Students Can Participate in Synthetic Biology Slam
On March 1st, 2013, the Artscience Program at the Perpich Center for Arts Education will be hosting its first Synthetic Biology Slam, a night of fast-paced creative talks encouraging students to use art and science to create new ideas, at the Beat Coffeehouse in Uptown Minneapolis. This event will give students an opportunity to meet like-minded original thinkers, get feedback and find new ideas and partners in innovation!
The Synthetic Biology slam is a creative competition open to Minnesota students grades 6 through college. Each participant will be allowed five minutes to present their creative new ideas about future paths for synthetic biology (and the world!), while ensuring concepts remain grounded in scientific reality. We welcome everything from ideas-in-the-making to more developed hypotheses and work. Students are encouraged to participate regardless of background—bring a willingness to share their ideas artistically and with enthusiasm.
RULES FOR SLAM PRESENTERS
● Each artistic response must be of the artist’s own construction (dance, literary arts, theater, music, media or visual art);
● Each presenter gets five minutes (plus a ten-second grace period) to artistically present one response to the question: What is your vision for the future of synthetic biology?
● If the presenter goes over time, points will be deducted from the total score.
● The presenter may use props, costumes, musical instruments and artistry of all kinds to respond to the synthetic biology question.
● Of the scores the presenter received from the five judges, the high and low scores are dropped and the middle three are added together, giving the presenter a total score of 0-30.
These are general rules for our Synthetic Biology Slam. We are actually judging the artistic response so it will not be like a scientific lecture—we do not want that.
RULES FOR SLAM JUDGES
● Judges will be a panel of artists and scientists from the community.
● The high and low score are discarded and the three remaining scores are added together.
● Judges are asked to rate 50 percent on presentation of vision and 50 percent on scientific reality of vision.
● Scores are 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest), using decimals to reduce the chance of ties.
● At the same time, judges hold up scores for presenter when asked by M.C.
● M.C. then announces the presenter’s scores out loud.
The Artscience program at the Perpich Arts High School is sponsoring this event to encourage students to use art and science to create new ideas. Artscience is an international program that supports young people in developing innovative art and design ideas based on a scientific theme. The program helps students to combine aesthetic and analytical ways of thinking, to work across disciplines and to collaborate with community experts who provide support and guidance. The goal is for students define problem and design solutions that educate and improve people’s lives. The Perpich Center for Arts Education serves all K-12 education in Minnesota.
To register, students can fill out the online form at www.pcae.k12.mn.us. Space is limited, so encourage participants to sign up early.
For more information & synthetic biology resources please contact:
Tory Peterson, Artscience Coordinator,
Perpich Arts High School
6125 Olson Memorial Hwy.
Golden Valley, MN 55422
Email: Tory.Peterson@pcae.k12.mn.us
Phone: 763-279-4292
Please spread the word and encourage interested students to take part in this exciting event. Teachers can mentor students on their projects and may utilize participation in the slam as an extra credit activity. Don’t miss this opportunity to participate in a fun and lively evening getting to know the next generation of thinkers moving the world forward! While we strongly encourage participation as a presenter, everyone is welcome and invited to attend, give feedback and discuss ideas.
Hope to see you there!
BEAT COFFEE HOUSE
1414 West 28th Street Minneapolis, MN 55408
