Using Minecraft to teach microanalytical chemistry to school students

Start date: 4 April 2016
End date: 1 July 2016
Value: £3,063.15
Partners and collaborators: University of Hull
Primary investigator: Dr Mark D. Tarn
External co-investigators: Prof. Nicole Pamme (University of Hull) and Prof. Mark Lorch (University of Hull)

The ability to educate schoolchildren in novel areas of science is important for inspiring upcoming generations to enter new and exciting fields. However, this is often not easy due to the requirement of background knowledge or with some subjects being somewhat “dry”. This presents a challenge when explaining new scientific concepts to children and a successful approach requires the use of simple, jargon-free, yet fun and exciting descriptions. An excellent way of achieving this is to use visual and hands-on activities that can keep a young audience entertained while intrinsically instructing them on the fundamentals.

Microfluidic technology is an exciting tool that has been exploited to great effect in a number of scientific areas, such as analytical chemistry and environmental monitoring. However, the general public is largely unaware of this field. To address this, we will develop microfluidic “models” in the popular videogame, Minecraft, with the intention of teaching a young audience about microanalytical chemistry via a new medium. Minecraft lets players generate a world in which they fabricate structures out of building blocks, and has become a phenomenon among children (and adults). Importantly, Minecraft contains features such as flowing water and animal interactions that can be exploited to construct a number of models that represent real-world microfluidics flow phenomena, operations, and applications, allowing concepts to be explained in a fun and interactive manner.

The aims of this project are to:

(1) Develop interactive microanalytical chemistry-based modules using the physics and creature interactions of Minecraft.
(2) Develop activities/explanations/quizzes based on each device or technique.
(3) Trial the models in activities with local school children and at the MicroTAS 2016 conference.
(4) Incorporate feedback into improvements of the models and interface towards rolling out a complete version of educational package for the public to use.

Publications and outputs

Conference poster:

Tarn, M. D., Peyman, S. A., Corlyon, C., Momtazian, H., Smith, J., Spencer, M. D., Taylor, S. L., Lorch, M., Pamme, N., Minecraft for microfluidics: Teaching lab-on-a-chip to younger generations, The 20th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences (MicroTAS 2016), Dublin (Republic of Ireland), 9-13 October 2016, in: The Proceedings of the MicroTAS 2016 Conference, p. 1513-1514.

Downloads

https://cbmsociety.org/images/outreach/5-Hull-Minecraft-for-Microfluidics.pdf