PROCESS BOOK | AIKA SAN DIEGO | 2018
As a service-learning project, biology and graphic design students were tasked to create a game that would teach the science of CRISPR to middle school students. This project is in partnership with the National Human Genome Research Institute, specifically their Education and Community Involvement Branch. Biology students were responsible for the scientific content of the game and making sure it met the learning objectives. Graphic design students were responsible for visually communicating that content and researching and developing the aesthetic. Together, the partnership would create an engaging and educational game.
Immediate Community Need: “We needed creative ways to convey complex scientific topics to middle school students in the classroom.�
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>>TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Creative Brief
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Research
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Initial Ideations
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Final Concept
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Sketches
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Styles
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Game Components
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>>CREATIVE BRIEF CLIENT The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) education and community involvement branch strives to educate others in genomics and their ethical, legal, and social issues. For this project, Carla Easter and Beth Tuck are looking for “creative ways to convey complex scientific topics to middle school students in the classroom.” This scientific topic is CRISPR.
PARTNERSHIP Aika San Diego - Graphic Design student Cat Dietrich - Biology student
BACKGROUND CRISPR is a natural process that occurs in bacteria as their form of an immune system. The name itself stands for “clustered, regularly, interspaced, short, palindromic repeats.” By using a guide RNA, the Cas9 enzyme goes down a DNA strand to find this specific sequence. Once it is found, Cas9 cuts the DNA at that spot. Scientists today are using this process to edit DNA by targeting a specific gene and replacing that with a different sequence.
OVERVIEW Most of today’s generation of middle schoolers do not know what CRISPR is. This science is on its way to making revolutionary feats in the future. Because of how big the impact will be, it is important that this generation of middle schoolers begin to learn and understand it. Graphic design and biology students will collaborate with NHGRI to create a game for middle school students to teach them the science of CRISPR. By combining the design student’s creative mind and the biology student’s knowledge of the subject, the partnership will work to develop an effective and fun game.
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TARGET AUDIENCE This is intended for middle schoolers, ages 11-13, and their science teachers. Most middle schoolers have never heard of CRISPR before, as well as not know much anything about DNA (other than the fact that it is what makes people unique). When playing a game or working in an activity/lab, many prefer to play with a team or work as a group. They enjoy games where they can be competitive and interact with each other. The game this partnership creates would assist teachers in helping their students understand the topic by providing an engaging activity.
BUDGET The partnership is given $50 to develop a final prototype. Overall, it shouldn’t be very expensive to make to accommodate middle school students of any family income.
GOAL After playing the game, middle school students should understand the fundamentals of CRISPR: it uses guide RNA to recognize a sequence in the DNA and utilizes Cas9 to cut it. Teachers should be able to use this game as a supplemental tool to explain the idea of CRISPR in a fun and interactive way.
KEYWORDS Informative, competitive, disguised learning with fun, narrative, engaging, interaction between all players, budget-friendly
COMPETITION Other CRISPR games, non-educational games, electronic games
FINAL DEADLINE: DECEMBER 5, 2018 5
>>RESEARCH WHAT IS CRISPR? CRISPR: Stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats. It is a technique used to edit genes using the Cas9 protein to cut DNA code at a specific point. NUCLEOTIDE: The building blocks of DNA. There are 4 matching nucleotides: Adenine with Thymine and Cytosine with Guanine. When these nucleotides are arranged in DNA in a certain sequence, they code for the traits that make individuals different. CAS9: A protein naturally found in bacteria cells. This protein defends the cell against viral DNA that doesn’t belong in the cell, thereby protecting the cell from attack.
GUIDE RNA: The RNA that the Cas9 protein uses like a cheat sheet to recognize the sequence of nucleotides it is supposed to cut, or the TARGET SEQUENCE. The guide RNA is inside the “jaws” of the Cas9 so that as it works its way down the DNA strand, it “reads” and compares until it reaches the nucleotides it will cut. GENE EDITING: Scientists can take out Cas9 and “program” the RNA contained within it to cut the DNA and insert whatever nucleotides they want.
TARGET AUDIENCE To understand my target audience better, I surveyed about 20 middle school students and asked them several questions about what kinds of games they liked, why they liked them, how they learned best, and their knowledge of CRISPR. A couple students talked about The Game of Life. One said they liked it because “it’s very open ended.” Another student said it’s fun to “see how your board game life turns out.” For my game, I wanted to incorporate the idea of waiting until the end to see what happens. I also asked the students two questions concerning their interaction with others: “Would you rather work with a team against other teams or compete by yourself against everyone else?” and “In an in-class activity/ lab, do you learn better working by yourself
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or with a group?” For the first question, 85% of the students said they preferred to work in teams. For the second question, 12 preferred a group, 5 preferred to work by themselves, 2 said both, and 2 said it depends on the assignment. From this information, I knew I wanted to include a team and/or collaborative aspect to my game. Then, I asked these middle schoolers if they have learned about CRISPR, and if so, what. These students didn’t know anything about it. I also asked them what they have learned about DNA. They did not know a lot, other than the general concepts: it makes people unique and it is in your blood. So for my game, I chose to keep the learning objectives simple and focus on the fundamental process of CRISPR.
