Students are able to turn milk into mozzarella cheese in one class period.  This is a great way to demonstrate lactic acid fermentation and the food making process- one of the original biotechnology examples!  Rennet can be purchased online, or you can talk to your local cheese plant to see if they will donate the small amount you will need.  Other ingredients are supplies can easily be purchased in your local grocery store.  

Explores the changing roles, ethical conflicts, and public perceptions of science and scientists in American society from World War II to the present. Studies specific historical episodes focusing on debates between scientists and the contextual factors influencing their opinions and decisions. Topics include the atomic bomb project, environmental controversies, the Challenger disaster, biomedical research, genetic engineering, (mis)use of human subjects, scientific misconduct and whistleblowing.

This course applies the tools of anthropology to examine biology in the age of genomics, biotechnological enterprise, biodiversity conservation, pharmaceutical bioprospecting, and synthetic biology. It examines such social concerns such as bioterrorism, genetic modification, and cloning. It offers an anthropological inquiry into how the substances and explanations of biology—ecological, organismic, cellular, molecular, genetic, informatic—are changing. It examines such artifacts as cell lines, biodiversity databases, and artificial life models, and using primary sources in biology, social studies of the life sciences, and literary and cinematic materials, and asks how we might answer Erwin Schrodinger’s 1944 question, “What Is Life?” today.

Students have the opportunity to read through a bioethical scenario related to biotechnology, then answer a few discussion questions related to the reading  I have students read one scenario on their own and highlight the FIVE most important ¨facts¨ of that scenario (I tell students there isn´t a wrong answer, they can highlight which ever pieces they feel are the most important from the reading- this allows different viewpoints to be demonstrated when they do the next part)  Then students get into a small group with others that read the same scenario.  They first discuss which items they each highlighted and what they thought about the article.  Next I hand out the discussion questions related to their reading passage and have the students answer the questions as a group.    For the last part of the discussion, I have students regroup so that each new group has ONE person from eaching reading passage.  Students share out a quick summary of their passage and then ask the new group if they think biotechnology should continue related to the information in the article.  If time permits, we have a whole class discussion about the ethics behind biotechnology and the different examples demonstrated in the reading passages.  

Students examine the structure and function of the human eye, learning some amazing features about our eyes, which provide us with sight and an understanding of our surroundings. Students also learn about some common eye problems and the biomedical devices and medical procedures that resolve or help to lessen the effects of these vision deficiencies, including vision correction surgery.

Human beings are fascinating and complex living organisms a symphony of different functional systems working in concert. Through a 10-lesson series with hands-on activities students are introduced to seven systems of the human body skeletal, muscular, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, sensory, and reproductive as well as genetics. At every stage, they are also introduced to engineers' creative, real-world involvement in caring for the human body.

In “The Biotech Game of Life,” which is similar to the Game of Life, each player is a scientist attempting to successfully bring his or her biotechnology product to the market. During the game, players will face many obstacles before obtaining a successful product and the first one to accomplish this wins. Below are the instructions, which provides more details on the game, and links to the game board and play money (pdf files). Note, that like the real thing, it is quite challenging to finish the game.To add more content to this activity, you can have students conduct reserach on their assigned ¨idea¨ from the beginning of the game.  I have them conduct the research and share out with their classmates about their topic BEFORE we start to play the game.  Additionally, at the end of the game, you can have them conduct research on regulations and trials currently impacting the biotechnology industry.  

Students analyze data about biotechnology using the skills assessed in the ACT Exam.  Students have to interpret the information in different types of data- tables and graphs.  Then they need to analyze the data that is given to them.

Students are introduced to the circulatory system, the heart, and blood flow in the human body. Through guided pre-reading, during-reading and post-reading activities, students learn about the circulatory system's parts, functions and disorders, as well as engineering medical solutions. By cultivating literacy practices as presented in this lesson, students can improve their scientific and technological literacy.

Students are introduced to the respiratory system, the lungs and air. They learn about how the lungs and diaphragm work, how air pollution affects lungs and respiratory functions, some widespread respiratory problems, and how engineers help us stay healthy by designing machines and medicines that support respiratory health and function.

