Last featured in the 03-15-2013 Scout Report, this resource from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute now includes Educator Tips. These brief video overviews explain how to integrate the lab into science classrooms, making this resource even more user-friendly for busy science teachers.
Created by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the Bacterial Identification Virtual Lab provides a great way to learn about the science and techniques used to identify different types of bacteria based on their DNA sequences. Visitors can enter the interactive "lab" and get started by preparing samples from a patient, copying the desired pieces of DNA, and then sequencing and analyzing DNA. The entire experience is quite interactive: visitors can record their observations in the Notebook area and also learn about the various samples, which were obtained from stool, lymph nodes, urine, and blood. Finally, there's the Reference area, which contains a glossary of terms, a list of tools in the lab, and an encyclopedia of selected bacteria and other pathogens. The lab and associated lesson activities are designed for high school and college students. Materials for educators, including a PDF worksheet, Google folder, and even an iOS app, can be found in the menu on the right side of the page linked above.
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