UM FHS academics promote science literacy for local high school students

Senior Instructor Weiwei LIU and Associate Professor Chris Koon Ho WONG of the Faculty Health Sciences (FHS), the University of Macau (UM) delivered the science talks “Sleep for your health” and “Do your genes determine everything about you?” to Form 5 and Form 4 students of Escola Xin Hua  respectively. The science talks exposed the students to new ideas and perspectives, thereby encouraging their growth of new understandings.

Dr. Weiwei LIU introduced the importance of sleep, sleep duration requirements at different ages, sleep cycle, factors influencing the sleep, the symptoms of sleep deprivation, etc. to the students. The students were concerned that they did not meet the minimum requirement of sleep duration and how they could obtain good sleep quality. They were amazed that sleep is a restorative activity but accumulating sleep deficit makes it harder to catch up on sleep and increase the likelihood of sleep deprivation symptoms.

Prof. Chris Koon Ho WONG elicited students’ prior knowledge in asking them if their genes shape their entire lives. He oriented the students how genes play an important role in determining their traits, which are features or characteristics that are inherited from parents and determine everything from whether an animal walks on four legs or two, to one’s potential risk for disease. Prof. Wong concluded his talk that studying human genetics was a practical value for human welfare and the key to unlock the mysteries of human existence, but genes were not the destiny. Identical twins showed that the environment, living habits, lifestyles and other unknown variables would also shape who we are.

Prof. Wong and Dr. Liu also shared the updated faculty development, the curricula of the programmes, career prospects and the different learning opportunities offered by FHS. They invited the students to visit and learn more about FHS for exploring new options of their future.