THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN OUR VIrtual BIOTECHNOLOGY FIELD TRIPS PROGRAM. OUR LABS WILL BE UNDERGOING A MAJOR RENOVATION, STARTING IN EARLY 2024. THIS MEANS THAT OUR virtual FIELD TRIP PROGRAM IS SUSPENDED FOR MOST OF, IF NOT ALL OF, SEMESTER II. ONCE THIS PROJECT IS COMPLETED, OUR LABS WILL BE EQUIPPED WITH STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY AND EQUIPMENT.
WE ARE SCHEDULING virtual FIELD TRIPS DURING SEMESTER I, AND WE may be able to coordinate virtual talks depending on your area of interest SECOND SEMESTER.
ASK TO JOIN OUR TEACHER EMAIL LIST FOR UPDATES OR CONTACT AIDAN HOLMES FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS. THANKS!
virtual biotechnology field trips
Geared to middle, high school and college students and their teachers, Virtual Biotechnology Field Trips are designed as one-hour Google Meet sessions. The associated fees are: $80/hour for 5-30 students OR $120/hour for 31-100 students. Supported by instructors, students are able to immerse themselves in the concepts of biotechnology. The standard format will include some combination of background information, lab demonstrations, live discussion, and extension activities. Field trips may be scheduled T-Th between the hours of 9am – 4pm.
current offerings
Components that can be included to customize your virtual field trips are listed below. Each component would take ~15 minutes and we will add resources (often drawn from content provided for our prior in-person programs) for each component to this site as they are finalized. Please complete our Plan Your Field Trip form to let us know what works for you and your students!
Bioluminescence/genetic transformation
- Introduction/discussion about what bioluminescence is and how it is used
- Paper activity on genetic transformation basics
- Virtual activity on genetic transformation basics
- Virtual laboratory demonstration of a genetic transformation
- Bioluminescence careers / discussion
- Promega’s Celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the Luciferase Reporter Assay
- Amy Prevost’s bioluminescence blog for Promega Connections
*NEW* DNA & Principles of Gel Electrophoresis
- Introduction to DNA structure
- Virtual laboratory demonstration of agarose gel electrophoresis
- Hands-on pencil and paper activity
- Jamboard electrophoresis
Immunology
- Immunology background
- Virtual demonstration of antibody (protein) isolation
- Virtual demonstration of protein detection with antibodies
- Troubleshooting Immunology results
- Virology videos
Restriction Enzyme (RE) Digestion
- RE background and discovery
- Paper activity of RE digestion connected to our lab results
- Virtual laboratory demonstration and explanation of reagents
- Troubleshooting RE digestion results
- Real life applications of RE
Regardless of which experience you select, as noted above, the fees are: $80/hour for 5-30 students OR $120/hour for 31-100 students, unrecorded (see also: Cancellation Policy). Again, please complete our Plan Your Field Trip form to let us know what works for you and your students – thanks!
please note:
In addition to our Virtual Biotechnology Field Trips, we are still offering laboratory background information (see BFT offerings), Virtual Teacher Meets, 3-part COVID-19 series, and resources for biotechnology education.