When it comes to asking the hard questions at the heart of scientific investigation, perhaps no book has ever topped Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. This 200-year-old story explores themes of human creativity, societal responsibility and scientific ethics—all themes that resonate today as well as they did in 1818.

Educators based at Arizona State University have designed Frankenstein200, a kit of hands-on activities that encourage kids of all ages to explore their creativity while thinking about responsible innovation. The Frankenstein200 kit, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation and available through the National Informal STEM Educators Network, explores three important questions: What is life? Why do we create? And what are our responsibilities as creators, scientists and engineers? 

This workshop, presented by Indiana Humanities and the Indiana State Museum as part of One State / One Story: Frankenstein, taught informal, classroom, or college science educators how to integrate these activities into their classroom, museum, science center or library.

The hands-on workshop was co-led by Mel Fox, Ph.D., Science and Innovation Program Manager at the Indiana State Museum and Megan Telligman, Manager of Frankenstein Programs at Indiana Humanities.