This class runs in two periods and they do not do the same lesson on the same day. You are reading the Period 6A-7B calendar, the one with John Carroll bioethics on Mondays.
Micropipetting and aseptic technique
Safety gate · before any work
- Wear the required PPE, keep the bench clear, handle equipment only as directed, and know where the eyewash, sink, and spill kit are before you start.
- Human samples and data stay private: label with a code, never a name, and dispose of materials in the correct waste container, then wash your hands.
Do now
Practise setting and using a micropipette, and explain why aseptic technique changes the number you get.
- Hand in
- Annotated notes with two frontier biomedical challenges and Earth parallels, a GIS story-map component list, and a four-component innovation pitch outline.
- Where
- Submit this on the class form named on this page. The form requires the student's district Microsoft sign-in. The thank-you page is the submission receipt. A physical handoff counts only when the day page names that route. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not count as submitted.
You get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
If the form offers you a saved draft, choose New draft. If the Assignment box comes up empty, type it exactly: Micropipetting and aseptic technique
Practise setting and using a , and explain why changes the number you get.
Practise setting and using a , and explain why changes the number you get.
- • Demonstrate the two-stop plunger without prompting.
- • Explain as a source of a plausible wrong number, not an obvious failure.
- What do you already know about Micropipetting and ?
- What would you need to find out to answer today's question?
- 1Read the care resource and record the volume range of the pipette you were issued.
- 2Set a volume, seat a tip, and practise the two-stop plunger until the motion is consistent.
- 3Practise transferring a fixed volume and describe what a wrong first stop does to it.
- 4Label every tube before any liquid moves.
- 5Write why a contaminated sample produces a wrong result rather than no result.
🛠 Get unstuck · pick your level
Lab day: Tier 1 is the whole class at the bench. No extension today.
Do the work · 80-minute blockfirst 5 min = hook▸
💡 Big idea: A pipetting error does not announce itself: it becomes a number that looks fine and is wrong, which is why technique is the measurement.
- 0-5 minWarm-up: name one human health challenge that exists in space that also exists for elderly patients on Earth.
- 5-28 minTeacher-led or self-guided notes: frontier biomedical challenges in space and undersea settings with Earth parallels.
- 28-45 minNotes: GIS story-map components and what each layer communicates.
- 45-55 minOutline the four components of a medical-innovation pitch.
- 55-75 minPLTW online activity on frontier innovation (individual, self-paced).
- 75-80 minExit check: name two frontier challenges and one Earth application for each.
- • Wednesday your team builds the innovation concept and begins the story-map: today's notes give you the technical vocabulary.
- • A story-map is not just a pretty map: it is a structured argument about where the health problem is most severe.
- • WebXam 072110 Biotechnology strand includes spatial data tools as a way to contextualize research findings.
- • The innovation pitch structure you outline today is the skeleton for Thursday's CER.
- • Frontier biomedical challenges (bone-density loss in space, pressure injuries undersea) often parallel Earth conditions like osteoporosis and wound care.
- • A GIS story-map layers geographic, demographic, and health data to reveal spatial patterns invisible in tables.
- • A persuasive innovation pitch has four components: the problem, the solution, the evidence, and the next steps.
Innovation Synthesis: new frontiers and your final medical-innovation pitch · Micropipetting and
Day 2 of this lesson. Open this exact section in myPLTW (find it in Clever, Microsoft sign-in), then do the work below.
Do this: Open myPLTW and go to Lesson 4.2 New Frontiers, Activity 4.2.2 Under the Sea, and review the care resource before the lab.
Complete all questions and submit before end of period.
You submitted the frontier-ethics reflection Monday. Today finish the full Lessons 4.2 and 4.3 frontier-innovation activity so Wednesday's project uses the correct vocabulary.
Show completion confirmation; keep notes for Wednesday.
