Wet ELISA lab
Safety gate · before any work
- Goggles and gloves go on before any reagent tube or plate is opened and stay on until every well, tip, and spill is cleaned up.
- The stop solution is a dilute acid (commonly sulfuric or phosphoric acid) and is corrosive: add it only when the procedure says to, keep it off skin, eyes, and clothing, and if the reagent SDS calls for it, dispense it in a fume hood or well-ventilated area.
- Treat every antigen sample and antibody reagent as potentially biohazardous: use a fresh disposable tip for each transfer, never pipette by mouth, and never reuse a tip between wells or you will cross-contaminate and ruin your controls.
Do now
Run a real ELISA with positive and negative controls and record the color result for each well.
- Hand in
- Wet ELISA data table: well ID, reagent added, color result; control validation note; plate photograph.
- Where
- Turn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not.
You get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
Can your lab group run a real in the correct order, hit the times, and read controls that actually match the predictions you made yesterday?
Run a real with positive and negative controls and record the color result for each well.
- • You will be able to run an following a procedure safely.
- • You will be able to record well colors accurately.
- • You will be able to check controls to validate a run.
- Before you add anything, why does adding reagents out of order ruin an even if you use the right amounts?
- What two colors are you predicting for your positive and wells, and why?
- 1Put on goggles and gloves and confirm your plate layout matches your plan.
- 2Add reagents to each well in the correct order, keeping controls separate.
- 3Wait the required times exactly as written in the procedure.
- 4Add the detection reagent and record the color that develops in every well.
- 5Photograph the plate next to your layout sheet for your portfolio.
- 6Note whether your positive and negative controls matched your predictions.
What did this day actually feel like?
Wet ELISA lab
LAB Actual plate, actual pipettes, actual colour change. My hands were not steady and my volumes were not consistent for the first row, which you can see in the data.
A group near us had a negative control turn positive and had to discard the whole plate. He was almost pleased about it, because they caught it. The dangerous version is the group that never runs a control.
Turned in: data table → Data Tables folder
Fiction. There is no such student. The lessons, labs and dates are the real planned course; the student, the classmates and the conversations are invented.
The same day, drawn.
Actual plate, actual pipettes, actual colour change. My hands were not steady and my volumes were not consistent for the first row, which you can see in the data.
MR. MENDOZA
Good. You caught it. The dangerous version is the group that never ran a control.
Fiction. There is no such student. The lessons, labs and dates are the real planned course; the student, the classmates and the conversations are invented.
🛠 Get unstuck · pick your level
Lab day: Tier 1 is the whole class at the bench. No extension today.
🔑 Today's words · 5
Tap a word in the lesson for a plain meaning and one example. Recycled into next week's Do-Now.
Do the work · 80-minute blockfirst 5 min = hook▸
💡 Big idea: works only when steps run in exact order and timing, because each layer must bind before the next so that the final color measures and not error.
- 0-8 minDon goggles and gloves; confirm plate layout matches Tuesday's plan before opening any reagent
- 8-25 minAdd reagents to each well in the correct order per the numbered procedure; keep controls in their designated wells
- 25-45 minWait period exactly as written; do not disturb the plate; record start time
- 45-58 minAdd detection reagent; observe and record color in every well as it develops
- 58-68 minPhotograph the plate next to the layout sheet; save image to portfolio folder
- 68-80 minNote whether controls matched predictions; write one sentence validating (or flagging) the run
- • This is the most technically demanding day of the unit; every step you practiced Tuesday exists to make this run succeed.
- • Real clinical runs in a hospital lab follow the same sequence you are about to use.
- • Work slowly and methodically; speed kills accuracy in wet lab work.
- • Exit goal: a complete and a photographed plate with both controls validated.
- • steps must be performed in exact order; adding reagents out of sequence destroys the binding chain and invalidates results.
- • times are critical: too short and binding is incomplete; too long and background signal builds up.
- • Checking controls immediately after the run tells you whether to trust any of the other results.
Reading qualitative vs. quantitative color results; false positive/negative risk; control logic. · Wet lab
Day 3 of this lesson. Open this exact section in myPLTW (find it in Clever, Microsoft sign-in), then do the work below.
Do this: Open Activity 1.1.5 (protocol and results) in myPLTW and follow the wet-lab protocol to run your ELISA today.
Record color results for every well and note whether your positive and negative controls matched predictions.
Plate-layout plan should be done (Tuesday); well-color data recorded and photographed today.
