The emergence of molecular tools in multiple disciplines has elevated the importance of undergraduate laboratory courses that train students in molecular biology techniques. Although it would also be desirable to provide students with opportunities to apply these techniques in an investigative manner, this is generally not possible in the classroom because of the preparation, expense, and logistics involved in independent student projects. The authors have designed a 10-week lab series that mimics the research environment by tying separate fundamental lab techniques to a common goal: to build a plasmid with yeast actin cDNA cloned in a particular orientation. In the process of completing this goal, a problem arises in that students are unable to obtain the target plasmid and instead only recover the gene cloned in the opposite orientation. To address this problem, students identify four plausible hypotheses and work in teams to address them by designing and executing experiments. This project reinforces the utility and flexibility of techniques covered earlier in the class and serves to develop their skills in experimental design and analysis. As the project is focused on one problem, the diversity of experimental approaches is limited and may be prepared in advance with little additional expense in reagents or technical support. (Contains 5 figures.)