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, Ph.D.
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
7 Cambridge Center
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-324-6249
Email: rokop@broad.mit.edu