My Science Box

Time
40 minutes

Grouping
individual

Materials
Each student needs:

• 1 fresh strawberry (frozen strawberries also work fine although they are not nearly as much fun to eat)
• 1 ziplock bag
• 1 15 ml centrifuge tube or 5 oz paper bathroom cup
• 1 clear glass or plastic test tube
• 1 paper towel
• 10 ml extraction buffer (see recipe below)
• 1 bamboo skewer or glass stirring rod (DNA tends to stick more fiercely to bamboo than wood – however, bamboo is MUCH cheaper)

Extraction buffer recipe:

• 450 ml distilled water
• 10 g table salt
• 50 ml Dawn dishwashing detergent

Optional for making necklaces:

• 1 1.5 ml Eppendorf tube (also known as microcentrifuge tubes, available from Science Kit and Boreal Labs at $13.25 for 500 tubes)
• 50 cm of string or yarn

For the whole class to share:

• clean food bowl
• clean toothpicks for eating strawberries
• 90% ice cold rubbing alcohol or ethanol
• eye droppers for dispensing solutions

Setting
Classroom