. Before each lecture, we will release some pre-course reflection questions, which are related to both the lecture content and synthetic biology in life, not too deep and not too simple.
Fig.11 The content of scientific lectures
5.3 Analysis of the questionnaire data
The questionnaire and conference data are attached, and the deletion of user names has been done to protect information security.
5.3.1 Feedback and improvements
In order to make our science lectures more effective in science, we collect feedback suggestions from the questionnaire, suggestions from teachers of corresponding science high schools and suggestions from teammates of other groups within the team after each lecture, from the content of the lecture, the format of the lecture, the way of teaching and the revision of our science lecture videos. The following classification of the different stages is in chronological order and does not have the meaning of a sample classification. The figure shows the feedback received at different stages and our revision plan.
Table.2 The feedback from the audience
5.3.2 Changes in the level of understanding of synthetic biology
In order to determine the changes in the level of understanding of synthetic biology among high school students in different schools and in different city levels before and after watching our lectures on synthetic biology science, we calculated the average increase value for different city levels and different schools by classifying the statistics and finding the average value. Where Increase is defined as the difference between the values of students' knowledge before and after viewing synthetic biology lectures. The data found that basically, as the city level increases, the more the students' knowledge of synthetic biology increases after the lecture. This finding is similar to that of 4.2.2.
Table.3 The increase in students' understanding of synthetic biology
However, we could not be sure that schools within the same city level do not differ, so we used a one-way ANOVA to investigate the difference between two schools in a level 1 city and two schools in a level 4 city for Increases, as can be seen from the table: in both the level 1 city and the level 4 city, the different School samples for Increases all do not show significant (p>0.05), implying that the different School samples show consistency for all of the Increases and do not differ.
Table.4 The increase in understanding of synthetic biology among high school students in first-tier cities
Table.5 The increase in understanding of synthetic biology among high school students in fourth-tier cities
We began this section with the hypothesis that there are differences in educational resources between city levels, so we used a nonparametric test to investigate the variability of Type for Increase. Using the Kruskal-Wallis test statistic for analysis, the table shows that all of the different Type samples show significance (p<"0.05") for Increases, meaning that the different Type samples have differences for Increases. In other words, our hypothesis holds that there are some differences in educational resources between different levels of cities.
Table.6 Educational resources vary from city to city
5.3.3 Variability in the Most Interesting Part and Variability in the Most Difficult to Master Part
In order to find out if there are differences in the content of the lecture that students are interested in between different levels of cities, we studied the differences between different levels of cities with respect to the seven items of science. The table shows that the different Type samples do not show significance for 5 items (p>0.05), which means that the different Type samples show consistency for all of them, and there is no difference. type for Have difficulty in (Cutting edge of Synthetic Biology) shows a 0.05 level of Type for Have difficulty in (Experiment-SDS page) showed 0.01 level of significance (F=4.101, p=0.005).
This indicates that there is a difference in the level of interest in frontier knowledge among students in different levels of cities, probably due to the difference in the purpose of knowledge learning among students of different types. Although improving the understanding of frontier knowledge can open one's mind and broaden one's horizon. However, basically all students were most interested in synthetic biology in life, which suggests that we can use this as a starting point to raise students' interest in synthetic biology first and then gradually introduce them to other knowledge.
Table.7 Variability in the Most Interesting Part
In order to find out if there are differences in the content of the lecture that students are interested in between different levels of cities, we studied the differences between different levels of cities with respect to the seven items of science. The table shows that the different Type samples do not show significance for 5 items (p>0.05), which means that the different Type samples show consistency for all of them, and there is no difference. type for Have difficulty in (Cutting edge of Synthetic Biology) shows a 0.05 level of Type for Have difficulty in (Experiment-SDS page) showed 0.01 level of significance (F=4.101, p=0.005).
This indicates that there is variability in the ability of students in different levels of cities to acquire cutting-edge knowledge and experiments-SDS page that are not highlighted in textbooks. This suggests that we can make these two points the focus of the next step of science education. The content that basically all students found not difficult to grasp was synthetic biology in life, indicating that synthetic biology in life is well suited as an introductory science for those who have no relevant foundation.
