This book contains 22 lessons using hands-on activities designed to present some aspect of biotechnology in a usable form that teachers can adapt for their classrooms. The introductory section serves as a resource that introduces the teacher and student to the history of biotechnology. The activities are divided into five units that group lessons by concept. Lessons from the five units are designed to: (1) teach the basics of DNA and heredity; (2) focus on the omnipresence of DNA and show students that it can be extracted from any organism and analyzed; (3) illustrate the way that DNA is naturally manipulated by organisms; (4) focus on how humans can manipulate DNA to achieve particular objectives, using examples from DNA fingerprinting, soil organisms, and cancer; and (5) address the ethical questions that biotechnology has raised and involve students in decision-making exercises. Each lesson consists of teacher and student pages that contain background information, preparation procedures, lists of materials, answers to student questions, and additional resources. Appendices contain a glossary of 46 biotechnology terms and a list of 170 general resources. Resources include books and journal articles listed by the following topics: agriculture, aquaculture, biotechnology education, DNA fingerprinting, environmental release, ethics, medicine, patents, public understanding, and waste disposal. (MDH)