Reintroducing: miniPCR Curricular Materials
miniPCR bio was founded on the principle of making science accessible to everyone, everywhere. One of the major areas we aim to increase access to is science education. This means designing a range of curricular materials to facilitate biotechnology integration into classrooms at any level.
The essential goal of the curriculum team at miniPCR bio is to provide everything that educators need to easily introduce biotechnology to their students. By streamlining the flexibility to personalize materials, educators can engage with students no matter their experience. This means ensuring that every learning lab we create includes the following free, downloadable content:
Instructor Guides:
All labs feature detailed instructions for teacher preparation of the materials, outlining the time requirements, necessary equipment, and student station setup. This includes key stopping points if class time is less than 45 minutes, or if meeting once a week. Explanations for both expected and unexpected results are also provided in the troubleshooting sections and our support resources.
Student Guides:
Students are immersed in a laboratory scenario, where they are asked to solve a mystery or answer a broader question. The lab guides contain a focused but detailed background to introduce the scientific basis of the lab. Protocols are designed to guide students through the hands-on portion of the lab in a stepwise manner. All lab guides contain pre- and post-lab questions, along with a CER, designed to encourage students to apply their scientific knowledge and reasoning skills.
Classroom Presentation materials:
Classroom-friendly PowerPoint presentations are prepared for each of our labs. Slides contain illustrations pulled directly from the lab guides to reinforce understanding through visuals. As they are editable, instructors can decide whether to use the PowerPoints as is, or modify them to include additional materials that meet the needs of their students.
Lab alignment documents:
All of our labs are aligned with NGSS and TEKS biology standards, as well as TEKS biotechnology and BACE. Additionally, labs that align with AP Biology, AP Environmental Science, or TEKS forensic science are formatted to meet those specific standards. The goal is to ensure that educators have the necessary alignment to determine where the lab fits within their class framework.
E-worksheets:
These editable Google Docs enable teachers to modify the pre- and post-lab questions and assign them to their Learning Management System, eliminating the need to spend time and resources creating individual copies of the questions for every student.
The curriculum team is continually working to develop science education materials that are effective for both teachers and students. Check out all of our learning labs here.
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