Why is DNA so important? Well to answer that question, it makes us who we are. DNA is basically what connects your family and it can show certain characteristics throughout your family. DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid and it kind of looks like a twisted ladder… here’s a visual representation,

When our teacher finished explaining a little intro to DNA we did a “strawberry lab”. Our main goal was to extract the DNA. We had previously learned about cells so we knew the only way to extract the DNA was to break down the cell walls. The only way to accomplish that was to crush the strawberry’s, so we added some salt, soap and water to a little ziplock bag then we added the strawberry’s and gentle crushed everything together.

Once everything was thoroughly crushed we put it into a graduated cylinder. Once that was set aside we measured out and added ethanoyl to the graduated cylinder. This basically separated the strawberry stuff from the strands of DNA, once the strands of DNA floated to the top we took apart a paper clip and shaped it into a hook to pull the strands out. Then we took the white strands a put them underneath a microscope. Here’s a little video of the whole process,

Usually when we do a lab we have to fill out a worksheet to show that we understand everything here’s a picture,

The next day in class we learned a little more about DNA, what they look like, and how they work. Once our teacher explained everything we took that information and created our own DNA strands out of pipe cleaners, straws, beads and toothpicks. Here’s our finished project!

The past few days of science have shown us how important DNA is to us, DNA is what makes us distinct from everybody else. Overall I really liked all the labs and projects we have done so far, and I learned a lot from them!