Plasmids, restriction enzymes, ligase, transformation, protein expression.
What to do if absent- 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 — you open it through Schoology.
Week overview - Building a Gene Factory: Cloning Basics
Use restriction enzymes, ligase, and transformation steps to plan how a gene is cloned into a plasmid and expressed.
- 1Open the virtual cloning task in the PLTW course shell and read the workflow map before you start cutting.
- 2Put on goggles and gloves, then set up your cloning workstation with the provided plasmid and insert models.
- 3Use the restriction-enzyme step to cut both the plasmid and the gene insert at matching sites.
- 4Use ligase to join the insert into the plasmid and write one sentence on what ligase actually does.
- 5Model transformation by moving your recombinant plasmid into the host cell and note how you would select successful cells.
- 6Predict whether the gene will be expressed and write one line of evidence using the word expression.
- • You'll be able to describe how restriction enzymes and ligase build recombinant DNA.
- • You'll be able to explain what transformation does in cloning.
- • You'll be able to predict gene expression from a cloning plan.
Daily lessons this week
Open any day for its full lesson, the work due that day, and guided notes.
Written final stance on engineered-protein access and pricing, plus a one-sentence rebuttal to the opposing strongest argument.
Labeled cloning-tools diagram showing restriction enzyme cuts, sticky ends, gene insertion, and ligase sealing to form recombinant DNA.
Cloning and purification workflow data table recording transformation results, selection counts, fraction data, yield, and a quality observation.
Annotated notes tracing transcription and translation of the inserted gene, two yield-affecting conditions, and one piece of expression evidence from sample data.
Completed cloning workflow quiz using plasmid, ligase, transformation, and expression vocabulary with correctly ordered workflow steps.
Quick intro to the week
- Today matters because cloning a gene is how labs make insulin, vaccines, and the proteins that save lives.
- Goal for today: run the cloning workflow from cut to transformation and predict whether your gene will express.
- Tie back to Monday's allocation debate by asking who benefits when a protein can be mass-produced cheaply.
- Upload your cloning workflow and prediction to the PLTW course shell, where the grade is recorded.
Your PLTW coursework this week
Do this: Advance the Unit 4 cloning benchmark by submitting your completed cloning workflow and expression prediction in the PLTW course shell.
- • Restriction enzymes cut DNA at specific sites so an insert and plasmid can join.
- • Ligase seals the insert into the plasmid to form recombinant DNA.
- • Transformation moves the recombinant plasmid into a host cell for expression.
- • Sequence the steps of cloning a gene into a plasmid.
- • Predict whether a cloned gene will be expressed.
📋 Tracker evidence due this week: your completed virtual cloning workflow and expression prediction posted in the PLTW course shell.
All PLTW activities are completed inside the PLTW course environment — this page only gives direction.
This week's PLTW tracker
Your week at a glance. Check off each deliverable as you finish it, then submit so Mr. Mendoza can see how the class is pacing.
Use the code Mr. Mendoza gave you, not your name. Saved on this device.
| Day | Date | Focus | Key deliverable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Thu, Nov 19 | Engineered-protein debate | Written final stance on engineered-protein access and pricing, plus a one-sentence rebuttal to the opposing strongest argument. |
| Tuesday | Fri, Nov 20 | Plasmids and enzymes | Labeled cloning-tools diagram showing restriction enzyme cuts, sticky ends, gene insertion, and ligase sealing to form recombinant DNA. |
| Wednesday | Mon, Nov 23 | Cloning and purification workflow | Cloning and purification workflow data table recording transformation results, selection counts, fraction data, yield, and a quality observation. |
| Thursday | Tue, Nov 24 | Protein expression | Annotated notes tracing transcription and translation of the inserted gene, two yield-affecting conditions, and one piece of expression evidence from sample data. |
| Friday | Mon, Nov 30 | Cloning workflow quiz | Completed cloning workflow quiz using plasmid, ligase, transformation, and expression vocabulary with correctly ordered workflow steps. |
- M: engineered protein debate
- T: recombinant DNA flow
- W: shortened-day cloning check
- Th: expression notes
- F: workflow quiz
Due by week's end: Cloning workflow quiz.
Lab day — what to bring & watch
This explainer accompanies the PLTW lab protocol — watch it before lab.
What to do when absent
Most days, this class is your PLTW coursework — and PLTW is online and individual. So being out usually just means doing exactly what we did in class, from home.
Open Schoology (CMSD) and keep goingHow to get there: open the CMSD website, click Clever, sign in with your Microsoft (district) account, then open Schoology from Clever.
You can't do those from home — do this instead: Virtual cloning.
Class still runs. A substitute will post today's plan — complete the online activity above; it's built to be self-guided. Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
Genetic Science Learning Center: CloningVocabulary
Teacher-posted resources
Classroom documents for this lesson. Ones marked “Open the file” open right here; the rest are posted in Schoology. Use the label on each card to choose the right move.
Use this if you were absent, got stuck, or need another pass before you submit the lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Recombinant DNA and cloning workflow by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-4_When-Organs-Fail/4.1_Manufacturing-Human-Proteins; keywords:transformation, pglo. Score 142. 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 Recombinant DNA and cloning workflow by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-4_When-Organs-Fail/4.1_Manufacturing-Human-Proteins; keywords:transformation, pglo. 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 Recombinant DNA and cloning workflow by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-4_When-Organs-Fail/4.1_Manufacturing-Human-Proteins; keywords:transformation, pglo. Score 138. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
How to get there: open the CMSD website, click Clever, sign in with your Microsoft (district) account, then open Schoology from Clever.
Standards this week
WebXam practice
Drop your Week 16 here. Use a clear file name (your initials + project). Routine work still goes to Schoology (via the CMSD portal).
Upload a project