High school molecular biology unit for advanced biology students

The purpose of the high school molecular biology unit was to teach the basic principals of protein synthesis and recombinant DNA to advanced biology students through the use of hands-on lab experiments. The students used school made equipment to do five experiments using recombinant DNA techniques. This lab approach to teaching replaced a traditional lecture-discussion approach. The students were interviewed and tested prior to and at the conclusion of the unit.;The findings of the study were that the unit solidified the learning of the previous biology courses after hands-on lab experiments with recombinant DNA. The students were also very excited about performing the labs and learning from them.;The core of the unit was five integrated lab exercises. The labs started with DNA isolation and properties, then continued on with bacterial transformation by plasmids and concluded with plasmid isolations evidenced by gel electrophoresis.