THE CRISPR PROCESS ILLUSTRATED
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GAME RESEARCH Before developing different ideations for games, I looked at the mechanics and narratives of several different existing games.
Exploding Kittens
Avoid picking up the bomb card from the pile, especially if you no longer have a diffuse card.
Mafia
One player is the killer. You’re trying to find the killer before they kill everyone else.
Spyfall
Everyone has an identity and everyone knows the location except the spy. The spy is trying to hide their identity as the spy by correctly answering the questions asked.
Spot It
Find the single matching symbol between two cards faster than your opponents.
Sequence
With your team, connect 5 spaces by placing a marker corresponding to your card. But, you cannot talk to your teammates about what cards you have.
The Game of Life
Collect the most money by the end of your game life.
Fruit Salad
Mix up seats, depending if your fruit is called.
Code Names
Two teams are competing spy networks. You are trying to find all your agents. Only code master knows all the codenames.
Slapjack
Be fast in recognizing specific patterns in the cards so you can take the pile and the entire deck.
Saboteur
There are two teams: the miners and the saboteurs. The miners are trying to build a path to the gold and the saboteurs are trying to stop them. You build a grid of paths with cards on a table.
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>>INITIAL IDEATIONS On October 31, we had a meeting with our client at NHGRI where we discussed 3 potential prototypes for our game.
PROTOTYPE #1: GET CUT Narrative Each team is a mouse trying to get to the cheese. In order to stop the other mice from getting the cheese, you have to find the right place to build a trap that is a specific sequence for each mouse. You can use your supplies to either build a trap, or block the other team’s attempt in building yours.
Each player is given 5 supply cards and each team selects a trap card that is set on the board for all players to see.
Game Components • Game board • Supply cards (nucleotide pairs)
• Wild card (either “any supply” or “hammer” card where you can take out any supply)
• Trap blueprint cards (nucleotide sequence)
• Team pieces
Set Up Teams sit alternating each other in a circle around the board. Divide group evenly to make teams. • 4 people = 2 teams of 2 • 6 people = 2 teams of 3 or 3 teams of 2 • 8 people = 2 teams of 4 or 4 teams of 2 • 9 people = 3 teams of 3 • 10 people = 2 teams of 5 or 5 teams of 2 • 12 people = 4 teams of 3 or 3 teams of 4 • 15 people = 5 teams of 3 or 3 teams of 5
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Game Play 1. The first player determines one supply card they want to play and places a team marker on that spot. 2. Players after do the same and strategize if they want to make a defensive or offensive move. However, teams cannot communicate with each other about what supplies they have, which makes it hard to decide if a turn should be played defensive or offensively. 3. When a trap is built, that team is out of the game and all their pieces are taken off the board. The last team standing wins and gets the cheese.
Learning Objective • Understand the matching pairs of nucleotides • CRISPR-Cas9 system finds a sequence and cuts it out
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PROTOTYPE #2: TIDE DIVIDE Narrative This game includes the entire class. The teacher is needed as a moderator. One student is selected to be the “Cas9.” By using his/her memory, he/she is trying to find a 4 nucleotide sequence (pattern of other students). When he/she finds the sequence, they get cut from the game. The Cas9 is trying to find the most sequences in a limited amount of time. Game Parts • Nucleotide Identification cards Game Play: 1. Seats are arranged in a large circle for all the students, except the selected Cas9. 2. Cas9 steps out of the room and a shuffled stack of nucleotide identification cards are handed out among students. 3. Once everyone has their card, students raise them up and teacher finds a 4 nucleotide sequence within the group to be the target sequence. 4. Cas9 re-enters the room, steps into the middle of the circle, and is told the target sequence by the teacher.
6. During this time, those who have that nucleotide identification would switch seats with each other. For example, if the Cas9 says “adenine,” all adenines will get up and go to another adenine’s seat. 7. After counting to 5, Cas9 opens his/her and tries to see what changed, maybe even sees someone still scrambling to get a seat, to see where that specific nucleotide is located. 8. Cas9 continues to do this until he/ she can make a guess by saying who is what nucleotide. 9. If correct, those 4 people are cut/taken out from the game. If wrong, the class yells “tide divide!” This means that everyone switches seats with each other. Cas9 closes his/her eyes again, students hold up their cards, and the teacher picks a new sequence. 10. The Cas9 is trying to find the most sequences in 15 minutes, or until there are only 4 people left. Learning Objectives • Cas9 uses guide RNA to find a specific sequence in a DNA strand then can cut it • Be aware of the different nucleotide pairs
