Gene Expression's Science Blog Page

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I cannot thank you all enough for your generous donations to purchase our gel electrophoresis supplies. In the past, my students have modeled gel electrophoresis using handouts and paper. However, none of these activities have done the process adequate justice.

When I explained how the DNA migrates through the gel based on the length of the fragment and how it move because of the negative and positive charges in the apparatus, their metaphorical light bulbs flickered on. It is so incredibly valuable for students to see actual scientific apparatuses used by real scientists. This way they are not stuck with inadequate substitutes. While the donations allowed students to engage with the material, it also help them genuinely understand it, which will certainly enable them to do well on their high-stakes test.

My students and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

With gratitude,

Mr. Maloney

Thank you so much for your wonderful donation to my biotechnology class. The lab coats have been utilized throughout the year to ensure the students are safe as they carry out labs.

As I am sure you are aware, most schools have to pinch every penny. With your donations paying for the lab coats, I was able to use my budget money to purchase lab materials. This provides the students valuable biotechnology experiences that help educate them about this science as well as hopefully hooks the interest of some of the students helping spark a career path in the sciences.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. McDermid

Thank you so much for the classroom supplies, enabling me to supplement our curriculum with forensics. I am still working on incorporating forensics into our classroom in a middle school appropriate manner. We spend a great deal of time on the 'basics', such as cells, energy, force and motion. While this is extremely important, its great to take off in a different direction.

The students solved one 'crime' that involved analysis of fibers, ink, fingerprints and handwriting. Additionally, we had our school resource officer and local detective come in and give some real life information about how police work is done and fingerprinting.

We have only just begun to incorporate forensics- this will be incorporated more in the future and with next years 8th grade. Thanks for the support, enabling us to begin and providing extra spark to our classroom”

With gratitude,

Teacher

It is with great pleasure that I report back to you the marvelous success of our most recent lab. Last week we were able to transform bacteria by taking competent cells and subjecting them to a special plasmid containing the gene for the firefly characteristic of glowing in the dark. Yes, we transformed normal E. coli cells to glowing E. coli. I have been attempting this lab for several years making do with the materials provided by the school. But in our lab equipment, we have been missing a water bath. Your most generous donations have brought this lab to life. Our bacteria grew. The best part of all was hearing the students squeal with glee. They were so excited. When we first put the luciferin solution on the bacteria, we looked in the dark and didn't really see anything. We were somewhat disappointed but waited. Then just a few minutes later we checked again and sure enough, there it was. The little colonies were glowing! What excitement. Then one of the groups squealed, "Look Mrs. L, our bacteria are smiling at us!" What? Sure enough, the bacteria had formed their colonies in the shape of a dotted smile. That was quite entertaining. We all know that if we had been aiming for a smiley face it wouldn't have happened. All in all, these students walked away from this experience quite astonished. They felt like true scientists and your donation is what brought this about. Several of them were quite impressed and have hopes now of going further with scientific endeavors. Thank you so much. I truly appreciate you providing for our class in such a grand way. The best part is that this is a gift that will keep on giving. It is so impressive to know that many generations of students will benefit by this one donation of yours. Thank you for caring. Thank you for giving. Thank you for choosing us. ”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Loeper

We are so grateful for your donation to our project! This was such a fun and interesting lab for my students! We made a necklace containing their own preserved DNA using the kits you sent. They obtained their DNA by swishing some Gatorade around in their mouth as they scraped their teeth on the inside of their cheeks, and then spitting it out into a cup. We then added the chemicals provided in the kit to separated their DNA from the Gatorade solution. They were amazed when they could see the DNA collecting in the test tubes! Finally, after only 15 minutes, they removed the little clump of DNA and put it into the microtube to make a necklace. They proudly wore them around all day long, telling all of their friends about it.

This was a great activity for them to see in a small way how scientists are able to work on things as tiny as a cell, and with all of the work that is being done these days with DNA, it's a very relevant activity. They're all very interested in forensics, and they felt like real scientists! Maybe you have helped to motivate them to be future geneticists!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Terrell

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your selfless donation to my Model Magic project. Many, if not all, of my students learn through hands on experiences and these models have enabled me to teach the content material and then allow students to practice with the models. Through these activities, my students have been able to make connections to the material on a deeper level. For example, in our study of the plant and animal cell, students have been able to actually hold the cells in their hands as we discuss their parts. This method makes the information take on a real world scenario. Thank you again for your donation!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Walters

This is a token of my gratitude for your generous donation to my classroom. The LCD projector that you all have helped donated have greatly aided my 7th graders every single day. The projected truly helped me present important ideas and show concrete examples of what we are studying in life science. For instance, thanks to the projector, we were allowed to short clips of a sea urchin cell dividing when we learned about cell division, or watch the cellular processes when we studied cell parts. The projector has also been tremendously helpful in other instances, especially with my English learner classes, because it had allowed me to present visuals. Therefore, I thank you with my sincerest gratitude for your donation.

Our school is currently facing a budget deficit, and were it not for the help of you generous donors, learning life science would have been more difficult. Without donors like you, many of the classrooms in my district, and throughout the U.S., would go without. Once again, thank you for your donation.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Tai