Concept
The user must decide whether the image displayed on the screen represents
something that contains DNA or something that does not. They make their
decision by swatting the appropriate button.
Physical interface
The exhibit will look like an old shed and workbench and will be covered
with the type of things you might expect to find on a shed cupboard, including
a fly, a cockroach, a hammer and a nail. Each of these things is sitting
on a button.
Interaction
The user will be presented with a start screen saying "all life contains DNA, swat something to start."
After they have swatted the first button there is a screen saying "LIFE = DNA......prepare to swat" with a 3 sec countdown and then the game begins.
The user is presented with an image and told what buttons to swat in
order to answer correctly.
For the first question they are given 10 sec to answer (however as
soon as they swat something it moves on), the next 9 sec the next 8 sec
etc until they are down to one sec to answer, the next 5 questions after
that will be one sec until it gets to question 15 when it will drop by
.1 sec per question until the person gets the question wrong or does not
answer in time.
At that point they will be presented with a screen saying something like, "surprise surprise - there really is DNA in pumpkin because it used to be a living plant" or "believe it or not, there is no DNA in snot as it has never been alive" or "well as it happens no-one is really sure whether there is DNA in tooth enamel - have another go" (each of these responses would have to be tied to an image, so there would be as many responses as there are images) and they are then shown how many questions they got correct and what place they are in compared to all the other users of the exhibit, eg "you answered 15 questions correctly which puts you in 10th place overall - you are DN Average or DN Awful or DN Amazing or DN Astonishing.
(All of the above is just to continue to reinforce the point of the activity without (hopefully) undermining its fun-ness.)
The questions will also become progressively more difficult eg the first ones may be an apple, a person, a brick, a nail, then they could progress to leather, saliva, tooth enamel etc.
Information provided by exhibit
This exhibit reinforces the fact that all organisms contain DNA.