Supercytes
A new inflammation and immunology schools resource.
What is Supercytes?
The Supercytes resource pack has been designed for use in schools (or school science clubs) with students aged 9-18 (using different suggested formats). It can be used to introduce younger learners to white blood cells and how our bodies fight infection, or to support and reinforce the teaching of basic immunology and inflammation biology to older students.
The resource pack includes:
- “Supercytes: the immune cell standoff” card game & instructions
- Supercytes animated cartoons featuring engaging immune cell characters
- An “Introduction to Inflammation and Immunology” presentation
- Worksheets, quiz and feedback forms
- Suggested lesson plans (integrated into the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence)
- An opportunity to develop Supercytes-inspired projects, and the potential to win visits from our scientists (location restricted)
The game is produced by medical research scientists working in the MRC Centre for Inflammation Research at the University of Edinburgh.
Interactive content
In late June 2017 the Interactive Content team published the Supercytes website on EdWeb, the University's content management system (CMS).
Several new HTML5 interactives were developed for to help promote the resource. An interactive map was created using Leaflet to see where Supercytes is being used around the world. Leaflet is an open-source JavaScript library for mobile-friendly interactive maps.
Another addition was an HTML5 interactive slideshow using H5P to explain the rules of the card game visually. H5P is a free and open-source content collaboration framework based on JavaScript.
The Interactive Content team worked in close collaboration with Dr Donald J Davidson. Donald is a Senior Research Fellow and Research Group Leader, and is also the Academic Lead for Public Engagement and Communications at the MRC Centre for Inflammation Research at the University of Edinburgh.
How to play the Supercytes card game (standard version)
Open educational resources
All the Supercytes resources are all available as free digital downloads, under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Creative Commons licence summary (BY-NC-SA)
Copyright © Donald J. Davidson, University of Edinburgh 2017 CC BY-NC-SA
Supercytes cartoons
Credits
Supercytes was conceived, designed and developed by Donald J. Davidson, Elena Dorà, Cathy Hawley, Lisa Kelly and Phoebe Kirkwood; all medical research scientists at the University of Edinburgh / MRC Centre for Inflammation Research.
Supercytes artwork was produced by Jim Stirk with graphic design by Gillian Kidd.
The development of Supercytes was funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council (MRC).
Resources
Supercytes videos (Media Hopper)
Supercytes illustrations (Flickr)
H5P repository (ISG pilot service)