Plate photo and color-result in notebook and portfolio folder.
The official PLTW activity stays inside myPLTW. If myPLTW will not open, use F1 and E1-E3 on this page to complete today's local evidence decision, then make up the official activity when access returns. Turn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not.
Check things off as you work, then submit. This tells Mr. Mendoza how you're doing so he can help the class. It does not replace turning in your producible through the submission route shown below.
Use the code Mr. Mendoza gave you, not your name. Saved on this device.
Reading qualitative vs. quantitative color results; false positive/negative risk; control logic. · Wet ELISA lab
Open Activity 1.1.5 (protocol and results) in myPLTW and follow the wet-lab protocol to run your ELISA today.
Plate-layout plan should be done (Tuesday); well-color data recorded and photographed today.
This is how Mr. Mendoza sees the class keeping pace with PLTW. Be honest, it only helps if it is accurate.
🎯 Run a real with positive and negative controls and record the color result for each well.
- Put on goggles and gloves and confirm your plate layout matches your plan.
- Add reagents to each well in the correct order, keeping controls separate.
- Wait the required times exactly as written in the procedure.
- Add the detection reagent and record the color that develops in every well.
- Photograph the plate next to your layout sheet for your portfolio.
- Note whether your positive and negative controls matched your predictions.
Data table: Wet : well ID, reagent added, color result; control validation note; plate photograph.
Turn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not. Use the checklist just below and upload by 11:29 PM for full credit. Absent with an excused absence? You get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
| Task | Who |
|---|---|
| Put on goggles and gloves and confirm your plate layout matches your plan. | _______ |
| Add reagents to each well in the correct order, keeping controls separate. | _______ |
| Wait the required times exactly as written in the procedure. | _______ |
| Add the detection reagent and record the color that develops in every well. | _______ |
| Photograph the plate next to your layout sheet for your portfolio. | _______ |
| Note whether your positive and negative controls matched your predictions. | _______ |
Working solo? Put your own name in "Who" for every row.
- You will be able to run an following a procedure safely.
- You will be able to record well colors accurately.
- You will be able to check controls to validate a run.
- 1Do thisRun a real ELISA with positive and negative controls and record the color result for each well.
- 2Use this resource
- 3Submit thisData table: Wet ELISA data table: well ID, reagent added, color result; control validation note; plate photograph.
- 4Submit it here
- 1Open the drop folder.
- 2Sign in with your district Microsoft account, not a personal one.
- 3Upload the file, named Lastname_Firstname__Assignment Title.
- 4Your own upload panel says Uploaded with a green check: that is your receipt.
Turn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not. Genetics of Disease (Medical Interventions) › Reading qualitative vs. quantitative color results; false positive/negative risk; control logic. › Data tableOpen the drop folder
Learn it · deck, reading, and vocabulary▸
The deck carries the prior idea forward, lets you inspect an analogy, maps the rule to biology, and ends with the same evidence decision and exit ticket used on this page.
Generated from this lesson's canonical data with a red-team citation check.
Every diagnostic test trades false positives against false negatives, so the ethical choice is not a perfect test but the error the clinical context can most afford.
works only when steps run in exact order and timing, because each layer must bind before the next so that the final color measures and not error.
An airport checkpoint uses several imperfect checks before deciding what action to take.
- What can each check detect?
- What might create a false alarm?
- Why is one result not always enough?
A decision is stronger when the test fits the question and its limits are known.
Medical decisions also depend on biology, patient context, ethics, and professional judgment.
- • Checkpoint evidence maps to E1-E3.
- • False alarms map to test limitations.
- • The response maps to the justified next intervention or test.
Driving question: Can your lab group run a real in the correct order, hit the times, and read controls that actually match the predictions you made yesterday?
What you already know: Every diagnostic test trades false positives against false negatives, so the ethical choice is not a perfect test but the error the clinical context can most afford.
New idea: works only when steps run in exact order and timing, because each layer must bind before the next so that the final color measures and not error.
Visual or model: F1. F1. A lesson illustration or teaching diagram for Wet ELISA lab. Use it with E1-E3; it is a model or context image, not experimental or patient data. What to notice: Trace the labeled testing, treatment, or biological process and identify where evidence limits the decision.
- Observe or measure the relevant feature in Wet lab.
- Organize the observation with a stable evidence ID.
- Apply this rule: A decision is stronger when the test fits the question and its limits are known.
