Petri Dish: A cell biology game for kids
Three years ago, I began working on a cell biology game for kids. The premise of the game is simple: You design a cell to grow and reproduce. At the start of the game, the cell is controlled manually. You decide which proteins to build and when to divide. Along the way, you learn about passive and active transport, metabolic networks, genomes, organelles, cell division, control systems, and homeostasis.
Once you understand the cell well enough to help it grow and reproduce consistently, the cell is programmed to grow and reproduce autonomously. This enables you to test your cell in different environments, and to observe those cells as they form colonies and compete for resources. You will see how cells differentiate and respond to their environment, how small design decisions affect a cell’s ability to compete for survival, and why a cell might have a competitive advantage in one set of conditions, but not in another.
If all of this seems way beyond what kids are learning in schools today, it is. But Petri Dish is not some misguided attempt to add “rigor”. As an educator with over 20-years experience, I genuinely believe that kids understand more and learn better when concepts are made concrete, and they are given an opportunity to integrate and apply what they’re learning.
To make my case, I’m going to teach some cell biology concepts in a series of articles by grounding those concepts in chemistry at a molecular scale. I believe that cell biology will make a lot more sense once you can see what is happening with your own two eyes (demystifying it) and you understand why it is happening in a concrete and intuitive way.
Three years ago, I set Petri Dish aside when I couldn’t convince enough people that typical middle school kids can learn cell biology at this level. I didn’t have enough confidence in my vision or myself to go it alone. Well, I’m a little smarter and wiser now—and I realize that, if I make fantastical claims, I need to back them up with evidence. So, stay tuned.
