Renal and digestive labs

Open your materials, follow the steps, then turn in your work.

Run urinalysis and enzyme-digestion labs to connect filtration and digestion to health.

Before lab work: Read the safety rules below and wait for your teacher’s approval. You may read the directions while you wait.

1. Open your materials

Use the materials named in the first step below. Open lesson resources.

2. Start the work

Review safe handling of simulated urine and enzymes.

Show all 5 required steps
  1. Review safe handling of simulated urine and enzymes.
  2. Perform urinalysis and record indicator results.
  3. Run an enzyme-digestion test and observe substrate breakdown.
  4. Run gel electrophoresis to interpret PKD genetic markers.
  5. Tabulate results across the renal and digestive tests.

Lost your place? Reopen today's Renal and digestive labs record. Find the last completed evidence ID, check it against the claim ceiling, and continue with the first unfinished step rather than restarting the whole task.

Check your work before submitting

  • Urinalysis and enzyme results are both recorded.
  • Electrophoresis bands are interpreted for PKD markers.

Before lab work: read the safety rules

  • Wear nitrile gloves and safety goggles throughout all three lab stations.
  • Treat all simulated urine samples as biologically plausible; do not mouth-pipette or taste any solution.
  • Handle gel electrophoresis buffers carefully; some contain ethidium bromide substitutes that may be irritants.
  • Do not touch gel documentation UV light source directly; use protective shield.
  • Dispose of dipstick strips, pipettes, and gel materials in designated waste containers.
  • Wash hands thoroughly after removing gloves.

3. Turn in your work

DueCheck Schoology
Hand in
Combined data table recording urinalysis dipstick results, enzyme-digestion rate observations, and gel-electrophoresis band interpretation for PKD markers.
How to submit and name your file

Use the submission route shown on today's today's page.

In Schoology, open your course and the assignment for this lesson. Attach your file, select Submit, and check that it appears in the submission.

PDF upload help

You get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.

Choose your Schoology section. Open only one assignment.

Check the section number beside Human Anatomy and Physiology in Schoology.

Assignment: Wk17 Data table: Renal and digestive labs

Link will not open? Open Schoology, choose your section, and find the assignment title above.

How this lesson connects

Keep using what you learned last class: Organ-replacement decisions integrate organ function, compatibility, urgency, expected benefit, risks, and organ-specific allocation rules rather than relying on one laboratory value or matching feature. Today: Urinalysis and enzyme assays provide different evidence about filtration and digestion, so their results must be interpreted with method-specific controls, reference context, and limits.

Optional: listen or watch a unit review
Optional unit study notebook
Patient perspectives and patient-centered care: empathy, sharing decisions with a doctor, and living with a long-term condition.
Open the notebook
Optional review video
Video overview
Need help? Warm-up, timing, and directions

💡 Big idea: and assays provide different evidence about and digestion, so their results must be interpreted with method-specific controls, reference context, and limits.

  1. 0-10 review: simulated urine handling, reagents, equipment
  2. 10-28: dip strips into simulated samples, read color indicators, record results
  3. 28-45-digestion test: add enzyme to , observe and time breakdown, record rate
  4. 45-60: load samples, run gel, photograph and interpret PKD marker bands
  5. 60-72Tabulate all results across the three tests in a single organized
  6. 72-80Cleanup per protocol; submit completed
Mr. Mendoza's 5-minute intro
  • This is one of the most data-dense lab days in the course; you will run three tests in 80 minutes.
  • Each test gives you a different window into the same patient story: kidney disease, digestive function, and .
  • Record every result immediately and with units; you will need all three datasets for your exhibit tomorrow.
  • Follow the procedures exactly; some of these reagents are irritants.
Know by the end
  • dipstick colors indicate the presence of glucose, , blood, or other abnormal analytes in urine.
  • activity is measured by how quickly a is broken down; temperature, pH, and concentration affect rate.
  • separates DNA by size; smaller fragments migrate farther from the well.

PLTW connection and today's work

Complete any urinalysis, PKD-gel, or enzyme-digestion lab check-in in Activity 4.1.4 Diagnose with DNA, Project 4.1.5 Urine Trouble, and Project 4.2.4 Break It Down in myPLTW (Unit 4 Patient Perspectives) that accompanies today's renal and digestive labs.

Today's stopping point: Nephron and digestion task is done; today the lab check-in should show complete alongside your submitted lab data.

PLTW activity titles identify the course connection. If your account will not open, use the posted materials for today and tell Mr. Mendoza. Do not mark an online activity complete unless you completed it.

Course connection

  • Activity 4.1.4 Diagnose with DNA
  • Project 4.1.5 Urine Trouble
  • Project 4.2.4 Break It Down

Use the turn-in directions at the top of this page. Do not create a second submission unless your teacher asks for one.