The Case of the Crown Jewels has two parts:A classroom activity that allows students to explore how the unique sequence of bases in DNA can be used to identify individuals.A laboratory activity that allows students to use DNA restriction analysis to determine if one of the two suspects were at a fictitious crime scene.If you do not have electrophoresis lab equipment, you can just do the paper activity in Part 1 and still teach students about the different concepts related to DNA Fingerprinting.  

Students reinforce their knowledge that DNA is the genetic material for all living things by modeling it using toothpicks and gumdrops that represent the four biochemicals (adenine, thiamine, guanine, and cytosine) that pair with each other in a specific pattern, making a double helix. They investigate specific DNA sequences that code for certain physical characteristics such as eye and hair color. Student teams trade DNA "strands" and de-code the genetic sequences to determine the physical characteristics (phenotype) displayed by the strands (genotype) from other groups. Students extend their knowledge to learn about DNA fingerprinting and recognizing DNA alterations that may result in genetic disorders.

As a class, students work through an example showing how DNA provides the "recipe" for making our body proteins. They see how the pattern of nucleotide bases (adenine, thymine, guanine, cytosine) forms the double helix ladder shape of DNA, and serves as the code for the steps required to make genes. They also learn some ways that engineers and scientists are applying their understanding of DNA in our world.

To reinforce students' understanding of the human digestion process, the functions of several stomach and small intestine fluids are analyzed, and the concept of simulation is introduced through a short, introductory demonstration of how these fluids work. Students learn what simulation means and how it relates to the engineering process, particularly in biomedical engineering. The teacher demo requires vinegar, baking soda, water and aspirin.

DNA Interactive is a great website with interactive lessons about genetics, biotechnology and DNA. Created by the DNA Learning Center, the website allows students to learn the basics of DNA and genetic manipulation through interactive modules, articles and mini-games. Additionally, there are teacher lessons, activities and answer keys available on the website that can be modified to fit your curriculum.

Taking into consideration the outstanding importance of studying and applying the biological means to remove or mitigate the harmful effects of global pollution on the natural environment, as direct consequences of quantitative expansion and qualitative diversification of persistent and hazardous contaminants, the present book provides useful information regarding New Approaches and Prospective Applications in Environmental Biotechnology. This volume contains twelve chapters divided in the following three parts: biotechnology for conversion of organic wastes, biodegradation of hazardous contaminants and, finally, biotechnological procedures for environmental protection. Each chapter provides detailed information regarding scientific experiments that were carried out in different parts of the world to test different procedures and methods designed to remove or mitigate the impact of hazardous pollutants on environment. The book is addressed to researchers and students with specialties in biotechnology, bioengineering, ecotoxicology, environmental engineering and all those readers who are interested to improve their knowledge in order to keep the Earth healthy.

Since the discovery of the structure of the DNA double helix in 1953 by Watson and Crick, the information on detailed molecular structures of DNA and RNA, namely, the foundation of genetic material, has expanded rapidly. This discovery is the beginning of the "Big Bang" of molecular biology and biotechnology. In this seminar, students discuss, from a historical perspective and current developments, the importance of pursuing the detailed structural basis of genetic materials.

Students read a scientific article about a research study done in India about genetically modified cotton.  Upon finishing the article student answer a number of literacy based questions about the article to both assess their vocabulary and understanding of the content of the article.  This is a great quick assignment to allow students to practice literacy as well as introducing them to a higher level reading material.  

Students research and construct an oral debate about a topic related to Genetically Modified Organisms.

In this lab, gel electrophoresis will be used to separate the dyes present in different flavors of Kool-Aid. In a normal research setting, samples of various DNA, RNA, or proteins would be run on this type of system. However, in this lab, we will be substituting various flavors of Kool-Aid for the DNA samples.This experiment will introduce you to the basics of gel electrophoresis, introduction to color theory, and how the eye perceives color.Also a virtual lab has been included to allow students to perform electrophoresis online.  This can be a great introductory activity before doing the Kool-aid Lab or can be a substitution if you do not have electrophoresis equipment.You will need gel electrophoresis equipment to conduct the Kool Aid lab.