Standards
SC.912.L.16.10 Evaluate the impact of biotechnology on the individual, society and the environment, including medical and ethical issues.
SC.912.N.1.1 Define a problem based on a specific body of knowledge, for example: biology, chemistry, physics, and earth/space science, and do the following:
Pose questions about the natural world,
Articulate the purpose of the investigation and identify the relevant scientific concepts.
Examine books and other sources of information to see what is already known,
Review what is known in light of empirical evidence, (Examine whether available empirical evidence can be interpreted in terms of existing knowledge and models, and if not, modify or develop new models).
Plan investigations, (Design and evaluate a scientific investigation).
Use tools to gather, analyze, and interpret data (this includes the use of measurement in metric and other systems, and also the generation and interpretation of graphical representations of data, including data tables and graphs), (Collect data or evidence in an organized way. Properly use instruments, equipment, and materials (e.g., scales, probeware, meter sticks, microscopes, computers) including set-up, calibration, technique, maintenance, and storage).
Pose answers, explanations, or descriptions of events,
Generate explanations that explicate or describe natural phenomena (inferences),
Use appropriate evidence and reasoning to justify these explanations to others,
Communicate results of scientific investigations, and
Evaluate the merits of the explanations produced by others.
SC.912.N.1.3 Recognize that the strength or usefulness of a scientific claim is evaluated through scientific argumentation, which depends on critical and logical thinking, and the active consideration of alternative scientific explanations to explain the data presented.
SC.912.N.1.4 Identify sources of information and assess their reliability according to the strict standards of scientific investigation.
SC.912.N.1.6 Describe how scientific inferences are drawn from scientific observations and provide examples from the content being studied.
SC.912.N.2.1 Identify what is science, what clearly is not science, and what superficially resembles science (but fails to meet the criteria for science).
SC.912.N.2.2 Identify which questions can be answered through science and which questions are outside the boundaries of scientific investigation, such as questions addressed by other ways of knowing, such as art, philosophy, and religion.
SC.912.N.3.1 Explain that a scientific theory is the culmination of many scientific investigations drawing together all the current evidence concerning a substantial range of phenomena; thus, a scientific theory represents the most powerful explanation scientists have to offer.
SC.912.N.3.4 Recognize that theories do not become laws, nor do laws become theories; theories are well supported explanations and laws are well supported descriptions.
Vocabulary
Bioethics - study of ethical, social, and legal issues in biology
Cloning - creating an exact replica of a living creature
Gel Electrophoresis - Uses an electrical field to separate pieces of protein, DNA or RNA based on size
Genetic Engineering - using laboratory technology to alter the genetic make up of an organism
Plasmid - Small, normally circular, piece of genetic material, normally found in Prokaryotes
Polymerase Chain Reaction - Using the enzyme polymerase this method isolates a specific gene and then multiplies it over and over again for study
Recombinant DNA - DNA that has been artificially completed or filled in using other species or DNA splicing
Restriction Enzymes - Enzymes that can cut DNA at specific locations
Transformation - Process where prokaryotes take up free DNA and incorporate it into their own Genome
Bias - Prejudice in favor of a specific outcome or concept
Control - Used for comparison purposes, does not have the independent variable
Data - Facts and statistics collected during an experiment to analyze the effectiveness of an experiment
Dependent Variable - The variable we measure to see if the independent variable caused a change
Evidence - information, facts, or data that supports a premise
Hypothesis - If/Then statement. It is the proposed explanation for why a phenomenon is happening
Independent Variable - The variable being changed in the experience and being experimented on
Inference - Conclusion drawn from evidence obtained through experimentation
Law - Statement of an observable phenomenon that is predictable and ever occurring
Observation - Used to collect data in an experiment
Qualitative - Type of observation that relies on the five senses to gather
Quantitative - Type of observation that relies on numbers and data
Scientific Method - multiple methods that are used for performing scientific experimentation
Theory - Attempt to explain why or how a phenomenon occurs
Trend - Describes the general direction or change in variables in a data set.
Biotechnology: A History
Genetic Engineering
Cloning
Gel Electrophoresis
Nature of Science
Casual vs. Scientific Theory
Theory vs. Law
Observation vs. Inference