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Summaries

Family Portraits Interactive Workbook (K-4)

The purpose of the Family Portraits Interactive Workbook is to teach young scientists about inheritance through the comparison of facial features. Your students will note their own facial features and the features of their parents to identify patterns and similarities.

Beaded DNA Bracelet (5-8)

This project will introduce young scientists to the concept of genetic material. Although your students may not be familiar with the biochemical basis of DNA, you will be able to introduce them to the structure of DNA, the carrier molecule of genetic instructions, through this activity.

Marketplace DNA Extraction (9-12)

Because DNA is the blueprint for life, it can be found in all living things. This means that any meat, vegetable, or fruit you pick up in the grocery store contains DNA. Through this exercise, young scientists will learn how to extract DNA from fruits and vegetables.

Origami DNA Helix (All Levels)

The Origami DNA Helix is fun for young scientists of any age. It teaches all students the shape of the DNA molecule while it helps older students recognize matching base pairs and chemical bonds.

Educational Objectives

The National Academic Press published the National Science Education Standards. The following grade level goals reflect the level of understanding students should have in genetics, inheritance, and DNA structure and function.

K-4 Goals:

Children resemble their parents, in both animals and plants.
Many characteristics are inherited from parents to offspring, in both animals and plants.
Other characteristics are determined by interactions with the environment.

5-8 Goals:

Reproduction and heredity.
Recognizing patterns.
(Younger students) Observable traits.
(Older students) The understanding that genetic material carries information.
Genetic information comes from the egg and sperm and that information is passed down from one generation to the next.
Every organism required a set of instructions for specifying traits (through heredity).
Characteristics of organisms can be described in terms of a combination of traits.
Different species often share common ancestry.

9-12 Goals:

Structure and function of DNA.
DNA is the chemical basis of life.
Cells are made up of molecules.
Genetic information stored in DNA is used to direct the synthesis of the thousands of proteins that each cell requires.
The instructions for specifying the characteristics of the organism are carried in DNA.
Each DNA molecule in a cell forms a single chromosome.
Humans have 2 copies of 22 different chromosomes, and females have 2 X chromosomes while males have 1 X and 1 Y chromosome.
DNA mutations in the germ cell create the variation that changes an organism’s offspring.
Different species often descend from common ancestors.

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