Have Your DNA and Eat It Too!

When isolated from a cell and stretched out, DNA looks like a twisted ladder. This sha e is called a dou!le heli". The sides of the DNA ladder are called the !ack!one and the ste s #also called run$s% of the ladder are airs of small chemicals called !ases. There are four t& es of chemical !ases in DNA' Adenine #A%, (&tosine #(%, )uanine #)%, and Th&mine #T%. The& form airs in ver& s ecific wa&s' Adenine #A% alwa&s airs with Th&mine #T% and (&tosine #(% alwa&s airs with )uanine #)%. Your task is to use the followin$ materials and rocedure to construct an edi!le model of DNA. When &ou are finished, use tooth icks and ta e to la!el one of each of the chemical !ases. You will need: 2 pieces of licorice 12 toothpicks 9 pink marshmallows 9 yellow marshmallows 9 green marshmallows 9 orange marshmallows 5 paperclips Masking Tape Step 1: Choose one of the sequences below Sequence 1: T ! C " T ! T " ! ! ! C *or* Sequence 2: T " " T T T ! " ! ! T T Step 2: !ssemble one si#e of your $%! molecule A iece of licorice will form the !ack!one and marshmallows will !e the chemical !ases. +lace a marshmallow on the end of a tooth ick so that the oint of the tooth ick $oes all the wa& throu$h. Anchor the tooth ick into the licorice !ack!one. ,efer to the ta!le a!ove to choose the correct color marshmallow to re resent the chemical !ases in &our se-uence. Adenine #A% . )reen Th&mine #T% . +ink (&tosine #(% . Yellow )uanine #)% . /ran$e Step &: 'abel the backbone With a marker or en and maskin$ ta e, la!el &our licorice !ack!one 0DNA* 12 or 0DNA*32 de endin$ on which se-uence &ou used. Write the la!el on the left end of the licorice. Step (: Match the chemical base pairs +lace the color marshmallow for the matchin$ chemical !ase on the other end of each tooth ick. ,emem!er that A alwa&s airs with T and ( alwa&s airs with )! Step 5: Complete your $%! mo#el Attach the other !ack!one so &our model

looks like a ladder. Step ): Twist your $%! mo#el (arefull& twist &our DNA molecule so that it looks like a dou!le heli". Step *: 'abel your mo#el 4ake fla$s to la!el the arts of &our DNA out of a er cli s and ta e. 5a!el one of each of the followin$' Adenine, Th&mine, (&tosine, )uanine, and 6ack!one. Make sure your chemical base pairs are correct+

Descri!e the sha e of DNA, does it look like an&thin$ &ou have seen !efore7

What does DNA stand for7

What are the 8 chemical !ases found in DNA7

(ritical thinkin$ -uestion' What affect do &ou think different com!inations of chemical !ases have on an individual or the o ulation of a s ecies7