5. While closing his/her eyes, Cas9 calls out a nucleotide name, counts to 5.
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PROTOTYPE #3: CRISPR CUT Narrative: The object of the game is to be the fastest player to recognize the target sequence and “cut” it out. Doing so allows you to collect “molecular scissor” cards. Whoever has the most scissor cards when all the cards are gone wins. Game Components: • Nucleotide cards (A/UT and C/G) • Mutation cards (“Take # Pairs”) • Molecular scissors (with Cas9 scissors) Set Up: • 4 random nucleotide cards are picked out of the deck to become the target sequence. • Molecular scissor cards are placed in a stack on the side. • The rest of the nucleotide cards and mutation cards are shuffled and distributed evenly among players face down. Game Play: 1. Players take turns going around in a circle and putting one card from their hand face up in the center. 2. Cards build upon each other as players wait for the sequence to appear.
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3. When the sequence plays out, the first person to slap the center deck gets to “cut” it out and receives a molecular scissor cards. These cards that were cut are placed to the side. 4. If the next player places a card down before anyone cuts the sequence, that stops anyone from initiating the cut. 5. If someone slaps the deck when the sequence is not present, he/she has to give up one of their molecular scissor cards, if any. 6. If nucleotide cards run out and there are still molecular scissor cards left, shuffle the cards that were put to the side and redistribute them. 7. If a mutation card is put down, how ever many pairs is described on the card is taken out from the top of the pile. 8. Once all molecular scissor cards given out, the person with the most wins the game. Learning Objectives: • DNA is made up of matching nucleotides • DNA can be cut • CRISPR-Cas9 system recognizes and cuts genes
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>>FINAL CONCEPT NEW LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Based on the client’s feedback, I chose to pursue the idea from Mouse Trap. However, there was still a lot I needed fix. The client questioned if it would be too complicated for middle school students to understand, and if the metaphor of CRISPR actually comes across, or if it gets lost. This idea would be effective in reinforcing an existing knowledge of the science.
• CRISPR-Cas9 system cuts DNA at a particular sequence
After pages of writing out my ideas and thought process, researching different existing games, and simplifying the science, I was able to modify the game mechanics and narrative to more effectively demonstrate the process of CRISPR.
• CRISPR uses guide RNA to recognize the sequence where it needs to cut
INITIAL MECHANICS The board is put together in a random 7 by 7 grid of directional tiles. Each player gets 3 cards and 5 tiles. Cards are kept hidden from other players. This game can either be played in teams, or as a free-for-all. The goal of the game is to have all of your team reach the center, or be the first one to reach the center if a free-for-all) Each player has a character piece that starts on any tile on the outside. The cards contain a certain sequence. By finding your sequence on the board, you can change those particular tiles to any of the tiles that you have. For example, Player 2 plays the card that has the purple, blue, yellow sequence and is targeting the sequence of tiles adjacent to
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their player piece. Player 2 can then cut those tiles off the board and replace them with tiles they have. Now that the tiles are changed, Player 2 can move their character piece one tile. Each turn players can only move one spot. After their turn, they get new tiles and a new card so they always have 3 cards and 5 tiles. Players go clockwise until everyone on a team, or the first person, reaches the center. If playing with teams, teammates should sit alternating with the other team. Players can try changing tiles to benefit themselves, their teammates, or block a player on the other team. Sequences on the card must be in the same order as they are on the board.
NARRATIVE
CORRELATION TO CRISPR
You are Cas9 Agent that has been trying to catch the criminal mastermind, Grand Shadow. Tired of the failed attempts, he put the agents in a framework of rooms with locked and unlocked doors. But, the Grand Shadow gave you control to lock and unlock certain rooms! Get to the control room first for a chance to be the top spy! Smart about what you lock or unlock. Do you want to open your doors to bring you closer to the central control room? Or, do you want to lock someone else’s doors and block them? You have control...But not with everything. Even if you can get to the control room, there is a possibility you won’t even catch the Grand Shadow.
The rooms arranged on the board represent the series nucleotide pairs in DNA. In the process of CRISPR, Cas9, or you the Cas9 agent, contains a guide RNA, or your passcodes. This guide is used to find the target sequence. Once the target sequence is found. Cas9 is able to cut the DNA at that particular sequence. As the science of CRISPR develops, eventually the sequence that is removed can be replaced with whatever nucleotides desired, or any room components. This process called gene editing would be used to create a certain outcome, like trying to get to the control room.
MECHANICS ILLUSTRATED
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>>DESIGN DEVELOPMENT MOOD BOARD
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LOGO
In Control In Control In Control
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>>STYLES
AHAMONO
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>>GAME COMPONENTS
INSTRUCTIONS
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PACKAGING DIE CUT
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FINAL PARTS AND PACKAGING
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