The official PLTW activity stays inside myPLTW. If myPLTW will not open, use F1 and E1-E3 on this page to complete today's local evidence decision, then make up the official activity when access returns. Submit this on the class form named on this page. The form requires the student's district Microsoft sign-in. The thank-you page is the submission receipt. A physical handoff counts only when the day page names that route. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not count as submitted.
Check things off as you work, then submit. This tells Mr. Mendoza how you're doing so he can help the class. It does not replace turning in your producible through the submission route shown below.
Use the code Mr. Mendoza gave you, not your name. Saved on this device.
Innovation Synthesis: new frontiers and your final medical-innovation pitch · Micropipetting and aseptic technique
Open myPLTW and go to Lesson 4.2 New Frontiers, Activity 4.2.2 Under the Sea, and review the care resource before the lab.
You submitted the frontier-ethics reflection Monday. Today finish the full Lessons 4.2 and 4.3 frontier-innovation activity so Wednesday's project uses the correct vocabulary.
This is how Mr. Mendoza sees the class keeping pace with PLTW. Be honest, it only helps if it is accurate.
🎯 Practise setting and using a , and explain why changes the number you get.
- Read the care resource and record the volume range of the pipette you were issued.
- Set a volume, seat a tip, and practise the two-stop plunger until the motion is consistent.
- Practise transferring a fixed volume and describe what a wrong first stop does to it.
- Label every tube before any liquid moves.
- Write why a contaminated sample produces a wrong result rather than no result.
Notebook check: Annotated notes with two frontier biomedical challenges and Earth parallels, a GIS story-map component list, and a four-component innovation pitch outline.
Submit this on the class form named on this page. The form requires the student's district Microsoft sign-in. The thank-you page is the submission receipt. A physical handoff counts only when the day page names that route. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not count as submitted. Use the checklist just below and upload by 11:29 PM for full credit. Absent with an excused absence? You get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
| Task | Who |
|---|---|
| Read the care resource and record the volume range of the pipette you were issued. | _______ |
| Set a volume, seat a tip, and practise the two-stop plunger until the motion is consistent. | _______ |
| Practise transferring a fixed volume and describe what a wrong first stop does to it. | _______ |
| Label every tube before any liquid moves. | _______ |
| Write why a contaminated sample produces a wrong result rather than no result. | _______ |
Working solo? Put your own name in "Who" for every row.
- Demonstrate the two-stop plunger without prompting.
- Explain as a source of a plausible wrong number, not an obvious failure.
- 1Do thisPractise setting and using a micropipette, and explain why aseptic technique changes the number you get.
- 2Use this resource
- 3Submit thisNotebook check: Annotated notes with two frontier biomedical challenges and Earth parallels, a GIS story-map component list, and a four-component innovation pitch outline.
- 4Submit it here
- 1Open the form. It must say For students at the top: if it says For parents and guardians, press Back and pick I am the student.
- 2If it offers you a saved draft, choose New draft: an old draft brings back the old assignment.
- 3Sign in with your district Microsoft account, not a personal one.
- 4Check the Assignment box says today's assignment from this page, then pick your period and type your student ID, all nine digits.
- 5Attach your file and press Submit. The thank-you page is your receipt.
Submit this on the class form named on this page. The form requires the student's district Microsoft sign-in. The thank-you page is the submission receipt. A physical handoff counts only when the day page names that route. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not count as submitted. Principles of Biomedical Technology (Principles of Biomedical Science) › Innovation Synthesis: new frontiers and your final medical-innovation pitch › Notebook checkTurn it in
Learn it · deck, reading, and vocabulary▸
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.
Biodiversity is the search space, so an argument about patents is also an argument about what gets searched and by whom.
A pipetting error does not announce itself: it becomes a number that looks fine and is wrong, which is why technique is the measurement.
A research team lays out its question, variables, controls, sampling plan, measurement record, and analysis before deciding what the data support.
- Which variable is changed or compared?
- Which conditions and measurements must stay consistent?
- Which conclusion is inside the study's evidence boundary?
