4. DNA Models - Assessment

Assessment

  1. Have students draw, label and color pictures of DNA.
  2. Have students build other 3D models of DNA using different materials (beads, candy connected with toothpicks, Styrofoam peanuts, etc.). See the DNA Jewelry Project for one idea or leave the project open ended and have students select their own materials and design.

Going Further

  1. Use the DNA models to illustrate the process of DNA replication, transcription and translation. See Protein Factory lesson.
  2. Show video clips of DNA structure or create a webquest about the search for the DNA structure. The best animations I have seen are available at DNA Interactive. For a great series of web pages telling the story of the discovery, check out the “Finding the Structure” section of DNA Interactive under the main tab “Code”.
  3. For advanced classes such as AP Bio, the 2 hour movie “The Race for the Double Helix”, starring Jeff Goldblum, is a well done dramatization of the many scientists competing against one another in search of the structure of DNA. See this review by Mark Leeper with accompanying discussion questions.