Week 8- DNA and Mutations

  

 Week 8- DNA and Mutations

 Learning This Week:

This week we explored more into DNA and RNA, and why their structure matters. We also looked at our baby that we created in the Week 7 lab and observed the patterns in the way that genetic material is stored and transferred. The additional learning objective we added was about structural changes in genetic material when DNA mutations occur. The different types of mutations include: substitution, insertion and deletion. Substitution occurs when a base pair substitutes itself into the codon for another base pair. For example the A in TAC is substituted with T, so the codon changes to TTC. Insertion is when a base pair is inserted into the DNA strand so it completely changes the order of codons in the sequence. Such as, A inserts itself into CCG TAC GTG making it CCG TAA CGT G. Deletion is when one base pair is deleted from the sequence, again changing the codons. For example, A is deleted from the following sequence CCG TAC GTG making it CCG TCG TG. These mutations are important because the codon now code for different proteins than the original DNA strand intended. We explored mutations through simulations and the superhero lab.

Update on Fast Plant

Application to Future Teaching: 

I will apply this to my future teaching through the activities that we participated in during lab this week. To explore DNA mutation we used two different online simulation activities. The first simulation we looked at DNA transcription and translation and eventually turning it into a protein. The second simulation looked at what happens with mutations in the DNA. We could either substitute, insert, or delete base pairs which showed how it would change the codon that codes for a certain protein. Another activity we did involved looking at DNA of a human and seeing which mutations made him into a superhero or super villain. I think this would be a fun activity to incorporate with elementary students and involving their interests into science education. 

DNA Mutation Simulation

Questions for Further Study

1.) What are the beneficial/harmful outcomes of DNA mutation in recent years?  

2.) How has our DNA mutated to help us combat the effects of COVID-19 in the past 5 years? 

DNA Mutation Lab



Comments

  1. Melodee KovinchickMarch 7, 2024 at 11:12 AM

    Hi Bailie! I agree that I will use the activities we used in class in my future teaching. They were kid friendly and easy to understand which ensures that the kids would stay engage and have fun which is also important.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Briar Crain - Science MethodsMarch 7, 2024 at 1:19 PM

    I also think that using the simulations in my future classroom will help students to better understand DNA mutation. Your questions are well thought out. Thanks for sharing, Bailie!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Piper PriceMarch 7, 2024 at 2:38 PM

    I love how you explained the process of different mutations and how we learned to read those in strands of DNA and RNA. I also think your question about COVID adaptations is very interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Willow OswaltMarch 10, 2024 at 11:43 AM

    Hello! I also want to use these activities in my future classroom as well. I think the simulations are helpful for students to understand mutations and the superhero activity was fun and I think it would engage elementary students.

    ReplyDelete

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