Lesson Plans for Option B - Biotechnology and bioinformatics

The ideas for learning activities on this page cover the IB guide for this topic. There is a mix of laboratory work, theory lessons, and assessment materials with model answers.

	Microbiology: in industry - planning sheet B1 This simple sheet sets out the learning objectives, essential questions and some ideas for assessment for the following activities.
	Fermentation Time: 1 hour Students get an opportunity to consider data from a set of fermentation experiments and to analyse the importance of the different elements in the process.
	Biotechnology in agriculture - planning sheet B2 This simple sheet sets out the learning objectives, essential questions and some ideas for assessment for the following activities.
	Cryptic messages - bioinformatics introduction Time: 1 hour  Before looking at database searches using BLAST or FASTA and the six different ORFs it is important for students to have an understanding of the terminology used in the databases of protein structures and genetic code.  This activity uses a 'geeky' cryptic message to introduce students to amino acids, their three letter codes single letter codes as well as protein structures and DNA sequences.
	Open reading frame (ORF) activity Time: 1 hour  The concept of Open Reading Frames seems quite complex at first, but this activity with it's practial approach helps students to understand the idea that reading DNA from a position one base later will give a totally different protein. Through the example of green fluorescent protein students learn how biologists use informatics to help locate new genes of interest which is important in the development of new breeds and varieties.
	Environmental protection - planning sheet B3 This simple sheet sets out the learning objectives, essential questions and some ideas for assessment for the following activities
	Examples of environmental remediation by micro-organisms Time: 1 hour Students study a range of different metia reports to evaluate the data within and to illustrate the examples of the uses of microorganisms in these cases.
	Medicine - planning sheet B4 This simple sheet sets out the learning objectives, essential questions and some ideas for assessment for the following activities
	Microarrays & Biopharming Time: 1 hour  This activity begins with an interesting case study of the powerful analytical capability which microarrays bring to medicine. Not only is the prospect of personalised medicine very exciting but so in the future of biopharming.
	Bioinformatics - planning sheet B5 This simple sheet sets out the learning objectives, essential questions and some ideas for assessment for the following activities
	Introducing the use of protein databases Time 1 hour  This is an inquiry based activity where student use online databases to identify a couple of polypeptides and to investigate their occurance in proteins in different species and their function.