Events

Bacterial Transformation & Protein Purification for All Levels of Students!

On Saturday November 3, 2018 twenty-eight teachers from across the bay gathered to get a sneak-peak of our new NGSS update to this introductory biotech activity for all levels of students. Attendees were excited about the variety of offerings for this lab. BABEC now offers two approaches to bacterial transformation: an introductory version where GFP gene is always “on”, and an advanced version that required induction with arabinose.  We are also offering several new colors to liven up the party!  See the new curricula here. 

The workshop was taught by Elizabeth Doggett, who teaches biology and biotechnology at San Mateo High School.  She walked attendees through the process of building a model and explain the phenomenon for how recombinant DNA
technology works in a simple and approachable way.

Feedback from teachers after the workshop:

“Really appreciate the language scaffolds”
“Like the use of NGSS SEPs and anchoring phenomena and teacher guidelines for timing”
“Great job making curricula that is accessible for ALL students!  Can’t wait to do the scientific modeling!”
“Very student-friendly updates to the curriculum and student handouts”
“I really appreciated the model as an assessment of understanding”
“Not only was the new lesson more manageable for me as a teacher, but it is also more accessible to a lot of students at different academic ability”
“I really like the improvements on the labs – much better for EL students”