There are many forces exerted on your body at every moment. Some forces are large such as gravity or the force preventing you from falling through the floor. Other forces are so small that they are hard to detect but can still play an important role in the body. One important force is created by interstitial flow in the body. Interstitial flow is created from the flow of fluid around the cells in the extracellular matrix. Interstitial flow is important as it can allow cancer to spread throughout the body.
However, it can be hard to measure the forces interstitial flow exerts on cells due to its small size. DNA origami can be used to create NanoDyn forces sensors that can aid in studying the force from interstitial flow in the extracellular matrix. For this design challenge, you will be creating your own NanoDyn force sensor with household supplies.
The student handout will be given to all students working on the design challenge. It gives a brief recap of the story, it helps the students identify what they are attempting to achieve, and it recaps the design process.
This Instructor’s Guide provides the instructor additional information on how to run the design challenge with alternatives for materials and test setups as well as information to help make the design challenge a good educational experience.
The Telling the Story Video conveys the societal impact of the student’s research that is the basis for the design challenge and will set the problem-solving context for students.
The Design Challenge Video leads students through the design process. It indicates materials available, states what the criteria are for success and any constraints. It also gives a second ‘level’ of the design challenge that allows ‘early completers’ to move on to a slightly more difficult challenge.