Honeybee Social Immunity Game Workshops
These interactive workshops are inspired by honeybee health research from the Maori Lab. Blending science and creativity, the workshops teach participants how honeybees protect their colonies from viruses. Using games, participants explore honeybee defence strategies while drawing on their own experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic to better understand social immunity.
What the Workshops Are About
The workshops feature a live-action game where participants team up to stop a virus, similar to how bees protect their hives. Players use strategies from the pandemic to see how they could help honeybees. The project has already found new ideas that scientists are now testing.
How the Workshops Work
- Interactive Gameplay: Players work together to control a digital virus spreading through a honeybee hive while keeping it productive, using science and real-world experience to stop the infection.
- Real-Time Problem Solving: Teams receive game rules and a mission briefing, then review their performance after each round to improve their strategies.
Who Is It For?
Who Is It For?
These workshops are designed for school students, university students, and adults. Perfect for classrooms, community groups, or workplace teams, the workshops emphasise teamwork, communication, and problem-solving. The goals are to:
- Bring people together through collaborative gameplay that highlights the importance of working as a team to overcome challenges.
- Strengthen team-building skills by solving complex problems in a dynamic and engaging environment.
- Inspire participants with the real-world impact of science and how collective efforts can tackle global issues like pandemics.
Expected Benefits
Collaborative Problem-Solving: Players will develop strategies to tackle real-world challenges like pandemics.
Increased Awareness of Honeybees: Players will learn about the crucial role of honeybees and how their behaviours mirror human responses to viruses.
Creative Thinking: The game’s competitive and creative elements will encourage fresh, innovative thinking.
Teamwork: The workshops will emphasise the importance of collaboration in solving big challenges.
Inspiration for Future Careers: These workshops aim to spark curiosity in science and art, inspiring students to explore how research can shape the future.
By blending science, art, and interactive learning, the workshops aim to inspire the next generation of problem solvers.
HIVE HEROES 