Unit 1.1 to 1.2: Experimental design in evidence testing; transition to autopsy evidence and biomolecules.
Your PLTW coursework: Principles of Biomedical Science ▸ Unit 1: Medical Investigations ▸ Lesson 1.1 Investigating the Scene ▸ "Activity 1.1.5 DNA Evidence", "Activity 1.1.6 DNA Analysis", "Project 1.1.7 Status Report"
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 - From Scene to Lab: designing evidence tests and meeting biomolecules
Design a controlled test for a piece of evidence, then connect that thinking to evidence and the biomolecules a toxicology screen looks for in .
- 1Review your Unit 1.1 evidence log and pick one question that a lab test could answer.
- 2Write a testable and identify the , , and control.
- 3Predict your results and describe the you would use to record them.
- 4Read how a toxicology screen detects biomolecules in and list the groups involved.
- 5Connect and to the kinds of evidence an collects.
- 6Write a two-sentence claim-evidence-reasoning statement linking your test design to a possible conclusion.
- • You can write a testable with clearly named variables and a control.
- • You can describe a that fits your experiment.
- • You can name the major groups a toxicology screen examines.
Daily lessons this week
Open any day for its full lesson, the work due that day, and guided notes.
Written CER (3-5 sentences) arguing whether investigators should test a sample exhaustively or only according to a hypothesis, with sample limitation cited in the reasoning.
Pre-lab design sheet: a table listing each of the four tests with the indicator used, the positive result color, and the negative result color; plus a written hypothesis for one test.
Indicator-test : columns for sample ID, each of the four indicators, color result, and interpretation (positive/negative); plus dilution series data table with concentration and observed effect.
CER stating which biomolecules are present in each unknown, using Wednesday's as evidence and citing comparison to positive and negative controls in the reasoning.
Complete evidence packet: with controls, toxicology dilution data with dose-response description, Thursday CER with controls-based reasoning, and self-assessment form.
Quick intro to the week
- Good evidence testing is just good experimental design, so today you turn a hunch into a fair test.
- Today's goal: design a controlled evidence test and learn why biomolecules in are the next layer of the case.
- Monday's bioethics debate ties in: should investigators be allowed to run every possible test on a sample, or only the ones the case needs?
- Your graded experimental design and mini-CER are submitted on the class site.
Your PLTW coursework this week
Do this: Bridge the PLTW PBS Unit 1.1 to 1.2 benchmark by designing a controlled evidence test and introducing and toxicology evidence in the online shell.
- • A fair test changes one and measures one against a control.
- • Biomolecules are the macromolecules (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids) that toxicology screens detect.
- • and are separate determinations drawn from evidence.
- • Write a testable and identify its variables and control.
- • Plan a that matches an experiment's variables.
📋 PLTW evidence due Friday: completed Unit 1.1 to 1.2 experimental design with variables, , and a mini-CER.
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 | Ethics of testing | Written CER (3-5 sentences) arguing whether investigators should test a sample exhaustively or only according to a hypothesis, with sample limitation cited in the reasoning. |
| Thursday | Thu, Sep 17 | Biomolecules and design | Pre-lab design sheet: a table listing each of the four biomolecule tests with the indicator used, the positive result color, and the negative result color; plus a written hypothesis for one test. |
| Friday | Fri, Sep 18 | Biomolecule and tox data | Indicator-test data table: columns for sample ID, each of the four indicators, color result, and interpretation (positive/negative); plus dilution series data table with concentration and observed effect. |
| Thursday | - | Analyze tox results | CER stating which biomolecules are present in each unknown, using Wednesday's data table as evidence and citing comparison to positive and negative controls in the reasoning. |
| Friday | - | Submit evidence data | Complete evidence packet: biomolecule data table with controls, toxicology dilution data with dose-response description, Thursday CER with controls-based reasoning, and self-assessment form. |
- First class day: bioethical debate (Monday is a closure)
- T: teacher background notes + PLTW launch task
- W: lab / data or model work
- Th: analysis / CER or design revision
- F: submit tracker + weekly evidence
Due by week's end: Trace/biometric data analysis plus mini-CER.
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.
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: Teacher-posted data/model packet, same objective. Supplemental: Khan: biomolecules; Khan: macromolecules.
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:
Khan Academy: macromoleculesVocabulary
Virtual resources
Resources & readings
Hand-picked readings and interactives for this lesson, from authoritative open organizations and PLTW's own public course outline.