GENOMICS LEARNING JOURNEY
DNA & The Role of Biotech
Intermediate Activities & Discussion
INTERMEDIATE ACTIVITIES
�Recommended for all activities: access to a class computer to project videos, discussion and activity slides
CAREERS IN MEDICINE
Ask Group Questions:
Why would we care about biotech in medicine?
What biotech jobs do you think exist in the medical industry?
Watch this video that talks about biotech in medicine.
After video, ask:
What jobs did you see in the video? Compare it to the list you had previously created.
What skills do you think are important in the biotech industry?
What was an interesting fact that you learned from the video?
What do you want to learn more about?
WHAT IS SELECTIVE BREEDING? DISCUSSION
“[He] saved more lives than any person who has ever lived.”
What do you think this person did?
Dr. Norman Bourlag
WHAT IS SELECTIVE BREEDING? ACTIVITY
Your job is to create a powerful group of superheroes.
You have 15 minutes!
Why did you make your selections for each scenario?
What effects did your choice have on the population?
Your choices are what’s called selective breeding of genes.
Humans have been breeding plants and animals for millennia
WHAT IS SELECTIVE BREEDING? DISCUSSION
What do you think is the most important trait selected in animals? What about in plants?
Do you know other examples of genetically modified plants or animals?
What skills do you think would be valuable in this field?
Where would you work?
Can you research what careers exist today in genetics and agriculture?
BIOTECH & MICROBES DISCUSSION
What are microbes? What is an example of a microbe?
How are microbes used in environmental engineering?
How about in food?
Today you will be engineers analyzing a popular microbe.
Can you guess which one?
BIOTECH & MICROBES DISCUSSION
What’s your hypothesis?
Yeast thrive in cold water.
OR
Yeast thrive in warm/hot water.
As a scientist or engineer, it’s not enough to guess which statement we think is right. We have to prove it by conducting experiments.
BIOTECH & MICROBES ACTIVITY
For class: Fill one large tub with ice and the other with hot water from the tap.
In groups:
Fill 2 of your bottles with cold tap water, fill the 3rd bottle with hot tap water.
Place one of the cold water bottles in the ice tub and leave the other on the table. Place the hot water bottle in the hot water tub.
When the temperature of the bottle in ice reads 15 degrees Celsius you’re ready to start the next phase of your experiment!
BIOTECH & MICROBES ACTIVITY
Place 15 sugar cubes in each water bottle and shake.
Once the sugar has dissolved, add a packet of yeast in each bottle.
Cover the mouth of each bottle with a balloon. Use the rubber band to secure the balloon.
Let the containers sit and observe what happens. What do you notice?
BIOTECH & MICROBES ACTIVITY
Measure the circumference of the balloon for each bottle.
Do you notice any differences? Any similarities?
Why do you think this is happening?
So, what is the correct hypothesis?
How would this apply to using microbes in environmental engineering?