Summer SAVY, Session 3 Day 5, Dabbling with DNA (Jenkins) (3rd – 4th)
WOW!! What a wonderful week that we had in Dabbling in DNA! What amazing kiddos!
We ended the week with a FUN FRIDAY!! We started the morning reviewing our vocabulary words by completing a word search and labeling the structure of the double helix. The geneticists then watched clips of a documentary, “Through a Dog’s Eyes,” that explores how service dogs are trained to help people with certain genetic disorders. They loved it! We then began our “DNA sequence bracelets” that they put together based on a DNA sequence they decoded and put the correct bases together. The two strands of their bracelets represent the different bases that pair together based on the specific organism they chose. These are in a plastic bag along with the instructions and lesson plan to see how they completed this just in case you were curious. Be sure to have them explain this to you!
After lunch, we finished our bracelets and then began our “Candy DNA Lab”! We made a double helix structure out of Twizzlers (sugar and phosphates) and bases (marshmallows). The different colors of marshmallows represent the different bases that complement one another! They also have this in a plastic bag, so they can show you and explain how it works. They may eat it when you give them the ok!!
We ended the day by playing their most favorite game…blooket! We completed a review DNA game, and it got competitive!! This is a great tool to review at home as well! It is free, and all you have to do is sign up!
Key takeaways/questions from this week:
* What are systems?
* What are the levels of organization of the human body?
* Explain how all organisms have DNA.
* How are traits inherited from parent to offspring?
* Explain the difference between acquired and physical traits.
* What is the structure of DNA?
* What are the major structures and functions of the double helix?
* What are genetic mutations and how do they occur?
Thank you SO much for sharing your sweet and incredibly smart geneticists with me! We had such a fun week full of learning! Have a wonderful summer!
Yours in Education,
Shelley Jenkins