Show another explanation or a smaller first step

Need help? Choose a starting point

Run the lab
Complete the assigned Combined data table recording urinalysis dipstick results, enzyme-digestion rate observations, and gel-electrophoresis band interpretation for PKD markers., cite at least two evidence IDs, apply the reviewed rule, and name one limitation.
Missed class? Start here
Use the sentence frame: E1 shows ____. E2 helps explain ____. Therefore I can claim ____, but I cannot claim ____.

Finish the assigned lab safely before starting extra practice.

Lesson resources: reading, slides, and vocabulary
Socratic teaching slide deck

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.

Carry forward

Organ-replacement decisions integrate organ function, compatibility, urgency, expected benefit, risks, and organ-specific allocation rules rather than relying on one laboratory value or matching feature.

Daily take-home

and assays provide different evidence about and digestion, so their results must be interpreted with method-specific controls, reference context, and limits.

Inspect the analogy

A research team lays out its question, variables, controls, sampling plan, measurement record, and analysis before deciding what the data support.

  1. Which variable is changed or compared?
  2. Which conditions and measurements must stay consistent?
  3. Which conclusion is inside the study's evidence boundary?
Rule

Define variables, controls, sampling, units, and the analysis plan before interpreting a result; analysis cannot repair biased or inconsistent measurement.

Where it breaks

A well-organized classroom study can still be limited by , measurement quality, confounding, and the population represented.

Map the analogy to biology
  • Question and variable cards map to the study design.
  • Control and measurement cards map to fair, reproducible data collection.
  • The conclusion card maps to a bounded claim supported by the analysis.
Read this first

Driving question: Run and -digestion labs to connect and digestion to health.

What you already know: Organ-replacement decisions integrate organ function, compatibility, urgency, expected benefit, risks, and organ-specific allocation rules rather than relying on one laboratory value or matching feature.

New idea: and assays provide different evidence about and digestion, so their results must be interpreted with method-specific controls, reference context, and limits.

Visual or model: F1. F1. A lesson illustration or teaching diagram for Renal and digestive labs. Use it with E1-E3; it is a model or context image, not experimental or patient data. What to notice: Trace the labeled structure, movement, or system relationship that connects form to function.

  1. Observe or measure the relevant feature in today's lesson.
  2. Organize the observation with a stable evidence ID.
  3. Apply this rule: Define variables, controls, sampling, units, and the analysis plan before interpreting a result; analysis cannot repair biased or inconsistent measurement.
  4. Choose the option the evidence supports and state the limit of the conclusion.

Real biomedical example: Today the human body systems team uses Renal and digestive labs to make a bounded evidence decision. Classroom results cannot diagnose kidney or digestive disease or represent a real patient .

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.

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.

Evidence set and decision
E1 · Source fact

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases is the source this lesson's claim is checked against: Kidney Disease

Limit: Classroom results cannot diagnose kidney or digestive disease or represent a real patient .

E2 · Teaching model

Define variables, controls, sampling, units, and the analysis plan before interpreting a result; analysis cannot repair biased or inconsistent measurement.

Limit: A well-organized classroom study can still be limited by , measurement quality, confounding, and the population represented.

E3 · Task criterion

and results are both recorded.

Limit: E3 defines the classroom product or success criterion. It is not independent scientific evidence and cannot justify a clinical or causal claim.

PLTW-HAP-2027-05-13 · Simulated classroom evidence scenario

Your role: anatomy and physiology consultant

Decision: Your team must decide what the evidence from today's lesson supports before submitting the labeled and result claim named on today's page.

  • Call the sample a kidney-disease case, because your neat and clear bands make the result convincing.
  • Ask which band positions mark PKD before reading the gel, because a band alone identifies no specific marker.
  • Record the and results separately, then read each against its own control and reference range.

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: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about today's lesson. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.

Composite case file · PLTW-HAP-2027-05-13

Reason for review: Your team must decide what the evidence from today's lesson supports before submitting the labeled and result claim named on today's page.

Context: Today the human body systems team uses Renal and digestive labs to make a bounded evidence decision. Classroom results cannot diagnose kidney or digestive disease or represent a real patient .

Timeline:
  • T1: Review safe handling of simulated urine and enzymes.
  • T2: Perform and record indicator results.
  • T3: Run an -digestion test and observe breakdown.
  • T4: Run to interpret PKD genetic markers.
  • T5: Tabulate results across the renal and digestive tests.
Evidence records:
  • E1: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases is the source this lesson's claim is checked against: Kidney Disease
  • E2: Define variables, controls, sampling, units, and the analysis plan before interpreting a result; analysis cannot repair biased or inconsistent measurement.
  • E3: and results are both recorded.

