Students will learn how to isolate genomic DNA from cheek swabs using household products. They will learn how to prepare and run an electrophoresis of digested DNA samples. Students will identify fragment patterns compatible with the presence or absence of the Sickle cell allele in heterozygous and homozygous individuals. Based on parental and offspring DNA bands, students will determine inheritance pattern, genotypes and their correlation with severity of the disease's signs and symptoms.

"TAF grants provide teachers with the tools they need to be more effective educators," said TAF President, John Anderson. "The grants make the STEM classroom more exciting for both teachers and students."

Toshiba America Foundation’s grants aim to fund projects designed by innovative classroom teachers. This “direct-to-teacher” approach brings immediate results. Teachers are able to enhance the way they teach STEM subjects because the grant supports equipment for hands-on experiments and project based learning to the curriculum. At TAF, we believe that learning STEM subjects is a lot more fun and engaging than just reading a textbook.

STEM educators interested in applying for a K-5 TAF grant please click here or a 6-12 TAF grant please click here