Our Center Director Prof. Hon-Ming Lam, in collaboration with the Big Education Platform, initiated an innovative STEAM Education project – STEAM@Soybean for Hong Kong secondary school students. The comprehensive project incorporates all-rounded learning activities for students to experience, observe, record, analyze, and create, with soybean as the focused research plant.
In the first phase of the project, students would propagate pairs of wild-like and cultivated-like soybean seeds, during which they would observe, record and compare the plants’ growth and development characteristics and trends. Participating teams would share their cultivation experience, interesting findings and difficulties encountered.
To prepare for the launch of the project, a training workshop was organized on 7 March, 2018 for teachers from 13 participating schools. Prof. Lam and his Lab Research Associate Ms. Ling Wong introduced on the technical details of soybean cultivation. Ms. Vicky Lau from Produce Green Foundation also shared with the teachers on problems of plant cultivation encountered in schools.
After the workshop, teachers got back schools with a bag of wild-like and cultivated-like soybean seeds, as well as a plate of rhizobia prepared by Prof. Lam’s lab. Students then started their soybean propagation in the Schools’ garden, science lab, rooftop or a relative’s farm with excitement and care, all looking forward to the fruitful result after 4 months.
Prof. Hon Ming Lam brief the participating schools’ teachers on the STEAM@Soybean Project
Ms. Ling Wong introduced on the technical details of soybean cultivation
Ms. Vicky Lau from Produce Green Foundation shared on problems of plant cultivation encountered in schools