GFP, chromatography, SDS-PAGE / gel interpretation, purity and QC.
Your PLTW coursework: Medical Interventions ▸ Unit 4: How to Prevail When Organs Fail ▸ Lesson 4.1 Manufacturing Human Proteins ▸ "Activity 4.1.3 Protein Purification"
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. Find it in Clever with your Microsoft sign-in, right next to Schoology.
Week overview - Glow and Purify: Protein Purification
Use and gel data to purify a GFP sample and judge its using markers and QC checks.
- 1Open the chromatogram and gel packet in the PLTW course shell and read the marker key before interpreting bands.
- 2Put on goggles and gloves, then load your GFP sample onto the column following the protocol.
- 3Collect fractions during and use the UV light to note which fractions glow with GFP.
- 4Run an SDS-PAGE gel and compare your sample lane to the ladder to estimate size.
- 5Decide which fraction is most pure and write one sentence of evidence using the words and QC.
- 6Record one quality-control note about what could go wrong and how you would catch it.
- • You'll be able to run a column to separate proteins.
- • You'll be able to read an SDS-PAGE gel against a .
- • You'll be able to judge using QC evidence.
Daily lessons this week
Open any day for its full lesson, the work due that day, and guided notes.
Short exit ticket defining and identifying one concrete risk of an impure medicine.
Labeled diagram showing binding, wash, , fraction collection, and GFP signal prediction.
Fraction-collection data sheet recording tube number, buffer applied, GFP signal (yes/no), and target-fraction labels plus one error-control note.
Annotated SDS-PAGE gel image with labeled marker lane, estimated size, band counts by fraction, most-pure fraction identified, and a QC statement.
- lab report with methods summary, fraction results with estimate, and QC conclusion citing gel evidence.
Quick intro to the week
- Today matters because a cloned gene is useless until you can pull the pure out of a messy cell soup.
- Goal for today: purify GFP, read your gel, and back a claim with quality-control evidence.
- Connect to the allocation debate by noting that pure, reliable proteins are part of fair access to medicine.
- Your chromatogram, gel reading, and QC note are graded in the PLTW course shell, so submit them there.
Your PLTW coursework this week
Do this: Advance the Unit 4 - benchmark by submitting your GFP claim with gel and QC evidence in the PLTW course shell.
- • separates proteins as they move and elute from a column.
- • SDS-PAGE sorts proteins by size, compared against a ladder.
- • and QC checks confirm a sample is mostly the target .
- • Interpret a chromatogram and an SDS-PAGE gel.
- • Judge using marker and QC evidence.
📋 Tracker evidence due this week: your GFP claim with chromatogram, gel reading, and QC note submitted to 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 | Tue, Dec 8 | Purification overview | Short exit ticket defining purity and identifying one concrete safety risk of an impure protein medicine. |
| Tuesday | Wed, Dec 9 | GFP and chromatography | Labeled chromatography diagram showing protein binding, wash, elution, fraction collection, and GFP signal prediction. |
| Wednesday | Thu, Dec 10 | Protein-purification lab | Fraction-collection data sheet recording tube number, buffer applied, GFP signal (yes/no), and target-fraction labels plus one error-control note. |
| Thursday | Fri, Dec 11 | SDS-PAGE gel results | Annotated SDS-PAGE gel image with labeled marker lane, estimated protein size, band counts by fraction, most-pure fraction identified, and a QC statement. |
| Friday | - | Protein purification lab report | Protein-purification lab report with methods summary, fraction results with purity estimate, and QC conclusion citing gel evidence. |
- M: medicine access debate
- T: purification notes
- W: chromatogram
- Th: gel results
- F: lab report
Due by week's end: Protein purification lab report.
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 Clever and sign in with your Microsoft (district) account. You will find both Schoology and myPLTW right there in Clever. Turn in your work on Schoology; do the online activities in myPLTW.
You can't do those from home: do this instead: Chromatogram / gel packet.
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: Genetics basics and proteinsVocabulary
Teacher-posted resources
Classroom documents for this lesson are posted in Schoology. Open 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 and quality control by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-4_When-Organs-Fail/4.1_Manufacturing-Human-Proteins; keywords:protein purification, gfp, . Score 150. 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 and quality control by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-4_When-Organs-Fail/4.1_Manufacturing-Human-Proteins; keywords:protein purification, gfp, . Score 150. 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 and quality control by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-4_When-Organs-Fail/4.1_Manufacturing-Human-Proteins; keywords:gfp, . Score 142. 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. You will find both Schoology and myPLTW right there in Clever. Turn in your work on Schoology; do the online activities in myPLTW.