Table.8 Variability in the Most Difficult to Master Part
5.3.4 Correlation between the exit time of the Tencent meeting and the most difficult parts of the lecture that students found difficult to master
Since the main lecture delivery method we used was Tencent Conferences, we found that the number of participants in the lectures was much higher than the number of people who filled out the feedback questionnaire and participated in the lectures in full. Since each session was conducted using a recorded broadcast, the time corresponding to each part was able to be controlled, and each time a new version of the video was recorded based on feedback, it was tried to be within the same time frame. Except for the fourth phase, which used live streaming for the first time, it was not possible to collect the Tencent meeting in and out of the meeting time for data statistics.
So we exported the exit times of all participating users, trying to side-by-side reflect whether the exit times of participating students were the same as the most difficult part to master - as a correction factor. Since people are complex and there is no guarantee of absolute objectivity in filling out the questionnaire, we hoped to objectively find out the real hardest part for students in different cities by using this correction factor, but unfortunately, probably due to our limited computing power, the conclusion is that it is not relevant.
The variability of educational resources between different regions exists due to regional differences. Knowledge is the sword that breaks down barriers, and the way technology currently allows online teaching and learning to take place is a great help in the popularization of knowledge science. We do not hold science lectures to unconditionally indulge their differences after discovering the differences in order to achieve the purpose of increasing the audience, for example, if we find that students in a certain city have low interest in cutting-edge knowledge, we increase the number of participating students by eliminating this section. The purpose of our science popularization is to try to disseminate all the knowledge we know, to all those who do not know it.
In the current situation, by analyzing the differences and consistencies, we are able to discover the current situation of students in different cities, so we can be more localized and find the right teaching program for the students in that city.
This indicates that there is variability in the ability of students in different levels of cities to acquire cutting-edge knowledge and experiments-SDS page that are not highlighted in textbooks. This suggests that we can make these two points the focus of the next step of science education. The content that basically all students found not difficult to grasp was synthetic biology in life, indicating that synthetic biology in life is well suited as an introductory science for those who have no relevant foundation.
In order to find out whether there are differences in the contents that students in different levels of cities are interested in this lecture, we use one-way ANOVA to investigate the differences between different city levels for the eight science content items. As can be seen from the table, the Type sample showed significant (p<"0.05") for Have Interest in (Cutting edge of Synthetic Biology), implying that the city samples at different levels had differences for Have Interest in (Cutting edge of Synthetic Biology) has variability. The remaining 7 items do not show significance (p>0.05), implying that the different Type samples show consistency for all the remaining 7 items.
Our ultimate goal, however, is to eliminate the significant variability between cities at different levels. We believe that in the future, by using the parts that people are interested in as door knockers, students and people in all levels of cities have the ability to learn and solve this difficulty for the parts that have difficulty mastering knowledge if effective online science is continued for a long time.
5.3.5 Application possibilities of synthetic biology
There is no correct answer to this question, it is a part of the lecture where the high school students who participated can go wild. We were mainly interested in seeing what imaginative ideas high school students without a systematic study of synthetic biology related knowledge could generate. It was exciting to see ideas applied not only to energy, environment, vaccine design, horticulture, and agriculture, but also to problems in the military, artificial intelligence, road design, medical devices, and more. Hopefully one day they will be able to realize their visions with their own hands.
Fig.12 Possibilities of synthetic biology
6.advice to the future iGEM team
Due to space limitations, we have summarized our experience and suggestions for conducting science education activities for high school students in the following PDF.
6.1 Science popularization method
For mosquito prevention and control related science popularization, the most effective science popularization scene is located in the community where mosquitoes are dense in summer. So we originally planned to go to different communities in Guangzhou to conduct offline popularization. However, due to the epidemic control, we could not go into the community to hold stalls, so we shifted all the public education work to online.
