DNA is elementary: Promoting genetics literacy

描述(由申请者提供)：佐治亚州立大学(GSU)的科学家利用科学教育伙伴奖提供的资金，创建了DNA is Element，这是一套学习模块，用于向K至5年级的儿童教授经典遗传学和分子遗传学。在我们的模块中，我们利用年轻学习者的语言习得工具，通过将DNA描述为教学手册来表示我们的优势，该手册为制作每个独特的有机体提供了具体的指导。我们现在建议通过在非正式的科学环境中向家庭提供这些学习模块来扩大我们在K-5阶段学生中取得的成功。在格拉斯哥州立大学流动实验室项目Bio-Bus的赞助下，我们将与公共图书馆合作，为儿童及其家庭带来既教育又娱乐的活动。在暑假期间以及在选定的周末和学术假期，我们将在我们的伙伴机构介绍目前的八个60分钟单元。完成前四个单元的家庭将有资格继续学习其余四个单元中的任何一个，以及目前正在开发的以问题为基础的新单元。最后，希望沉浸在科学实验中的家庭可以参与一个元基因组学项目，该项目涉及从包含80,000多个克隆的土壤衍生基因库中识别新的细菌序列。其中一些克隆很有可能包含代表以前从未报告过的物种的序列，从而使我们所服务的家庭能够接触到真正的科学发现的兴奋。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): With funds provided by the Science Education Partnership Award, scientists at Georgia State University (GSU) have created DNA is Elementary, a set of learning modules developed to teach children in grades K through 5 about classical and molecular genetics. In our modules, we use young learners' facility with language acquisition to our advantage by representing DNA as an instructional manual with specific directions for making each unique organism. We now propose to build on our success with students in the K-5 arena by offering these learning modules to families in an informal science setting. Under the auspices of the Bio-Bus, GSU's mobile laboratory program, we shall partner with public libraries to bring activities to children and their families that both educate and entertain. During the summer and on selected weekends and academic holidays, we will present the current series of eight 60-minute modules at our partner institutions. Families who complete the first four modules will qualify to continue with any of the remaining four modules as well as with new problem-based modules currently under development. Finally, families who wish to become deeply immersed in scientific experimentation can take part in a metagenomics project involving the identification of novel bacterial sequences from a soil-derived gene library containing over 80,000 clones. The likelihood is high that some of these clones will contain sequences representing species that have never before been reported, thus bringing the excitement of authentic scientific discovery within reach of the families we serve.