Biofabrication – communicating STEM frontiers

Learning hook

New technologies can be difficult to get our heads around. Biofabrication is the production of complex biological products using raw materials such as living cells, matrices, biomaterials and molecules. Biofabrication combines materials engineering, biological sciences, additive manufacturing, nanotechnology and biomedical health technologies.

Watch this SBS The Feed documentary about biofabrication.

Tell students that this video was made nine years ago. What advances have been made since then?

Encourage students to wonder and anticipate what might now be possible with biofabrication.

Now watch this clip from BBC News published in 2022. How has the technology matured? What’s possible now?

Learning input

Discuss with students the importance of media for introducing new technologies to the public, and in building public awareness and support for those technologies.

Explain that as a class, you are going to be learning more about biofabrication applications, as well as developing skills as science communicators.

The first key question to explore is ‘What text features do STEM communicators typically use when introducing new technologies?’

Share the STEM Communication bingo sheet with the class and have students watch the two introductory videos again. As they watch, students can populate the bingo sheet with as many text features as they can. As a class, share back the features and create a single bingo sheet. 

Here’s an example of text features you might like to use to get students started:

• physical model
• tissue up close
• animation
• verbal analogy
• real-life person who has benefited from the technology
• STEM professional in a lab coat
• lab setting
• interesting machine close up

Learning construction

Students work in pairs or small groups to research an application of biofabrication and create a short video to explain it to their peers.

Students could start their research with RMIT’s 2020 ‘Biofabrication and tissue engineering’ report, which identifies five priority clinical needs for biofabrication solutions:

• treating major physical trauma
• replacing lost muscle tissue
• helping people age well
• repairing nerve damage
• creating personalised diagnostics

Students could focus on one area and then select a particular application to research more closely.

Students will then share their research with their class as a three- to four-minute video, incorporating at least five of the STEM communication text features they identified on their bingo sheet.

Students should collate their research to answer the following key questions:

1. What is the new technology?
2. How does it work?
3. Who will benefit from this technology? How? 

Students should create a storyboard and script for their video prior to filming.

They can source snippets from other videos demonstrating the technology, but each snippet should be no more than 10 seconds long and must be cited at the end of the video. Students should create their own voiceover and play any roles of STEM professionals or members of the public, as required. 

Optional extension: 

As students are researching their technology and selecting media snippets to include in their final video, encourage them to consider the credibility of their source material. For example, they can apply the CRAAP test (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy and Purpose) to evaluate sources.