Class Visits to the Broad Institute

When students come for a class visit to the Broad Institute, there are five main categories of activities in which they can participate, listed below in our activities menu. When a teacher plans a class visit with our staff, we will work together to decide which one, two, or three of these activities to do with his/her students when they come. The selection will be based on length of visit, number of students, and curriculum goals.

  1. Lab-based activities:
    • Extracting genomic DNA
    • Chemical biology: discovering a compound of interest
    • Using genotyping to solve a baby identity mix-up
    • Transformation of plasmid DNA into bacteria
    • PCR and gel electrophoresis
    • The DNA sequencing reaction
    • Classifying bacteria by appearance versus DNA sequence
    • An introduction to model organisms
    • An introduction to C. elegans (roundworm) genetics
    • Basic microbiology techniques
    • Purifying plasmid DNA from bacteria
    • Pipetting Olympics
    • Classification of animals by appearance versus genome sequence
    • Types of mutations in DNA and protein sequences
    • Antibiotic resistance
    • Separating proteins by size
  2. Computer-based activities:
    • Using database searches to analyze DNA and protein sequences
    • A protein viewer program to look at 3D structures of DNA and proteins
    • On-line programs to investigate function and conservation of sequences
    • Software to analyze microarray data and help diagnose cancers
  3. Group discussions:
    • Scientist/student interaction sessions
    • Careers in biology
    • Bioethical issues
  4. Paper-based activities:
    • Karyotyping: Analyzing the chromosomes of normal and cancer cells
    • Making phylogenetic trees using physical characteristics and DNA sequences
    • Analyzing cellular characteristics by imaging to identify new cancer genes
    • How microarrays work and could be used to diagnose cancer
    • Population Genetics: Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
    • DNA replication, transcription, and splicing
    • Transcription and translation – deciphering the code
    • Restriction enzyme digests
    • Identifying a sequence change that causes a human disease
    • How DNA is organized into chromatin
  5. Tours of the Institute:
    • Tours of the Chemical Biology, Genetic Analysis, and Cancer labs
    • Tours of the genome sequencing center
    • Visits with the interactive exhibits in the Broad Museum

Paragraph-long descriptions of each of these activities are available by request and at our Teacher Forums.

For the descriptions of these activities, contact the Program Director:
Megan Rokop
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
NE30-7112L
7 Cambridge Center
Cambridge, MA 02142