We consulted with some technicians and front-line workers from Xingan County Ganjiang Chinese Herbal Medicine Co. The main way to obtain relevant knowledge is through short video software such as Jitterbug. Therefore, we are going to use WeChat public number push and B station as the main way, supplemented by video software such as Jitterbug and WeTV to carry out scientific popularization related to synthetic biology and mosquito prevention and control.
In addition, we also consulted experts from Guangdong CDC, and in the process of experts introducing the basic situation of mosquito-borne diseases in Guangdong Province, we learned that probably due to the warming climate, the distribution range of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes shifted northward, and dengue fever, which should be mainly produced in the south of China, broke out in Shandong in 17 years. This made us realize that mosquito-related science popularization needs to be carried out not only in the south but also in the north, so we cooperated with Jilin University, which is also preparing to go into the field of mosquito repellent, to carry out the promotion of science popularization, so that more people in the north can see our science popularization content.
6.2 Language approach.
According to the user image description of the Baidu index search for mosquito repellent issues, we found that the main target group age group is 20-29, more middle-aged and young people, and the average of men and women. So we decided to mainly use more lively and interesting language to narrate.
Fig.13 People who are concerned about mosquito repellent
Figure source: Baidu index http://index.baidu.com
6.3 Science content
6.3.1 Project-related
In China, people mainly use the browser is Baidu, so we selected the most frequently retrieved mosquito-related issues that people want to know according to the keyword frequency option of Baidu index. We finally came up with the following push topics: whether it is feasible to repel mosquitoes with plants, whether regular customers can repel mosquitoes with "beer", "vitamins" and "tea" and other small tricks, precautions for special groups to use mosquito repellent The article is based on a first-hand view of mosquitoes. The article takes mosquitoes as the first perspective and debunks the unscientific mosquito repellent techniques on the market, which is novel and interesting.
Fig.14 The most frequently searched words related to mosquito repellent
Figure source: Baidu index http://index.baidu.com
Through street interviews, we learned that the preference for plant extracts is much higher than for known compounds as the main ingredient. This is despite the fact that plant extracts are not necessarily safe, but rather known compounds with stable manufacturing processes have a higher guarantee of safety. So we made a popular science push: [Mosquito said] I really do not like these, which was published through the public website to let more people know the actual situation. The article takes mosquitoes as the first point of view and talks about the real effective mosquito repellent ingredients.
Not only that, but according to information on the Internet, people are concerned that mosquito repellents, which are pesticides, are not safe enough to use on children. But in fact, the safety assessment of the repellent has taken into account the case of children's use and more stringent safety risk assessment model. However, only those who need to register pesticides will be aware of this matter. We want to educate the public about the differences in this assessment so that they do not have unnecessary concerns when using repellents. So we created a popular science tweet: Mosquito repellent: Am I safe? The article uses mosquito repellent as the first perspective to prove to people that it is a pesticide, but it is safe.
6.3.2 Synthetic biology related content
In view of the fact that most of the public does not have expertise in biology, we have set up a synthetic biology from scratch for beginners. There is a wealth of knowledge in the literature, but it is presented in a variety of interesting formats, including comics, animations, emoticons and mini-theater.
Fig.15 Screenshots of science content
6. 4 Reading length.
By deriving the viewer's completion rate of viewing, we found that as we continue to improve, more and more people are able to watch our video after clicking on it. But at present, we still haven't found any other law except that the longer the total length of the video in a certain range, the lower the watch completion rate. So we can only work on improving the quality of video production and the level of fun.
Fig.16 Watching status of Bilibili
7. Next Steps
Due to the time limitation, we can only popularize the science to a part of the region and population. Therefore, our next step will be to expand our scope of popularization and further promote synthetic biology to all over the country. To do this, we will continue our high school lectures and contact more high schools through our classmates to attract more high school students to join the synthetic biology exploration. At the same time, we will continue to post small science videos on video sites and participate in some short video competitions in China. We believe that more people will be more receptive to the knowledge after learning from the feedback we have received so far about integrating life elements into science. We are also planning to hold an exhibition on mosquito repellents to break some misconceptions about mosquito repellents by explaining the knowledge about it on site. We hope that through more forms, more people can better understand the content we want to express.