Baxter Box Loaner Program

We have the lab equipment you need to bring the life sciences to your classroom. Teachers who are trained in our professional development workshops are given free access to our Baxter Box materials and equipment loaner program.

Questions? Contact bcse@northwestern.edu

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Available Activities
Available Lab Equipment/Kits

Antibiotic Sensitivity

The Antibiotic Sensitivity kit, based on the Bauer-Kirby test, investigates the effectiveness of three antibiotics using disks of penicillin, tetracycline, and chloramphenicol on a petri dish. The following day, students measure the clear zones of inhibition around each disk to find out which of the three antibiotics were most effective against the bacteria.

Bradford Activity

The Bradford Assay is a quick and easy way to measure total protein concentration in a sample. The assay can be used to measure actual protein concentrations such as the protein quantities in food. In this activity, you can use a serial dilution of powdered milk in water to simulate either an EPO Analysis or Female Hormone lab.

Cancer Gene Detection

Immortality through uncontrolled cell division is a characteristic of cancer cells. The p53 gene is a tumor suppressor gene which prevents this. In this experiment, students determine a pedigree for a family suspected to be carriers of mutations in their p53 genes. A DNA test indicates their likelihood of developing cancer.

Candy Dye Gel Electrophoresis

Introduce your students to the basic principles and operation of gel electrophoresis with this quick and easy experiment using colorful candy dyes. Students learn how biological molecules are separated during electrophoresis by comparing the charge and size of dyes they extract themselves. Students observe the direction and measure the rate of migration of the dyes.

Comparative Proteomics

Grind up fish from the supermarket and analyze their proteins with SDS-PAGE (protein gel electrophoresis). Your students will be able to find evidence for evolution at the protein level!

Crime Scene DNA Fingerprinting (Restriction Digest)

This activity serves as an introduction to restriction enzymes and gel electrophoresis allowing students to simulate DNA profiling as it is commonly used in forensic laboratories. By the end of this lab, you’ll be able to identify which of the five DNA samples match the crime scene.

Crime Scene Investigator (PCR)

This activity serves as an introduction to PCR for students by allowing them to simulate DNA profiling as it is commonly used in forensic laboratories. The laboratory is performed without the need for complex genomic DNA extraction steps.

DNA Damage & Repair

UV light really does damage DNA! Design your own experiment to find out more about how UV light damages DNA and visualize the damage with Gel Electrophoresis.

ELISA Immuno Explorer

Students use a technique referred to as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect the presence of an antibody or an antigen in a sample. The protocol uses two antibodies, one of which is specific to the antigen and another that is coupled to an enzyme. This second antibody gives the assay its enzyme-linked name and causes a chromogenic substrate to produce color wherever it is bound.

Genotype to Phenotype - PTC Taster Lab

Students examine how small genetic variations called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can change our ability to perceive the world around us. The human sense of taste is composed of an intricate neurophysiological network, but as we’ll see in this lab, it only takes a few small changes in our DNA to change the way we taste.

GMO Investigator

Students engage in a complete investigation in which they gather sample food items from the grocery store, extract DNA from the samples, amplify the DNA using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and use agarose gel electrophoresis to identify the presence or absence of amplified GMO sequences.

Green Fluorescent Protein Chromatography

Purify Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) from jellyfish with the same techniques used to make many pharmaceuticals. An extension of pGLO Bacterial Transformation.

HNPCC: Detecting Inherited Forms of Cancer Kit

Mini-toobers

Model protein folding and build your own protein! In this “15 Tacks and a 4-Foot Mini Toober” protein-folding activity, students use one mini toober and blue, red, yellow, white, and green tacks to explore the chemical interactions that drive each protein to fold into its specific structure. The color-coded tacks represent the properties of the amino acids.

p51 DNA Glow Lab: Exploring DNA Structure

pGLO SDS-PAGE Extension

In this laboratory activity, sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) is used to separate the entire repertoire of proteins expressed in the transformed E. coli from the pGLO transformation activity, including the foreign GFP responsible for transferring the fluorescence trait.

pGLO Transformation

Students perform a procedure known as genetic transformation to transfer the Green Flourescent Protein DNA sequence from a stock of lyophilized plasmid into E. coli. The pGLO DNA sequence is placed under the control of an inducible promoter, and when plated on agar plates containing the inducer (in this lab,the sugar arabinose), the gene is expressed and the colonies of E. coli fluoresce bright green.

Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration

Students will explore both photosynthesis and cellular respiration in a single organism (an alga) using a simple colorimetric assay to yield qualitative and/or quantitative results. The included student and teacher manuals will guide you and your students through a series of structured, guided, and open inquiry investigations.

Pipette by Numbers

Practice pipetting in a fun and artistic way!

Purification of Green and Blue Fluorescent Proteins

In this experiment, bacterial extracts containing gfp or bfp will be fractionated by chro-matography using a molecular sieve matrix. Factors that affect the separation include size, shape and associated non-protein biologicals such as carbohydrate residues. The fl uorescent proteins will be detected on the column and subsequently in the test tubes by examination under long U.V. light.

Restriction Digest and Analysis of Lambda DNA

Students use three different restriction enzymes to digest genomic DNA from lambda bacteriophage. By visualizing the effects of three different enzymes on identical samples of double-stranded DNA, students learn that different restriction enzymes recognize and cut different DNA sequences.

Sickle Cell Gene Detection (DNA-based)

Simulated Blood Typing "Whodunit"

Students attempt to solve a crime by matching the blood type of samples found at the "scene" with those of several suspects. After extracting samples from crime scene fabric stained with simulated blood, students can analyze them under the microscope, and perform blood type analysis to match the blood type with one of four suspects to help identify the culprit.

Space Food Safety Lab

In this lab, you will help the International Space Agency control an outbreak of pathogenic bacteria in space food bound for Mars! Learn how to use PCR, restriction analysis, and DNA gel electrophoresis to characterize bacterial strains and protect the health of astronauts.