Science Methods

  This week we learned about natural selection and how it affects nature. Natural selection is the process in which certain traits become more or less common over time based on environmental factors. In the lab this week we were able to model this by picking up colored beans with different utensils. Forks and spoons had the best results when picking up the beans, while knives struggled to pick up the beans. When we would start a new round there would be fewer knives up until there were none, and this is because natural selection allowed for the knife to be eliminated due to it not performing when picking up the beans. I think this would be a great activity for upper elementary students to gain an understanding of natural selection. I would 100% use this activity In my future classroom because I had fun doing this activity. 

 This week in lab we learned about mutations and the effects they can have on someone's phenotype. The picture above shows an activity we did in class today, we created random DNA sequences to try and understand how mutations form. I thought this activity was extremely helpful in demonstrating the way mutations affect protein development. A question I have about this lesson is, what is the best way to teach the topic of mutation to elementary students?  

This week in lab we created DNA using candy! This is the first time I have ever done an activity like this and I found it to be very fun, and educational at the same time. Through this activity, we were able to learn that DNA was a double helix (represented by the licorice), and we were also able to learn about the DNA building blocks (represented by the Dots candy) and how A-T pair and C-G pair.   In class today we also got to flip coins to see what characteristics our "babies" would have. I thought this activity was fun, it taught us about the key roles alleles play in the genotype and phenotype of a baby. This activity also demonstrated how the combinations of building blocks in DNA are very random and do not have a specific recipe. I think both of these activities would be fun to include in a future classroom because it allows kids to learn about DNA in a fun and hands-on way!