Student Name: _____________________________
Date:
____________________
What does DNA do?
Activity 1 - Base Pairs
___ 1) Get a base pair. What is the name on the back? Look at its
shape. Walk around the room and find someone that you can
match up with to make a rectangle.
___ 2) Look at how people matched up. What rule can you come up
with for the base pairs? Write this rule down.
Rule:
Background:
DNA is a cells code for
creating proteins, which are
the building blocks of life. In
order for the code to be
turned into proteins, the cell
must go through some
processes. The activities
below will teach you about
these processes. ​One rule to
remember: the base pairs for
DNA are Thymine (T),
Adenine (A), Guanine (G),
and Cytosine (C). For RNA,
Uracil (U) replaces Thymine.
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Student Name: _____________________________
Date:
____________________
Activity 2 - Replication
___ 1) With a partner, get a strand of DNA from your teacher.
___ 2) Unzip the strand, with scissors. Give one strand to your
partner and keep the other one.
___ 3) Follow the base pair rule to fill in the missing base pairs for
your strand.
___ 4) Compare your new DNA strand with your partners. Are they
similar? What have you done? Where did this process take
place in the cell? Why is this process important?
Activity 3 -Transcription and Translation
___ 1) Use the amino acid chart to write out a code that spells a
word that is between 8-10 letters long. T
​ here are no letters
B, J, O, U, X, or Z!
Word
**Remember, RNA uses Uracil instead of Thymine**
mRNA
Strand
DNA Strand
(Base Pairs)
___ 2) Exchange your code with someone else in the class.
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Student Name: _____________________________
Date:
____________________
___ 3) Write down the code you received below:
DNA Strand:
___ 4) Take the code you have been given and transcribe it into an
mRNA strand. Record your code below:
**Remember, RNA uses Uracil instead of Thymine**
mRNA Strand:
___ 5) Where in the cell are you located now?
___ 6) Take your mRNA strand and translate it by matching it up
with the correct amino acid. Record this below and write the
letter for the each amino acid. Where does this take place.
Amino Acid Code:
Location of Translation
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Student Name: _____________________________
Date:
____________________
___ 6) What does this word represent in the cell?
___ 7) Check with the person to see if your mRNA strand and
word were correct or not.
___ 8) Did you make a mistake with the code? Did it affect the
spelling of the word? What do we call it when a cell makes a
mistake like this?
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Student Name: _____________________________
Date:
____________________
Amino Acid Chart
Lyl4Science
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