BMC students Shehryar Saharan and Xingyu (Michie) Wu were inspired by the Pokémon collecting cards they grew up with during the initial wave of last year’s COVID-19 lockdown. The opportunity to collaborate with their classmates and professors, as well as to apply what they were learning in class in new and innovative ways, was invaluable.
According to Ms. Wu, “I have always loved science and art, and I have always hoped to find a career where I could combine the two.” It was a “lightbulb moment” for her when she discovered BMC, but she very literally stumbled onto it while studying for a bachelor of science at U of T Mississauga’s Mississauga campus.
On one floor of the BMC program, “there was this incredible scientific artwork all over the walls,” she remarked. As a result, “Oh wow! This is exactly what I need to do,” I found out about it.
Ms. Wu, Mr. Saharan, and seven other students each choose a different animal, plant, or molecule from the natural world and decided how they would depict it in their artwork. The SciCards, like Pokémon cards, highlight a distinctive characteristic of each creature and describe it in greater detail on the reverse, as well as statistics on each Pokémon, including their unique powers.
He chose a panther chameleon, which can change color by altering the spacing of reflective crystals on its skin. It was drawn in carbon dust, and then inverted to give it the illusion of night vision.
She used the style of official Pokémon imagery to illustrate her sea slug, creating a cartoonish depiction of its murky underwater environment.
Like Pokémon, each SciCard gives the monster an assigned number of hit points. The chameleon of Saharan received a score of 48 in the AP Exam. With its “poisoned fingers,” says Ms. Wu, “it actually injects you with venom,” the Blue Dragon Sea Slug was ranked at 58.
As well as the Pistol Shrimp (which can shoot high-velocity bubbles), seven other students donated cards depicting other animals and plants from throughout the world (a flightless bird with dagger-like claws and a dangerous kick).
Wong and Saharan hope that the cards might become an annual tradition at BMC, and they aim to include them in new students’ welcome packets.
There may perhaps be other practical applications for this technology. Mr. Saharan opined, “We see something like this being incredibly valuable in high school or even basic education classes. Students who are just beginning to learn about the animal kingdom could benefit from making these concepts more interactive by trading them or making them into a game.
