Outreach

The French Society of Developmental Biology (Société Française de Biologie du Développement) supports scientific outreach offering of workshops aimed at school children to raise their awareness of science and the developmental biology. More information and documents for each of these workshops are available by following the links below. Their use and distribution are subject to the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution – Non-commercial - No Derivative Works License (CC BY-NC-ND).

→ 'Animal embryonic development' workshop (E. Heude)

Workshop duration: 1 h
Age: 5-7 years old
Outreach mediator: teacher, biologist, mediator, student, parent...
Available in French. English version available soon.

This workshop introduces children to embryonic development and animal diversity through group and individual activities and the use of a variety of play materials. The starting point is a timeline showing human embryonic development. Kids then learn about the embryonic development of other animals, and compare how certain body parts of different species (human, mouse, chicken, fish) are formed up to birth.

→ 'Plant development and physiology

Workshop duration: 1 h
Level: 5-8 years old
Outreach mediator: teacher, biologist, mediator, student, parent...
Available in French and German. English version available soon.

This workshop introduces kids to the development of plants and their nutritional needs through group and individual activities, using a variety of fun materials. The starting point is the observation of different plants at diverse stages of development and their timeline. After defining the parts of the plant with precise and scientific vocabulary, the children are then led to understand the nutritional requirements necessary for plant growth. Using scientific methodology, they imagine experiments to test their hypotheses, which they can then implement in class and/or at home.

→ 'En Quête de Bio' (EQDB, A Biology Quest) workshop – initiation to biology, research, and the model species used in research (B. Lefevre – A. Bardin)

Workshop duration: 1 h
Level: 6-11 years old
Outreach mediator: contact us via the website below to organize a workshop in your school (teachers, parents) or if you want to animate an outreach (master’s students, PhD students, researchers).
Available in French and English.

The aim of this workshop is to familiarize children with research, the scientific method and the development of different animals and plants used in laboratories, from eggs to adults. The first part of the workshop introduces fundamental concepts (research, biology, developmental biology, "model" species). This is followed by a series of fun, interactive activities presenting a pair of model species via species sheets (Drosophila, the small nematode worm C. elegans, zebrafish, the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, and more). Finally, an 8-family game presenting the development of commonly used model species and humans is given to each classroom.

Project Managers of SFBD outreach activities (for more information)

Eglantine Heude (Chercheuse CNRS, IGFL- ENS, Lyon) : eglantine.heude@ens-lyon.fr
Maëva Luxey (Enseignante-chercheuse, UCBL, Lyon) : maeva.luxey@univ-lyon1.fr
Bénédicte Lefevre (Jeune chercheuse, Institut Curie, Paris) : benedicte.lefevre@curie.fr

→ Fête de la science

→ Cercle FSER/Déclics

→ La Semaine du Cerveau

→ Réseaux des musées et centres culture scientifique technologique et industrielles (AMCSTI)

→ Petits Débrouillards

→ Pint of Science

→ Skype A Scientist

Online initiative that matches scientists with classrooms and groups of adults for Q&A sessions over video chat. There’s a way to indicate the language you'd like your session to be held in on the registration form.

→ Echosciences

A social network to contact and get involved in local initiatives for science and society interactions (in French).

→ Les Savanturiers

An educational program, developed by the Interdisciplinary Research Center (CRI), which mobilizes and federates educational and scientific communities to co-create and innovate at the service of the School (in French).

→ Gedankenexperimente

Teaching resources for primary school biology classes focusing on the life cycle and evolution.

→ British Society for Developmental Biology

A collection of outreach resources to communicate biomedical research.

→ The Node

Ideas for experimental and non-experimental projects for young scientists, teach people about the joy of science and encourage discussions about the importance of research.

→ Droso4schools? Manchester Fly Facility

Resources describing the value of the model organism Drosophila melanogaster

Books for children, teachers and families

Actine Art (from 3 y.o., in French)

Books written by members of the “Artistes et Scientifiques Actine” Association willing to help children (and adults) get passionate about science.

L'incroyable aventure de la génétique (from 5 y.o., in French)

A colourful and lively story in collaboration with the Pasteur Institute to discover the basics of genetics.

Procréation, vie avant la naissance
(middle-high school, in French)

Books written by members of the “Artistes et Scientifiques Actine” Association willing to help children (and adults) get passionate about science.

Books for grown-ups

First in Fly:
Drosophila Research and Biological Discovery
by Stephanie Elizabeth Mohr

Lords of the Fly:
Drosophila Genetics and the Experimental Life
by Robert E. Kohler

Wonderful life:
The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History
by Stephen Jay Gould

Étonnant vivant:
Découvertes et promesses du XXIe siècle
CNRS édition (in French)

Les Anatomies de la pensée:
À quoi pensent les calamars ?
by Alain Prochiantz (in French)

L'histoire secrète des fleurs
Par Elliott Parcy et François Parcy (in French)

Les origines de la vie
Par Marie-Christine Maurel (in French)