SciREN Lesson Plan Portal

• Name: Joshua Weiss
• Position and Institution:PhD Student, University of Georgia, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Contact Joshua.Weiss@uga.edu
• Year contributed: 2024

• Grade Level: 9+ (adaptable to grades 6-8 as well)
• Georgia Standards of Excellence: SB1c, SB2a, SMI7d

Synthetic biology is an immensely exciting, interdisciplinary field that uniquely combines science and engineering approaches to create novel, synthetic life! Synthetic biologists ultimately believe that even the complexity of life can be understood as a collection of smaller building blocks that, like Legos, can be combined in creative, new ways! In this lesson, students will engage with a PowerPoint outlining the field, followed by a series of break-out group discussions relating to real-world applications of the field and bioethics. Finally, the students will be able to harness the power of synthetic biology, using genetically engineered bacteria to create glowing artwork!

• Synthetic biology
• Bioethics
• Genetic engineering

Lesson Plan

Power Point