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 Renal and digestive labs. Trace the labeled structure, movement, or system relationship that connects form to function. 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.

Math moment
Formula or setup

= final volume / sample volume. New concentration = starting concentration / dilution factor.

Worked parallel example

Mix 1 mL of sample to a final volume of 10 mL. The is 10. A 100 mg/mL starting sample becomes 10 mg/mL.

Units and reasonableness

Use the same volume units before dividing. Concentration keeps its original concentration unit.

Try it with today's data

Apply the same setup to one supplied dilution or dose. Show the factor, new value, units, and a reasonableness check.

Design record
Criteria
  • The solution must address the stated need in today's lesson.
  • The decision must be supported by E1-E3.
  • The final product must make the success criteria visible.
Constraints
  • 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.
Tradeoff weights
  • 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.

Iteration log
  1. Version or option tested
  2. Criterion met or missed
  3. Evidence ID and result
  4. Revision made
  5. Reason for the revision
Decision record
  1. Need and user
  2. Criteria and constraints
  3. Chosen option and evidence
  4. Test result
  5. Revision and reason
Watch the trap

Students often think A polished answer about Renal and digestive labs is trustworthy even when its evidence source, comparison, or limitation is missing.. The trap: Presentation quality cannot raise the evidence level. Classroom results cannot diagnose kidney or digestive disease or represent a real patient .

Worked example · a parallel case (guides, does not reveal)
Renal and digestive lab table
Completes: Records urinalysis dipstick readings against a normal range, notes enzyme-digestion results, and interprets electrophoresis bands for PKD markers in one combined table.

Urinalysis results (simulated patient sample), with normal range:

  • Glucose: negative | normal range: negative. Result normal.
  • Protein: 2+ (about 100 mg/dL) | normal range: negative to trace (under 15 mg/dL). Result high, a sign of failing filtration.
  • pH: 6.0 | normal range: 4.5 to 8.0. Result normal.
  • Blood: trace | normal range: negative. Result slightly high.
  • Specific gravity: 1.012 | normal range: 1.005 to 1.030. Result normal.

Enzyme-digestion test:

  • Tube with amylase + starch: iodine stayed amber (starch broken down). Digestion occurred.
  • Control tube, no amylase: iodine turned blue-black (starch remained). No digestion.

Gel electrophoresis, PKD markers:

  • Patient lane showed a band at the affected-allele position that matched the PKD1 marker lane.
  • Interpretation: the band pattern is consistent with a PKD1 variant linked to polycystic kidney disease.

What the table shows together: high urine protein plus a PKD1 band pattern points to kidney filtration that is being damaged by polycystic kidney disease.

(Tip: always read each urinalysis value against its normal range; a number means nothing until you say whether it is inside or outside normal.)

TestResultNormal rangeReading
Urine glucosenegativenegativenormal
Urine protein2+ (~100 mg/dL)negative to trace (<15 mg/dL)high, failing filtration
Urine pH6.04.5 to 8.0normal
Urine bloodtracenegativeslightly high
Specific gravity1.0121.005 to 1.030normal
Amylase + starchstarch broken downn/adigestion occurred
PKD1 gel bandband at affected-allele positionn/aconsistent with PKD1 variant
Data table listing urinalysis values, enzyme-digestion outcome, and PKD1 gel band next to normal ranges and readings.
Why this matters

This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: Records urinalysis dipstick readings against a normal range, notes enzyme-digestion results, and interprets electrophoresis bands for PKD markers in one combined table.

Build yours step by step
  1. Name the variables and include units.
  2. Enter observations without changing the raw values.
  3. Check labels, calculations, and patterns before interpreting the data.
Change it for a new task

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: Submit your combined lab data table on Schoology.

See the full worked example
Portal terms
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.
Audio Resources

Play the cold open at the start of the unit to set the scene. Each recording is AI-generated and simulated (fictional callers, no real people or student data).

HBS U4 - Care review referralActivity 4.1.1 Hello KidneyBlock 1 cold open (Case Review 27-REN)
Unit notebook (fillable)

A fillable, Cornell-style notebook for Unit 4: Patient Perspectives. Type your notes, cues, and summaries right in the PDF, or print it and write by hand. Each lesson page has a cue column, a notes column, and a summary box, plus dated lab-record pages you can turn in.

HBS Unit 4 notebook: Patient Perspectives Fillable PDFCornell notes + lab recordsOpen
Resources & readings

Vetted readings and references for this unit. Use them to prepare, to catch up if you were absent, or to go deeper on today's target.

Practice: try a question, then check your answer

Claim ceiling for this check: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about today's lesson. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.

Quick self-check · commit, then reveal

A student makes a certain conclusion about Renal and digestive labs from one classroom result. What must the student add before the conclusion is defensible?

