Strawberry DNA!

 
 
 
Materials: Per pair Experiment Procedures:
2oz Rubbing Alcohol 1 Spoon 1. Combine salt, water, and detergent in cup
½ spoon Salt 2 Strawberries 2. Put strawberries in bag, squeeze out the air, seal
1/6 Cup of Water 1 Ziploc tightly, and mush gently with fingers.
1 spoon of Dish Detergent 1 Toothpick 3. Use the spoon to remove large chunks, leaving only
1 Cup liquid in the bag.
4. Add the cup contents (from step 1) to the baggie.
5. Squeeze the bag for ~minute to mix
Lesson Objectives:   6. Pour the bag contents back into the cup.
• What  is  DNA?  DNA  is  short  for  a  really  fancy  word:   7. SCOUTS: pour the alcohol into the cup—ensure that
deoxyribonucleic  acid.  These  super  small   it doesn’t mix with the contents. It should just sit
molecules  are  present  in  every  cell  in  our  body.     on top of the strawberry mush.
DNA  is  the  stuff  that  makes  us  who  we  are—they   8. Wait a minute—the DNA should begin to separate
contain  special  codes  called  genes  that  determine   out.
everything  about  us—what  color  hair,  skin,  and   9. Let the kids touch the sticky DNA with toothpicks!
eyes  we  have,  and  how  tall  we  are!    You  can  think    
of  DNA  as  the  blueprint  of  our  makeup.  
• What  is  extraction?  Extraction  is  the  removal  of  
DNA  from  an  organism.  How  do  we  do  this?  Using  
salt  and  detergent  (this  lyses,  or  breaks  open,  the  
cells  to  release  DNA)   Notes:
o Salt  breaks  down  cells   Buzz words -Cleanup: throw away
o Detergent  breaks  down  capsules  holding   Buzz  Words   baggies, cups, spoons and
DNA   DNA  
Extraction   toothpicks in trash
o Alcohol  allows  visualization  of  DNA    
-Check and report to
• Why  strawberries?  The  reason  we  use   Octoploid  
next SL the status of
strawberries  for  this  experiment  is  because  they  
have  8  copies  of  DNA  (octoploid)  per  cell.  Humans   materials
only  have  2  copies