Hello everyone, I am a NY high school biology teacher. My classes are generally composed of freshman and sophomore students, many of whom seem to have lost (or hidden) that childhood curiosity for the world around them that was, at one time, so insatiable.
I teach at one of the specialized schools in NYC.
Students have to take an exam to qualify for admission, so I teach some of the brightest minds in the NY city area. Our students excel at math and the sciences, which are the core courses of the school, but they do not let this limit them. We have a thriving theater community, a school magazine and paper, both of which are printed monthly! And yet we are still a public school, limited in budget. There is no limit to what these students could accomplish if they had the materials available to them!
Which is why it is so sad that our school does not have money in the budget for pieces of common lab equipment. We’ve all seen an episode of CSI where the investigators use DNA samples to create pictures of DNA bands. These pictures are then matched up to evidence which can either free some prisoner or convict some suspect. Unfortunately, the supplies necessary to do these types of activities are not included in the school’s budget.
My Project
There is no better way to learn this cutting edge process than to solve an actual forensics investigation or to determine a baby’s paternity? Students will get to process DNA samples from a crime scene, prepare the DNA for testing, transfer the samples to a gel and get to see the fragments migrating through the medium! They will then be able to analyze the data to determine who was the perpetrator!
All I need to bring this experience to my students is the equipment, 1-10 microliter adjustable volume micropipettes – this is how the DNA will be transferred during lab. These are supplies that will be used by all 24 sections of freshman biology classes for years to come and will help to bring our students into the 21st century!! As you can see we need a large number of these pipettes – 9 for each of our 3 lab classrooms!
Biotechnology is one of the fastest growing fields and with your help my students will get a taste of what it would be like to work in this environment.
I want to be able to enrich students with a real lab experience that will help inspire them and truly bring their knowledge to life. But I need your help!
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