- Choose the option the evidence supports and state the limit of the conclusion.
Real biomedical example: Can your lab group run a real in the correct order, hit the times, and read controls that actually match the predictions you made yesterday?
What the evidence supports: E1-E3 and F1 support the daily take-home when the response meets the stated success criteria.
What it cannot prove: The package does not support claims beyond this lesson's or any real patient diagnosis.
- • : A sample known to produce a result, included in an experiment to confirm that the test is working correctly.
- • : A sample in an experiment expected to show no effect, used as a baseline to confirm that any result in the test sample is real.
- • specificity: A test's ability to correctly identify people who do not have a condition, giving few false positives.
- • sensitivity: A test's ability to correctly identify people who truly have a disease, measured as the share of real cases that the test flags as positive.
- • : The first added in a test that binds directly to the target molecule, marking it so it can be detected later.
- • : An that binds to a and carries a tag, such as a dye or , to make the target visible in a test.
Use it now: Choose one decision option. Cite E1 and E3, then explain how the rule connects the evidence to your choice.
Go further, optional: The source links below are optional enrichment. Every fact required for today's local evidence decision appears in this lesson package.
steps must be performed in exact order; adding reagents out of sequence destroys the binding chain and invalidates results.
Limit: E1 supplies context or an observation; it does not by itself establish the explanation.
works only when steps run in exact order and timing, because each layer must bind before the next so that the final color measures and not error.
Limit: E2 is a teaching statement or comparison and must be checked against the task evidence.
You will be able to run an following a procedure safely.
Limit: E3 supports only the result or product criterion named here; it cannot justify a broader clinical or causal claim.
PLTW-GEND-2026-09-22 · Simulated classroom evidence scenario
Your role: medical interventions team member
Decision: Your team must decide what the evidence from Wet lab supports before submitting the labeled and result claim named on the lesson page.
- • Proceed because the readiness evidence is complete.
- • Pause and correct the named setup or gap.
- • Repeat the measurement because quality controls are not acceptable.
Response: State one choice, cite at least two evidence IDs, explain the rule that connects them, and add one limitation. Submit it as the labeled and result claim.
Claim ceiling: The supplied lesson evidence can support an observation, pattern, classroom mechanism, or next-step decision about Wet lab. It cannot by itself prove causation, establish a real clinical diagnosis, or justify action outside this classroom task.
Reason for review: Your team must decide what the evidence from Wet lab supports before submitting the labeled and result claim named on the lesson page.
Context: In a binding-based the order and timing of steps build a physical chain, so precision is not fussiness; it is the difference between a valid result and colored noise.
- • T1: Put on goggles and gloves and confirm your plate layout matches your plan.
- • T2: Add reagents to each well in the correct order, keeping controls separate.
- • T3: Wait the required times exactly as written in the procedure.
- • T4: Add the detection reagent and record the color that develops in every well.
- • T5: Photograph the plate next to your layout sheet for your portfolio.
- • T6: Note whether your positive and negative controls matched your predictions.
- • E1: steps must be performed in exact order; adding reagents out of sequence destroys the binding chain and invalidates results.
- • E2: works only when steps run in exact order and timing, because each layer must bind before the next so that the final color measures and not error.
- • E3: You will be able to run an following a procedure safely.
Measurements: Use only the measurements, units, graph, or counts supplied in today's task. No additional patient measurement is implied.
Figure finding: Teaching diagram for Wet lab. Trace the labeled testing, treatment, or biological process and identify where evidence limits the decision. This is a teaching model, not patient or experimental data.
Uncertainty: This is a composite classroom scenario. Missing history, measurements, or confirmation tests remain unknown and limit the conclusion.
Mean = sum of values / number of values. Median = middle ordered value. Range = maximum - minimum.
For 2, 4, 4, and 10: mean = 20 / 4 = 5, median = 4, and range = 10 - 2 = 8.
Mean, median, and range keep the measurement unit. Order the values before finding the median.
Calculate the requested summary for today's supplied values, then write what it reveals and what it hides.
- • The solution must address the stated need in Wet lab.
- • The decision must be supported by E1-E3.
- • The final product must make the success criteria visible.
- • Complete the work inside the 80-minute block.
- • Use only supplied or teacher-approved materials and evidence.
- • Do not trade , accessibility, or privacy for speed.
- • and evidence quality: must pass before scoring other criteria.
- • User need and effectiveness: highest scored criterion.
