Summertime gives students with a love of science a chance to explore the world of biotechnology in a series of boot camps at the San Joaquin County Office of Education (SJCOE).
Hosted by the SJCOE’s STEM Department, the summer's first Biotech Boot Camp began with a group of sixth- through eighth-graders, who donned white lab coats and rubber gloves on July 6. They learned how to use the tools of biotechnology to separate molecules, quantify proteins, and insert DNA into bacteria.
July is also the month for two other three-day Biotech Boot Camps. The ninth- and 10th-graders make solutions, analyzed DNA, purify proteins, separate molecules, transform bacteria, and clone DNA fragments. At their own boot camp, high school juniors and seniors produce reagents, amplify DNA by the polymerase chain reaction, detect genetically modified DNA in corn chips, and analyze proteins through polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.
The Biotech Boot Camps are just some of the summertime learning offered by the SJCOE’s STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) Department.
For more information about SJCOE STEM, please visit http://www.sjcoescience.org/