A Day in the Life: Exploring Biomanufacturing Careers
Author: | Lori Stroud |
Level: | Middle School |
Content Area: | Science, Biotechnology, Physics |
Author: | Lori Stroud |
Level: | Middle School |
Content Area: | Science, Biotechnology, Physics |
Microbes are living things that must be greatly magnified to be seen. Microbes can be bacteria, fungi and viruses. In biotechnology and biomanufacturing, these tiny, living cells are like miniature chemical factories that produce products such as amino acids, medicines, enzymes and food additives. In this lesson, students will learn the conditions that are required for yeast cells to grow. They will learn how to perform an important laboratory skill known as serial dilutions. They will use serial dilutions to dilute a yeast cell sample in order to culture it on media. Students will also learn aseptic techniques and observe living yeast cells on slides that they prepare.
Competencies and Objectives from Exploring Biotechnology
Competencies and Objectives from 8th Grade Science
This lesson will take four, forty five minute class periods. Each activity takes one class period to complete.
Each activity contains a chart of the materials that are needed for that activity.
Each activity lists any pre-activities or demonstrations that should be conducted.
The teacher may wish to load the Power Point presentation on a website or local school server and have the students navigate the lesson independently for homework in order to save class time.
The teacher may want to add narration to the Power Point if students are working independently in order to better assist students with reading disabilities.
If lab equipment and supplies are limited, the teacher may wish to conduct the experiments as a classroom demonstration.