Student Activities
These activities are designed to be used by senior biology and marine science students to learn about aquaculture, disease and DNA extraction and analysis. They are free to copy for classroom use. No expensive equipment is needed, and all the activities have been tested. They give first-hand experience of doing real-life science and being a Disease Detective.
Does my oyster have QX disease?
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In Part A you will learn about the Sydney Rock Oyster's structure in this step-by-step activity. An oyster may appear to be a blob of tissue, but you can observe its complex body systems as you dissect it. Sydney Rock Oysters can be bought from local seafood outlets. |
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You will make a tissue imprint in Part B. Tissue imprints are one of Dr Rob Adlard's main disease detection techniques. After you stain your oyster's tissue imprint with a blood-staining reagent, you can observe it under the microscope to see if it has QX disease. |
Download Does my oyster have QX disease? Part A PDF [new window 130 KB]
Download Does my oyster have QX disease? Part B PDF [new window 175 KB]
Kitchen DNA
Make DNA using this cheap, no-fail method. Split green peas are a good source of DNA, and all the other materials used are also readily available.
Download Kitchen DNA PDF [new window 979 KB]
Food dye electrophoresis
Electricity is used to separate out DNA for analysis. In this activity you use simple electrophoresis equipment and food dyes to simulate DNA electrophoresis. Just how good a model are food dyes for DNA?
Download Food dye electrophoresis PDF [new window 187 KB]
Disease Triangle
You can develop a better understanding of what causes disease outbreaks when you use the Disease Triangle. Even scientists use it to make sense of these complex events.
Download Disease Triangle PDF [new window 146 KB]
Case studies in disease detection
These case studies provide details of Dr Adlard's detection methods and estuary surveillance for QX disease in oysters. This work has led to new approaches to disease control in the Sydney Rock Oyster industry. These case studies present some of Dr Adlard's data tables, and include his PCR results. They give you insight into the way scientists make discoveries, as you interpret the data collected.
Download Estuary surveillance for QX disease PDF [new window 75 KB]
Download Georges River case study PDF [new window 277 KB]
PCR analysis
In this activity you will analyse Dr Adlard's PCR results for QX disease in oysters from south-east Australian estuaries. How does he tell if an oyster has QX disease?
Download PCR analysis PDF [new window 368 KB]
PCR Problem
Are you good enough to solve this PCR problem? You're alone in the lab, and Dr Rob has left you to run PCR as a disease detection tool. But first you have to make the primers. Can you do it?
Click for PCR Problem
Click for PCR Game
Download Explaining PCR PDF [new window 204 KB]
Scientists at work
Just how complicated is a scientist's work? Scientists like to solve problems. They observe, ask questions, define hypotheses and test them. Sometimes they can then see another problem they want to solve! In this Extended Response Task you will study Dr Adlard's research and apply it to a real-life situation.
Download ERT Scientists at work PDF [new window 114 KB]