Concentration, serial dilution, standard curves, antigen–antibody binding, direct vs. indirect ELISA.
Your PLTW coursework: Medical Interventions ▸ Unit 1: How to Fight Infection ▸ Lesson 1.1 The Mystery Infection ▸ "Activity 1.1.5 ELISA"
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 - Getting ready to test: serial dilutions and the ELISA setup
Build a table and explain how - binding lets an report concentration through color.
- 1Read the pre-lab and write down the starting concentration and the you will use.
- 2Fill in a table, calculating each step from the one before it.
- 3Label your tubes or wells clearly so each dilution is easy to find later.
- 4Sketch a direct and an indirect ELISA, labeling , , and .
- 5Predict where a would show high versus low and mark it on a graph.
- 6Check your dilution math with a partner before you set anything up.
- • You will be able to build and label a correct series.
- • You will be able to diagram - binding in an .
- • You will be able to explain how a links to concentration.
Daily lessons this week
Open any day for its full lesson, the work due that day, and guided notes.
Written CER on test-allocation rule: claim, evidence, reasoning, and rebuttal addressing the strongest opposing framework.
Four-step 1:10 plan with concentration calculated at each step, plus a one-sentence prediction of signal change.
(graph with labeled axes and best-fit line) plus written procedure for Thursday's model and labeled well layout.
Model : well ID, observed color, and assigned concentration from ; positive result identified and explained.
graph, model (colors and concentrations), short interpretation of positive results, and one error sentence.
Quick intro to the week
- Hook: a pregnancy test, an HIV screen, and a COVID test all share one trick you will set up today.
- Today's goal: prepare clean serial dilutions and map out how an turns binding into a readable signal.
- Tie-in to Monday's debate on testing access: accurate dilutions are part of why a test can be trusted.
- Reminder: your dilution table and pre-lab questions are graded in the PLTW course shell.
Your PLTW coursework this week
Do this: Advance the PLTW Unit 1 diagnostic-testing benchmark in the online course shell with your dilution and pre-lab.
- • Antibodies bind specific antigens, which is the basis of an .
- • A relates measured to a known concentration.
- • Calculate a series from a starting concentration.
- • Distinguish a direct from an indirect ELISA.
📋 PLTW tracker evidence due this week: completed table and pre-lab diagram with labeled binding.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | Tue, Sep 15 | Bioethics debate: who gets the test | Written CER on test-allocation rule: claim, evidence, reasoning, and rebuttal addressing the strongest opposing framework. |
| Wednesday | Wed, Sep 16 | Concentration and serial dilution | Four-step 1:10 serial dilution plan with concentration calculated at each step, plus a one-sentence prediction of signal change. |
| Thursday | Thu, Sep 17 | Standard curve and lab prep | Standard curve (graph with labeled axes and best-fit line) plus written procedure for Thursday's model ELISA and labeled well layout. |
| Friday | Fri, Sep 18 | Antigen-antibody and ELISA model | Model ELISA data table: well ID, observed color, and assigned concentration from standard curve; positive result identified and explained. |
| Friday | - | Dilution and ELISA model submission | Standard curve graph, model ELISA data table (colors and concentrations), short interpretation of positive results, and one error sentence. |
- M: bioethics debate
- T: serial dilution practice
- W: standard curve
- Th: ELISA model
- F: pre-lab quiz
Due by week's end: ELISA pre-lab quiz and dilution table.
5 panels from the illustrated semester.
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.
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 Clever, then myPLTWHow 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.
You can't do those from home: do this instead: HHMI Immunology Virtual Lab notes.
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:
HHMI BioInteractive (preview; use fallback if blocked)Vocabulary
Teacher-posted resources
Classroom documents for this lesson are posted in Schoology. Open Clever, then Schoology, and find each one by the name shown on its card.
Use this if you were absent, got stuck, or need another pass before you submit the lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched model, dilution, by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-1_How-to-Fight-Infection/1.1_The-Mystery-Infection; keywords:elisa, , dilution. Score 154. 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 model, dilution, by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-1_How-to-Fight-Infection/1.1_The-Mystery-Infection; keywords:elisa, . Score 146. 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 model, dilution, by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-1_How-to-Fight-Infection/1.1_The-Mystery-Infection; keywords:, dilution. 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. 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.