How sure are you?

Write an answer and pick a confidence to unlock the key.

Missed class or ready for more?
🔬 Pre-lab simulations · 5 for this lesson

Run this before you touch the bench. It is built from the real lab procedure, so the decisions you make here are the ones you will make with the equipment in your hands. This lesson has more than one, and they cover different skills.

What Does the Strip Actually See?
Open the simulation →
Read the Band Pattern
Open the simulation →
A Sieve Is Not a Kidney
Open the simulation →
Hello Kidney: The Urinalysis Story
Open the simulation →
It Takes Guts: Enzyme Action
Open the simulation →
Lab · prepare, conduct, complete
1Prepare
Pre-lab pass · clear all six to go to the bench
0/6

I can name the procedure's purpose and the evidence I will record. I can state today's specific hazards and the control for each. If this deck does not name them, I ask Mr. Mendoza before I touch anything. My data table is ready before materials are handled.

Finish the checklist before you handle any material.

Bring / set up
Simulated urine samples (teacher-prepared, color-coded by condition)Urinalysis dipstick stripsEnzyme solution and substrate (e.g., amylase and starch, or protease and protein substrate)Spectrophotometer or colorimetric indicator for enzyme assayGel electrophoresis apparatus, power supply, and pre-stained ladderDNA samples representing PKD alleles (teacher-prepared or virtual)Nitrile gloves, safety goggles, lab apronDisposable pipettes or micropipettorsTimer, data table sheets, UV transilluminator or gel documentation system
Safety · specific to today's hazards
  • Wear nitrile gloves and safety goggles throughout all three lab stations.
  • Treat all simulated urine samples as biologically plausible; do not mouth-pipette or taste any solution.
  • Handle gel electrophoresis buffers carefully; some contain ethidium bromide substitutes that may be irritants.
  • Do not touch gel documentation UV light source directly; use protective shield.
  • Dispose of dipstick strips, pipettes, and gel materials in designated waste containers.
  • Wash hands thoroughly after removing gloves.
Review Lab Safety (rules, PPE, SDS, emergencies) and check your contract + test
2Conduct (Argument-Driven Inquiry)
  1. 1Before materials are handled, identify the purpose, variables or comparison, controls, measurement units, and stop-work condition.
  2. 2Review safe handling of simulated urine and enzymes.
  3. 3Perform urinalysis and record indicator results.
  4. 4Run an enzyme-digestion test and observe substrate breakdown.
  5. 5Run gel electrophoresis to interpret PKD genetic markers.
  6. 6Tabulate results across the renal and digestive tests.
  7. 7Record each result in the prepared table before interpreting it. Mark missing, repeated, or invalid results truthfully.
  8. 8Complete the named cleanup and waste route, remove PPE safely, wash hands when required, and confirm the station is ready for the next group.
Prepare this data table before materials are handled
Trial or sample IDIndependent conditionMeasured result with unitsObservation before interpretationQuality-control note
     
     
     
MedlinePlus: Urinalysis
3Complete
Argue from your evidence, then compare what you predicted to what happened. Error analysis names a specific method limit, never "human error".
You predicted

Before the procedure, predict the result and cite the rule behind the prediction.

What actually happened

After the procedure, compare the result with the prediction and name one limitation or source of uncertainty.

Your lab report is graded on the rubric below, with extra weight on error analysis and method.
Where this leads: careers
What to do if you were absent
Today was a lab: do this instead

Complete the , -digestion, and labs, recording results and interpreting the PKD marker bands.

MedlinePlus: Kidney Tests

Use the submission route shown on today's today's page.

If MR. MENDOZA is absent

Class still runs. Complete the online activity above (it's self-guided). Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:

MedlinePlus: Urinalysis
Optional extra credit (async)

You've passed Unit 2, so the optional extra-credit track is open. Complete reserved-unit work from home, including virtual labs, for extra credit. Each item shows its correct submission route.

Open the extra-credit track
How this is graded
For: Data table: Combined data table recording urinalysis dipstick results, enzyme-digestion rate observations, and gel-electrophoresis band interpretation for PKD markers.
  • Complete
    Every required part of the artifact is present, nothing left blank.
  • Accurate
    The science and the data are correct and match the evidence.
  • Scientific reasoning
    You explain your claim with evidence and reasoning (CER), not just an answer.
  • Professional communication
    Clear, organized, labeled, and written the way a clinician or scientist would.
  • Submitted
    Go to Schoology to turn this in. Submit one PDF. Put your first and last name in the document header. Name the file: FirstName LastName - Assignment Title - YYYY-MM-DD.pdf. If you cannot get in, see Mr. Mendoza. Do not skip the work.
  • Error analysis and method · counts double
    Name 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.