June 25-28, 2007
High School Student Biotechnology Summer Academy Questionnaire
Please answer all of the questions to the best of your ability, writing clearly.
Date: ______
Name: ______Grade: ______
School: ______
Race/ethnicity (circle one): African American Asian Hispanic
Native American Pacific Islander White
Gender (circle one): Male Female
For items 1 - 4, circle one number for each item that best reflects your experience using the scale where ‘1’ = ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘5’ = ‘strongly agree’:
Sure / Strongly Agree
1. Within the last year, I have heard a biotechnology professional describe his/her most recent biotechnology activities to me. /
1 /
2 /
3 /
4 /
5
2. I know how to access free, full text, peer-reviewed science journal articles on the Internet.
/
1 /
2 /
3 /
4 /
5
3. I have had experience with
a) Agricultural Biotechnology
b) Ethical Issues in Biotechnology
/
1
1 /
2
2 /
3
3 /
4
4 /
5
5
4. I have done the following activities with paper/pencil/scissors (that is, not with lab equipment):
a) Genomics to Proteomics
b) Specificity of Restriction Enzymes and Insertion of a Target Gene into a Vector
c) Microarrays and how they function /
1
1
1 /
2
2
2 /
3
3
3 /
4
4
4 /
5
5
5
5. For each item a-f below, circle ‘true’ if you have performed the “wet” lab activity, or circle ‘false’ if you have not or aren’t sure:
a) Micropipetting TRUE / FALSE
b) Running Electrophoresis Gels TRUE / FALSE
c) Staining and Destaining Gels TRUE / FALSE
d) Analyzing Gels and producing Graphs to model the gels TRUE / FALSE
e) Extraction of DNA from fruits TRUE / FALSE
f) Perform Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) on one’s own cells TRUE / FALSE
6. Please read the statements a-e and determine if each is ‘true’ or ‘false;’ if you are unfamiliar with the subject or really don’t know the answer, please select ‘no idea.’ Circle one answer for each item a-e:
a) Micropipetting is a technique used to move milliliter amounts of
fluids. TRUE / FALSE / No idea
b) During electrophoresis, the positively charged DNA travels toward
the negative electrode. TRUE / FALSE / No idea
c) Staining and Destaining of agarose gels is a process used to
visualize DNA bands in the gel. TRUE / FALSE / No idea
d) Extraction of DNA from plant cells involves the use of
detergents, salt and alcohol. TRUE / FALSE / No idea
e) A transposon "repeat" sequence is often the target of PCR
studies. TRUE / FALSE / No idea
7. This question has two parts: First, a) name two different controls used in a human DNA PCR reaction, and then b) explain below why they are important:
a)______b)______
8. (Circle one answer) To determine the fragment size of bands in an agarose gel, one would use
a. a scatter plot graph
b. a semilog graph
c. a histogram graph
d. none of the above
e. all of the above
9. Circle ‘true’ or ‘false’ as appropriate for items a-e: I have performed the following bioinformatics activities:
a) BLASTn search TRUE / FALSE
b) BLASTp search TRUE / FALSE
c) Construction of Cladograms TRUE / FALSE
d) West Nile Virus Sequence Analysis TRUE / FALSE
e) HIV Court Case Sequence Analysis TRUE / FALSE
10. In the space below, please list at least 3 components of the “Master Mix” that is placed in the microtubes before being placed in the thermocycler:
1. ______
2. ______
3. ______
Answer items 11 and 12 only AFTER you have completed the summer academy:
11. Please list the science classes that you have completed in high school:
______
______
______
______
______
12. This academy has definitely made me more interested in studying biotechnology after high school. (Circle one) YES / NO
-Please write a few sentences to explain your answer, stating why you are, or are not, interested in studying biotechnology further:
______
END – Thank you very much
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