Define variables, controls, sampling, units, and the analysis plan before interpreting a result; analysis cannot repair biased or inconsistent measurement.
A well-organized classroom study can still be limited by , measurement quality, confounding, and the population represented.
- • 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.
Driving question: Practise setting and using a , and explain why changes the number you get.
What you already know: Biodiversity is the search space, so an argument about patents is also an argument about what gets searched and by whom.
New idea: A pipetting error does not announce itself: it becomes a number that looks fine and is wrong, which is why technique is the measurement.
Visual or model: F1. F1. A lesson illustration or teaching diagram for Micropipetting and aseptic technique. Use it with E1-E3; it is a model or context image, not experimental or patient data. What to notice: Use the labels and arrows in F1 to identify the relationship that supports Micropipetting and aseptic technique.
- Observe or measure the relevant feature in today's lesson.
- Organize the observation with a stable evidence ID.
- Apply this rule: Define variables, controls, sampling, units, and the analysis plan before interpreting a result; analysis cannot repair biased or inconsistent measurement.
- Choose the option the evidence supports and state the limit of the conclusion.
Real biomedical example: Practise setting and using a , and explain why changes the number you get.
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.
Laboratory depends on matching each identified hazard to an appropriate containment practice, protective measure, and stop-work condition before the procedure begins.
Limit: The lesson check does not replace the site-specific SDS, approved procedure, teacher supervision, or emergency plan.
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.
Demonstrate the two-stop plunger without prompting.
Limit: E3 defines the classroom product or success criterion. It is not independent scientific evidence and cannot justify a clinical or causal claim.
PLTW-PBT@P67-2026-12-16 · Simulated classroom evidence scenario
Your role: biomedical team member
Decision: Your team must decide what the evidence from today's lesson supports before submitting the notebook record named on the lesson page.
- • Select the option best supported by E1-E3.
- • Select a reasonable alternative and name the evidence it would require.
- • Delay the claim because the evidence does not distinguish the options.
Response: State one choice, cite at least two evidence IDs, explain the rule that connects them, and add one limitation. Submit it as the notebook record.
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.
Mean = sum of values / number of values. Median = middle ordered value. Range = maximum - minimum.
For 2, 4, 4, and 10: mean = 20 / 4 = 5, median = 4, and range = 10 - 2 = 8.
Mean, median, and range keep the measurement unit. Order the values before finding the median.
Calculate the requested summary for today's supplied values, then write what it reveals and what it hides.
- • 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.
- • 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.
- • 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.
- Version or option tested
- Criterion met or missed
- Evidence ID and result
- Revision made
- Reason for the revision
- Need and user
- Criteria and constraints
- Chosen option and evidence
- Test result
- Revision and reason
The pipette I was issued: a variable P100, range 10 to 100 microliters. I wrote the range down first, because setting 5 or 150 on this barrel is outside what it can deliver, and forcing the dial past its stop damages it.
Setting the volume: I turned the dial down to 50 and read the display as 0 5 0, which on this model is 50 microliters. My partner read it back to me before I drew anything.
Seating a tip: press the shaft straight down into the tip in the box, one firm push. A tip on crooked leaks air, and a leak means the volume in the tip is not the volume on the dial.
The two-stop plunger, in order:
- 1. Press down to the FIRST stop before the tip goes anywhere near the liquid.
- 2. Put the tip just under the surface and release slowly to draw the set volume.
- 3. Move to the receiving tube and touch the tip to the tube wall.
- 4. Press to the first stop to deliver, then to the SECOND stop to push out what is left in the tip.
- 5. Eject the tip. Do not let the plunger back up while the tip is still in liquid, or the sample gets sucked back.
What a wrong first stop does: if I press past the first stop before drawing, I blow out extra air and pull up more than 50 microliters. Nothing about that looks wrong. The tube fills, the run finishes, and the number at the end is simply too high.