- • Time, cost, and ease of use: compare only after and effectiveness pass.
Test evidence: For each option, record the E1-E3 result that supports or fails each criterion. Do not assign a score without a named observation.
- Version or option tested
- Criterion met or missed
- Evidence ID and result
- Revision made
- Reason for the revision
- Need and user
- Criteria and constraints
- Chosen option and evidence
- Test result
- Revision and reason
Students often think Students think that as long as all the right reagents end up in the well, the result will be correct, so order and timing are just suggestions.. The trap: is a stacked binding chain, so a reagent added out of sequence has nothing to bind to and the layer never forms; the well can look 'done' while measuring nothing real.
Control check: my positive control (A1) turned strong color and my negative control (A2) stayed clear, both matching my predictions, so I can trust this run.
Reading the samples: Patient sample 1 turned color (positive); Patient sample 2 stayed clear (negative).
Note: I added reagents in the exact order on my plan and kept the incubation times as written, which kept the binding chain intact.
| Well | Reagent added | Color result |
|---|---|---|
| A1 (pos control) | Antigen + detection | Strong color |
| A2 (neg control) | No antigen + detection | Clear |
| A3 (sample 1) | Sample 1 + detection | Color (positive) |
| A4 (sample 2) | Sample 2 + detection | Clear (negative) |
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: A recorded data table of each ELISA well with the reagent added and the color result, a note on whether the controls matched predictions, and a plate photograph.
- Name the variables and include units.
- Enter observations without changing the raw values.
- Check labels, calculations, and patterns before interpreting the data.
Keep the structure. Replace the question, facts, measurements, and evidence. Then recheck units, vocabulary, and whether the conclusion goes beyond the evidence.
Also due today: Bring data table to Thursday's analysis; upload plate photo to portfolio.
- CER:
- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning: make a claim, back it with evidence, explain your reasoning.
- SOP:
- Standard Operating Procedure, the exact steps to follow (especially in a lab).
- Tracker:
- Your PLTW progress log where you record completed evidence.
- myPLTW:
- The PLTW course site where you do the online activities. Find it in Clever with your Microsoft sign-in, right next to Schoology.
Tap the speaker to hear a term. Add two of these to your notebook glossary with a definition and an example in your own words.
Pick just 2 or 3 words from today and make them yours: write what each one means in your own words, name the context clue or evidence that helped, then give one example from what you actually did in Wet ELISA lab. Try your own words first; the glossary is there if you get stuck. This is voluntary and counts as extra credit, so keep it short.
Saved on this device. Show Mr. Mendoza or add these to your notebook glossary to claim the extra credit.
Classroom documents for this lesson are posted in Schoology. Open Clever, then Schoology, and find each one by the name shown on its card.
Open this when the class reaches this activity and use it to complete the required lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched lab, controls, diagnosis limits by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-1_How-to-Fight-Infection/1.1_The-Mystery-Infection; keywords:elisa, lab. Score 138. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Use this if you were absent, got stuck, or need another pass before you submit the lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched lab, controls, diagnosis limits by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-1_How-to-Fight-Infection/1.1_The-Mystery-Infection; keywords:elisa, lab. Score 138. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Open this when the class reaches this activity and use it to complete the required lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched lab, controls, diagnosis limits by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-1_How-to-Fight-Infection/1.1_The-Mystery-Infection; keywords:elisa, lab. Score 138. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
How to get there: open Clever and sign in with your Microsoft (district) account. Both myPLTW and Schoology are in Clever. Do the activity in myPLTW. Turn the work in on this site or hand it to Mr. Mendoza, because that is the step that counts as submitted. Schoology only shows your report-card grade later.
Check yourself · commit, then reveal▸
Claim ceiling for this check: The supplied lesson evidence can support an observation, pattern, classroom mechanism, or next-step decision about Wet lab. It cannot by itself prove causation, establish a real clinical diagnosis, or justify action outside this classroom task.
Your negative control well turned a strong color at the end of the run. Everything else looks as expected. What most likely happened, and can you still trust your patient wells?
Write an answer and pick a confidence to unlock the key.
Fast retrieval with instant answers, not the commit-then-reveal check above. Try each from memory first: write what you remember about the earlier units, then check yourself here.
Go further and get help▸
I can name the procedure's purpose and the evidence I will record. I can identify each named hazard and the control that reduces it: Goggles and gloves go on before any reagent tube or plate is opened and stay on until every well, tip, and spill is cleaned up. My data table is ready before materials are handled.
