Life Science and Technology News

BioCon, Bio-Creative Design Contest 2020 jointly held

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March 6, 2020

EYE Love You! — Seishin Gakuen High School

Tokyo Tech's School of Life Science and Technology hosted both the 12th BioCon, or bio-creativity contest for high school students, and the 13th Bio-Creativity Design Contest 2020 on Suzukakedai Campus on January 15.

Traditionally, the BioCon, a competition where high schoolers develop learning materials regarding life and the natural world for elementary and middle school students, is held in the fall. The four best teams then progress to the Bio-Creativity Design Contest, which is the culmination of the Advanced Bio-Creative DesignOuter course for 2nd- and 3rd-year Tokyo Tech students. Heavily focused on group work, this course encourages students to develop and design a bio-related creation that addresses some current societal issue, which is then evaluated by academic and non-academic judges at the contest.

In October 2019, however, the 12th BioCon was cancelled due to a severe typhoon, so organizers decided to hold the competitions together this year. Eleven teams from seven high schools and seven teams from Tokyo Tech participated, each getting 11 minutes to present their creations.

Presentations

Team/school name Presentation title
iGEMers Development of dehydration detection technology: Using E. coli to measure osmotic pressure and blood glucose
Bio-emon —
Kanagawa Prefectural Sagamihara Secondary School
Forever-revolving ecosystem
Oga-fure —
Sapporo Nihon University Senior High School
DIY nature therapy
Ryugutaro Parasite card game
Decomposers —
Azabu University High School
Decomposition rate of earthworms
Nadeshiko Channel —
Tochigi Prefectural Otawara High School for Girls
Working nerves
Ultra Violet —
Atsugi High School
Reducing UV rays with plants!
Stanley-stanley —
Seishin Gakuen High School
Dr. Stanley and his pleasant friends
Luminescent Luminescence? Fluorescence? Glowing creatures
Team Kaki Peas —
Kanagawa Prefectural Sagamihara Secondary School
Mendelian inheritance: Learning from pea plants!
Orange Squadron Limonene-gers —
Tokyo Metropolitan Shinjuku High School
The wonders of limonene
Alumar Alumar Island water survey
Creature Nentaro and his exciting life with slime molds
EYE Love You! —
Seishin Gakuen High School
Animal eye mechanisms
Committee to protect the people from the Sea Shepherd Did you know that whale poo is orange?
pond skater —
Azabu University High School
The ecology of water striders
Vang Vieng Towards a refreshing spring
Bacteria busters
Tokyo Metropolitan Shinjuku High School
Reforming how antibiotics work

Evaluation and results

Judges and members of the public evaluated the BioCon teams based on four criteria — educational value, originality, feasibility, and presentation. Bio-Creativity Design Contest participants were judged based on five benchmarks — scientific nature, originality, societal impact, expressiveness, and completeness.

Team presenting sampling conducted overseas

Team presenting sampling conducted overseas

High schoolers presenting

High schoolers presenting

Team Kaki Peas from Kanagawa Prefectural Sagamihara Secondary School won the BioCon with their presentation on Gregor Mendel and his work on inheritance.

Team Vang Vieng emerged victorious in the Bio-Creativity Design Contest with their proposal to address the issue of hay fever. Based on personal experiences, they utilized new ideas to develop measurement techniques and convinced the judges of the future applicability of their creation.

High school BioCon winners

Team/school name Presentation title
Winner Team Kaki Peas
Kanagawa Prefectural Sagamihara Secondary School
Mendelian inheritance: Learning from pea plants!
2nd place EYE Love You!
Seishin Gakuen High School
Animal eye mechanisms
3rd place pond skater —
Azabu University High School
The ecology of water striders
Yokohama City Board of Education Award Orange Squadron Limonene-gers —
Tokyo Metropolitan Shinjuku High School
The wonders of limonene

Bio-Creative Design Contest winners

Overall winner Presentation title
Overall winner Vang Vieng Towards a refreshing spring
Judges' Award Oga-fure —
Sapporo Nihon University Senior High School
DIY nature therapy
Ryugutaro Parasite card game
Nadeshiko Channel —
Tochigi Prefectural Otawara High School for Girls
Working nerves
Audience Choice Award Vang Vieng Towards a refreshing spring
Experiment Award Creature Nentaro and his exciting life with slime molds
pond skater —
Azabu University High School
The ecology of water striders
Impact Award iGEMers Development of dehydration detection technology: Using E. coli to measure osmotic pressure and blood glucose

Showing and explaining slime molds to booth visitors

Showing and explaining slime molds to booth visitors

After the contest, participants gathered for a reception where judges continued to share advice, and students tested out each other's creations while sharing ideas for further improvement.

Congratulations to the winners and all participating teams for their innovative creations!

School of Life Science and Technology

School of Life Science and Technology
—Unravel the Complex and Diverse Phenomena of Life—

Information on School of Life Science and Technology inaugurated in April 2016

School of Life Science and Technologywindow

Schools, Departments, and Institute for Liberal ArtsOuter

Tokyo Tech Fund

This event is supported by Tokyo Tech Fund

Tokyo Institute of Technology FundOuter

Contact

Office of Bio-Creative Design

E-mail : biocreat@bio.titech.ac.jp

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