Labeling rule I wrote for myself: every tube gets labeled before any liquid moves, on the side and on the cap, because caps get swapped while a rack sits open. A tube I label afterwards is a tube I am labeling from memory.
Why contamination is worse than an obvious failure: if I reuse a tip between samples, a little of sample 1 rides into sample 2. Sample 2 still develops, the reading still lands in a believable range, and there is nothing in the number itself that tells me it is wrong. A dropped tube announces that it failed. A shared tip does not. That is why the tip changes between every sample and the bench gets wiped before I start.
| Step | Plunger position | What is happening |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | First stop | Air pushed out before the tip enters the liquid |
| 2 | Released slowly | The set volume is drawn into the tip |
| 3 | First stop | The set volume is delivered into the receiving tube |
| 4 | Second stop | Residual liquid is pushed out of the tip |
| 5 | Eject | Tip discarded before the next sample is touched |
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: Completes the technique note-taking task: the issued pipette's volume range, the two-stop plunger written out in order, what a wrong first stop does to a transfer, the labeling rule, and why contamination produces a believable wrong number.
- Date and label the entry.
- Record the procedure, observation, or design decision clearly.
- End with what the evidence means and the next step.
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: Complete the assigned PLTW online activity on micropipetting and aseptic technique, then keep your notes for Wednesday's screen.
- 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.
Hand-picked readings and interactives for this lesson, from authoritative open organizations and PLTW's own public course outline.
Check yourself · commit, then reveal▸
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.
Go further and get help▸
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.
I can name the procedure's purpose and the evidence I will record. I can identify each named hazard and the control that reduces it: Wear the required PPE, keep the bench clear, handle equipment only as directed, and know where the eyewash, sink, and spill kit are before you start. My data table is ready before materials are handled.
Finish the checklist before you handle any material.
- • Wear the required PPE, keep the bench clear, handle equipment only as directed, and know where the eyewash, sink, and spill kit are before you start.
- • Human samples and data stay private: label with a code, never a name, and dispose of materials in the correct waste container, then wash your hands.
- 1Before materials are handled, identify the purpose, variables or comparison, controls, measurement units, and stop-work condition.
- 2Read the micropipette care resource and record the volume range of the pipette you were issued.
- 3Set a volume, seat a tip, and practise the two-stop plunger until the motion is consistent.
- 4Practise transferring a fixed volume and describe what a wrong first stop does to it.
- 5Label every tube before any liquid moves.
- 6Write why a contaminated sample produces a wrong result rather than no result.
- 7Record each result in the prepared table before interpreting it. Mark missing, repeated, or invalid results truthfully.
- 8Complete the named cleanup and waste route, remove PPE safely, wash hands when required, and confirm the station is ready for the next group.
| Trial or sample ID | Independent condition | Measured result with units | Observation before interpretation | Quality-control note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Before the procedure, predict the result and cite the rule behind the prediction.
After the procedure, compare the result with the prediction and name one limitation or source of uncertainty.
What today's skills lead to. These are real health-science careers this course builds toward. Tap one to see, on the US Department of Labor's O*NET site, what the job actually involves, what it pays, and how fast it is growing.
The bench work needs equipment you do not have at home. Do the thinking half now: read the procedure, write your prediction, and set up your data table so it is ready.
Back in class. Ask Mr. Mendoza for the class data set, or for a bench slot to run it yourself. Do not submit a Notebook check with invented numbers.
Class still runs. Complete the online activity above (it's self-guided). Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
NIBIB: biomedical engineering science topics and new frontiersYou'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- CompleteEvery required part of the artifact is present, nothing left blank.
- AccurateThe science and the data are correct and match the evidence.
- Scientific reasoningYou explain your claim with evidence and reasoning (CER), not just an answer.
- Professional communicationClear, organized, labeled, and written the way a clinician or scientist would.
- SubmittedTurned in through the one route named under Submit here and confirmed by the form receipt or the named physical handoff. Not in Schoology: that is where the report-card grade appears later.
- Error analysis and method · counts doubleName 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.