Curated OER
Reading the Dna Code: Making Protein
Students study DNA decoding and protein synthesis. They use the amino acid table to translate DNA, break DNA strands into three nucleotide codes, and translate nucleotides into amino acid protein codes. They research the importance of...
American Museum of Natural History
DNA Detective
Match up the DNA code. Pupils read the website from the American Museum of Natural History about how DNA can determine whether a skin is from a particular type of reptile. Using the same technique, learners match up products with the...
Curated OER
DNA Code
Students synthesize information gathered from the web on reading the DNA code. In this upper-level biology lesson, students use an online resource to gain information about DNA codes and then create posters on what they have learned....
Curated OER
The Watson-Crick Model of DNA Structure
Junior geneticists construct models of DNA to discover sequencing and pairing of nucleotides. They use the models to simulate protein synthesis and then translate the codes into physical traits. Finally, they use the traits to create a...
Teach Engineering
Restriction Enzymes and DNA Fingerprinting
Show your class why restrictions aren't always a bad thing. In the third segment of a four-part series, the instructor develops the idea of restriction enzymes. Pupils learn how scientists use restriction enzymes in DNA analysis and DNA...
Community Resources for Science
A Whole New World of DNA and Proteins
Lead your young scientists into an exciting world as they participate in a role play and experiment focused on proteins and DNA. After researching the Central Dogma of Biology, individuals or groups participate in a classroom slide...
Cornell University
Extracting DNA
Uncover the basics of DNA structure through exploration activities. Collaborative groups build DNA models and recreate the process of replication. Then, using plant cells such as peas or strawberries, they extract a DNA sample.
Curated OER
DNA Cut and Paste Activity
Here is a cut and paste activity worksheet designed for older students. They fill in the blank with information about the composition of DNA, then create a DNA strand with its complimentary nucleotide chain.
Serendip
DNA Structure, Function and Replication
Before a cell replicates, its DNA must replicate. Take advantage of a hands-on guided lesson to teach budding scientists how this happens. Using a set of nucleotide cards, learners become the DNA and work to create matching strands...
Curated OER
DNA, the Awesome Thread of Life
Students examine how traits are passed to offspring. In this genetic reproduction instructional activity students develop a model of dna and learn about its structure, replication and function.
Curated OER
Cell Wall Recipe: A Lesson on Biofuels
Biotech engineers discover that changes in the DNA code for cell wall formation can help create crops better suited for biofuel production. They extract DNA from wheat germ. They decode paper strips with codes and relate the activity to...
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
DNA Words Are Three Letters Long
DNA writes 64 different words but only codes for 20 different amino acids. Budding scientists learn about where each of these numbers come from and why they aren't equal with an online interactive. The resource explains the research, the...
Teach Engineering
DNA Forensics and Color Pigments
Use food coloring in electrophoresis. The last segment in a four-part series mimics DNA fingerprinting by using chromatography. Teams conduct chromatography on food coloring to find colors that use similar pigmentation in their makeup.
Teach Engineering
Imagining DNA Structure
Let's get a closer look at DNA and other molecular structures. The first lesson in the series of four introduces a variety of imagining techniques that engineers and scientists use to visualize molecular structures. The resource presents...
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
A Gene Is a Discrete Sequence of DNA Nucleotides
Frederick Sanger won two Nobel prizes for protein sequencing and DNA sequencing. Young scientists learn about Dr. Sanger's research and amazing discoveries. They read an article and a biography, view videos and animations, and apply...
Biology Corner
DNA The Blueprint of Life
Engage learners with an intriguing presentation on DNA and its role in organisms. Individuals see its structure, what genes are, how the code works, and then explore DNA replication. For advanced classes, the presentation introduces...
Exploratorium
Secret Codon - Write a Message in DNA
String up a message. Pupils string together colored beads to code a word or short phrase. Each color represents one of the four DNA bases. Using a combination of three bases, learners create an amino acid that stand for each letter of...
Curated OER
DNA: The Human Body Recipe
Students describe DNA and the roles in which engineers are involved with the human body. In this DNA lesson students participate in a class demonstration.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
RNA Is an Intermediary Between DNA and Protein
For years, scientists believed tRNA was junk left over from larger RNA. Three scientists used different approaches to prove tRNA actually exists as the connection between DNA and protein. Learn about their experiments, their lives, and...
Curated OER
AP: Chapter 20: DNA Technology
This nine-page biotechnology resource contains six pages of questions regarding DNA technology. Questions cover cloning, restriction enzymes, the polymerase chain reaction, different techniques, the human genome project, and more. The...
Serendip
DNA
Get up close and personal with DNA! A two-part hands-on activity has learners extract DNA from a small organism and then their own cheek cells. Scholars then explore DNA replication using questions to guide their analyses.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Viral DNA Integration
How do reverse transcriptase inhibitors work? Young virologists examine the function of azidothymidine, a drug doctors use to treat HIV patients, during a hands-on modeling activity. Groups create a strand of DNA from an HIV RNA strand...
Curated OER
DNA Fingerprints
Students interpret different DNA fingerprints, then do a jigsaw activity to explore other uses of DNA forensics. They listen to a radio program about using DNA as evidence and discuss the limitations of and problems with DNA testing.
Curated OER
Cracking the Genetic Code
Students investigate different purposes for manipulating DNA. After reviewing the structure and functions of DNA, students explore topics related to the use or manipulation of DNA and the potential benefits and problems, later making a...