Concept Introduction

Through the use of Tour of the Basics website, the students will draw together the basic introduction to DNA.  They will take notes covering:  DNA, Chromosomes, genes, amino acids, and the role proteins play.   Teacher will introduce the website:  Tour of the Basics.  We will go through this website as a class and the students will takes notes on the following topics as we proceed.  

What is DNA?  Deoxyribonucleic acid – nucleic acid that stores and transmits genetic information from one generation of an organism to the next by coding for the production of a cell’s proteins. (The instructions that provide all of the information necessary for a living organism to grow and live, these instructions tell the cell what role it will play in your body)  

Where is DNA?  Found in the nucleus of the cell  

What is a chromosome? compact unit of DNA; efficient storage units of DNA  

What are chromosomes made of?  Genes  

What are genes? instruction manuals for our bodies.  They are the directions, the “blueprint”, for building all the proteins that make our bodies function.  Each gene in the DNA encodes information about how to make an individual protein.  

What makes up DNA?  Nitrogenous base, phosphate, deoxyribose sugar  

What is an amino Acid? the building blocks of proteins  

What is a protein?  the machines that make all living things function