Student activities
Context
Students from 5 selected schools in the Bangkok Metropolitan Area (BMA) schools, will participate this summer and in the summer of 2026 in a hands-on Citizen Science program targeting mosquito-borne diseases like dengue. The citizen science activities to be developed have three main objectives:
- Raise awareness among students of the threats of arboviral diseases and how to recognise and avoid them, preventing their bites.
- Provide the information still missing on environmental determinants of Aedes mosquito populations (i.e., optimal preferences for T, RH, light…) to run and optimize the disease models we build;
- Teach the kids to operate the Aedes traps and the i-buttons.
| School Name | Level | No. of Participants |
|---|---|---|
| Senanikom (S1) | Primary School | 30 |
| Wat Nongchok (S2) | Primary School | 37 |
| Matthayompuranawas (S3) | Secondary School | 38 |
| Prayamonthaturadsripijit (S4) | Primary School | 40 |
| Wat Sitaram (S5) | Primary School | 30 |
Activities
This year proof-of-concept tests will be developed in some of the schools’ sessions to evaluate the procedures and implementations in the selected schools and the general state-of-the-art knowledge about dengue. Over four months in 2026 (June-September), students will use Gravid Aedes Traps (GATs) and iButtons (humidity and temperature sensors) to monitor mosquito populations and their preferred environmental conditions, both at school and at home. Students will learn on key topics that will contribute to raise awareness of the threat of dengue and how to best avoid it, while being trained in becoming real scientists.
Activities include weekly trap collection and data updating. The data obtained by students will be very valuable to improve the current information we have on how environmental conditions facilitate or hinder dengue epidemic spread in Bangkok and also across Thailand.
Education
Each month the students will follow special classes around the following themes:
- Mosquito habitats and surveillance tools.
- Mosquito species and life cycles.
- Diseases and epidemiology.
- Prevention and bite control.
- Dengue in Thailand and immunity.
Educational materials
Different online tools will be organised and used in thematic sessions, once a month, in order to develop best scientific practices and training, while actively making students participate in scientific activities. A dossier around the problematic of rising dengue epidemics worldwide will be filled by each student that will cover all sessions above and will use tools such as Kahoot, Socrative, Quizlet, Google Forms, Padlet and/or others.
Final Presentations at the end of the high dengue season will be prepared using Canva / Piktochart / Genially / Google Presentations /Open access presentations, etc…
Competition
The annual education program will culminate in a competition where students are expected to present their findings through posters or videos. Prizes, such as merchandising offered by the Football Club Barcelona Foundation, will be awarded during a Final Presentation Day held in mid-September each year (2025 & 2026). Participating schools might also receive small scholarships and special incentives are planned for teachers and outstanding student contributions.