Finish the checklist before you handle any material.
- • Goggles and gloves go on before any reagent tube or plate is opened and stay on until every well, tip, and spill is cleaned up.
- • The stop solution is a dilute acid (commonly sulfuric or phosphoric acid) and is corrosive: add it only when the procedure says to, keep it off skin, eyes, and clothing, and if the reagent SDS calls for it, dispense it in a fume hood or well-ventilated area.
- • Treat every antigen sample and antibody reagent as potentially biohazardous: use a fresh disposable tip for each transfer, never pipette by mouth, and never reuse a tip between wells or you will cross-contaminate and ruin your controls.
- • If any reagent contacts skin or eyes, flush with water for 15 minutes, tell the teacher immediately, and check Section 4 of that reagent's SDS; wipe reagent spills on the bench with 10% bleach or the provided disinfectant.
- • Do not eat, drink, chew gum, or touch your face in the lab; when finished, put used tips, the plate, and waste in the labeled biohazard container, label any saved sample with your group code and not a student name, dispose of waste as directed, and wash your hands.
- 1Before materials are handled, identify the purpose, variables or comparison, controls, measurement units, and stop-work condition.
- 2Frame the question and set controls: state today's task, which of your assigned wells hold antigen-positive unknowns, and confirm your positive-control well (should develop color) and negative-control well (should stay clear) are placed exactly as planned Tuesday.
- 3Run the immunoassay: pipette antigen samples, primary antibody, and enzyme-linked secondary antibody into each well in the exact order given, changing the tip every transfer and holding the incubation times precisely so the binding chain forms only where antigen is present.
- 4Develop and read the signal: add substrate, then stop solution at the timed moment, and record the color intensity of every well (positive control, negative control, and each unknown) against your layout sheet, photographing the plate next to the sheet.
- 5Build a CER argument: make the claim of which unknown samples are antigen-positive, cite the well colors as evidence, and reason through why the positive control developing color and the negative control staying clear mean your color read-out can be trusted.
- 6Argue with another group: present your claim and evidence to a second lab group, question their controls and color calls (Did their negative control stay clear? Did they change tips every well?), and press them to defend any borderline well.
- 7Revise and validate: use the critique and your controls to revise or confirm your claim, then write one sentence declaring the run valid or flagging it (for example, a colored negative control means possible contamination and an untrustworthy result).
- 8Record each result in the prepared table before interpreting it. Mark missing, repeated, or invalid results truthfully.
- 9Complete the named cleanup and waste route, remove PPE safely, wash hands when required, and confirm the station is ready for the next group.
| Trial or sample ID | Independent condition | Measured result with units | Observation before interpretation | Quality-control note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Before you add substrate, predict the color read-out for every well on your layout sheet: mark what the positive control should look like (color develops), what the negative control should look like (stays clear), and your best guess for each unknown (positive = color, negative = clear). Note which one or two unknowns you expect to be antigen-positive and why.
After the stop solution goes in, record the actual color and rough intensity of every well next to your prediction, then compare: did the positive control develop color and the negative control stay clear? For each unknown, write whether the real color matched your prediction, and if any control disagreed with its expected color, flag the run as untrustworthy and give the likely reason (contamination, tip reuse, or a timing error).
What today's skills lead to. These are real health-science careers this course builds toward. Tap one to see, on the US Department of Labor's O*NET site, what the job actually involves, what it pays, and how fast it is growing.
If you miss the wet lab, complete a virtual simulation and interpret the teacher color dataset, then submit which samples were positive and how your controls validated the run.
learn.genetics (Utah) virtual labsThen submit your Data table. Turn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not.
Class still runs. Complete the online activity above (it's self-guided). Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
HHMI BioInteractive (preview; use fallback if blocked)- CompleteEvery required part of the artifact is present, nothing left blank.
- AccurateThe science and the data are correct and match the evidence.
- Scientific reasoningYou explain your claim with evidence and reasoning (CER), not just an answer.
- Professional communicationClear, organized, labeled, and written the way a clinician or scientist would.
- SubmittedTurned in the right way, on the class site or handed to Mr. Mendoza in class, and confirmed. Not in Schoology: that is where the report-card grade appears later.
- Error analysis and method · counts doubleName a specific limit of the method and how it moved your result, and compare what you predicted to what happened. "Human error" does not count; say what about the procedure or instrument caused it.