Outreach Events

Science teachers are always looking for new ways to teach basic scientific concepts in the classroom. This range of material on how DNA encodes protein, and how a protein's sequence determines its structure and function can be used as complementary material to set textbooks.

DNA Code and Fact Sheets
A series of colourful fact sheets illustrating the basic helical structure of DNA and how it encodes proteins, and how a protein's sequence determines its structure and function. Students can use the first two fact sheets to help them complete the Code Cracker Quiz, which reinforces the principles of how DNA encodes protein.

Code Cracker Quiz
This quiz helps students to understand how DNA is able to code for the amino acid sequences of proteins.

DNA Origami
To get a feeling for what the DNA double helical structure looks like and practice the base pair rules, students can fold a coloured template into a 3-D DNA model.

Isolation of DNA from bananas
Students can try their hand at isolating DNA from bananas using household materials - table salt and washing-up liquid. At the end of the experiment the students take home their own sample of Banana DNA.

Target audience
Age 15-18 years

Materials
Poster
DNA Code (PDF)
DNA Factsheets (English) (PDF)
Der 4-Buchstaben Code des Lebens (German) (PDF)
Sequenz, Struktur, Funktion (German) (PDF)
Vom Gen zum Protein (German) (PDF)

Fold your DNA
Instructions (English) (PDF) Anleitung (German) (PDF)
Template (PDF)

Code Cracker Quiz
Code Cracker Quiz (English) (PDF) Code Knacker Quiz (German) (PDF)

DNA Extraction from Bananas
Anleitung (German) (PDF)