FUNLAB Workshop held at Maliyadeva Adarsha Maha Vidyalaya, Kurunegala.
FunLab is a series of workshops designed for school children who have a general interest in science, want to know what it is like to work in a lab or are curious about a career in science in Sri Lanka and globally. The workshops can be designed to suit a range of age groups from as young as 9 years old up to to A/Levels.
The first FunLab event took place at Royal International School, Kurunegala (Dilrini’s alma mater) where 30 students from Grade 6 donned their gloves and tackled the messy task of extracting banana DNA.
Subsequent workshops were conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the North Western and Southern provincial authorities. The second edition took place at Maliyadeva Adarsha Maha Vidyalaya, Kurunegala on 9 October 2017. Thirty Year 8 students from five different schools in Kurunegala (Maliyadeva Adarsha Maha Vidyalaya, Maliyadeva College, Maliyadeva Girls’ College, St. Anne’s College and Holy Family Convent Kurunegala) got an opportunity to learn about common laboratory techniques such as DNA extraction and practice pipetting techniques including micropipettes through some fun and simple activities.
The third workshop was held at the Madampage Central College, Southern Province on 13 October 2017 with 31 students from 6 local schools (Madampage Central College, Dharmashoka Maha Vidyalaya, P. De S. Kularathna Vidyalaya, Devananda Maha Vidyalaya, Nindana Vidyalaya and Kalasanatissa Vidyalaya). These students also got to view prepared microscope slides of human tissue using a portable cardboard smartphone microscope. It was rewarding to see the enthusiasm shown by the school teachers present that day and their eagerness to run similar activities in their respective schools upon their return. Upon their request, a similar training session for science teachers will be designed to provide them with a development opportunity to employ new teaching methods in the classroom.
Dilrini is a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge, UK and was supported by Viran Perera, MSc (Volunteer, Theme Institute) and Aseka Wickramarachchi, BSc (Research Assistant, Theme Institute).
The first FunLab event took place at Royal International School, Kurunegala (Dilrini’s alma mater) where 30 students from Grade 6 donned their gloves and tackled the messy task of extracting banana DNA.
Subsequent workshops were conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the North Western and Southern provincial authorities. The second edition took place at Maliyadeva Adarsha Maha Vidyalaya, Kurunegala on 9 October 2017. Thirty Year 8 students from five different schools in Kurunegala (Maliyadeva Adarsha Maha Vidyalaya, Maliyadeva College, Maliyadeva Girls’ College, St. Anne’s College and Holy Family Convent Kurunegala) got an opportunity to learn about common laboratory techniques such as DNA extraction and practice pipetting techniques including micropipettes through some fun and simple activities.
The third workshop was held at the Madampage Central College, Southern Province on 13 October 2017 with 31 students from 6 local schools (Madampage Central College, Dharmashoka Maha Vidyalaya, P. De S. Kularathna Vidyalaya, Devananda Maha Vidyalaya, Nindana Vidyalaya and Kalasanatissa Vidyalaya). These students also got to view prepared microscope slides of human tissue using a portable cardboard smartphone microscope. It was rewarding to see the enthusiasm shown by the school teachers present that day and their eagerness to run similar activities in their respective schools upon their return. Upon their request, a similar training session for science teachers will be designed to provide them with a development opportunity to employ new teaching methods in the classroom.
Dilrini is a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge, UK and was supported by Viran Perera, MSc (Volunteer, Theme Institute) and Aseka Wickramarachchi, BSc (Research Assistant, Theme Institute).