Hannah Moriarty

Teaching and Learning

LAP: DNA Decoding

Dr. Letina Jeranyama

1/27/14

LAP: Say it With DNA (DNA Decoding)

  1. Content: Describe what it is you will teach. What is the content?

In this particular class (biology) students will learn how genes decode for different amino acids in the process known as protein synthesis. They will be learning about how the different bases that makeup these anticodons match up and how an error in protein synthesis can lead to mutations. Students will also be analyzing how these genetic mutations can affect overall outcome of our genetic makeup by comparing these errors to Morse code or following a recipe.

  1. Learning Goal(s): Describe what specifically students will know and be able to do after the experience of this class.

At the end of this experience students should be able to understand how base-pairs match up with one another through the process of protein synthesis (transcription and translation). They should be able to recognize which base pairs match with one another depending on if we are referring to DNA or RNA. Also, students should have a basic ideas as to what protein synthesis is and why it is important when it comes to developing our genetic code. Finally, students should be able to explain how protein synthesis is similar to Morse code or following the instructions of a recipe. Therefore, they should be able to explain how an error in the genes DNA or RNA sequence would cause a mutation and what is mutation may mean for the organism this particular sequence belongs to.

  1. Rationale: Explain how the content and learning goal(s) relate to your Curriculum Unit Plan learning goals.

This particular lesson will come in the middle of the unit. Students have already learned and been exposed to learning the differences between DNA and RNA . They also have a basic knowledge of protein synthesis and why it is important when it comes to developing their DNA or genetic code that helps the body to complete different functions. This lesson will be used to help them strengthen their decoding or base-pairing skills as well as introduce them to mutations. This lesson will help students to understand the affects that a mutation in a genetic sequence can have and the outcome that may be produced because of it. This lesson is a segway or brief introduction to the next unit we will be covering on genetics and understanding punnette squares and how genes are passed down from out parents.

  1. Assessment: Describe how you and your students will know they have reached your learning goals.

I will know if my students have reached my learning goals in various ways. First I will give them each a “warm-up” question that will assess their background knowledge and get them thinking about the activity that we will being doing in class. We will discuss our answers as a class so that I can determine who feels more comfortable decoding the different genetic codes at hand. Although the activity the class with take part in is a group activity it will still give me an opportunity to assess who needs more help making a connection with the information at hand and who feels more comfortable decoding it. Also, we as a class will have a recap conversation at the end of the class and I will give each student and exit ticket so that they can individually assess if they were able to grasp the point of the lesson and if they made the connection between mutations and Morse code and the affects that a mutation in a genetic sequence can have on the overall organism involved.

  1. Personalization and equity: Describe how you will provide for individual student strengths and needs. How will you and your lesson consider the needs of each student and scaffold learning? How specifically will ELL students and students with learning disabilities gain access and be supported?

I.E.P:

This particular lesson was designed with students who have I.E.Ps specifically in mind. In order to meet the needs of my students with I.E.Ps I have provided each student with oral and written instructions as well as modeled to them how to go about completing the activity. Each student will receive a warm-up problem on a sheet of paper so that they are able to stay on track and pass it in so I am able to assess their background knowledge. Also, I am using the warm-up to give students the chance to hear what their classmates are saying in order to strengthen their overall knowledge on the topic at hand. I will also show a brief video-clip to engage the students and help build upon their knowledge on the activity and the information we are about to explore together as a class. We will then go over an example problem as a class and they will be provided with who hand-outs with example problems displayed to ensure they understand the information at hand. Also, working in groups should help the students attain that reassurance they need in order to go about the activity correctly. We will also go over what we learned today and the students will be required to take brief notes. These notes will help them to further understand mutations. Each student will receive a copy of these notes so that they are able to better see the information at hand and copy it down. Finally, each student will be required to fill out an exit ticket so that I am able to determine who truly grasped the lesson at hand and who needs more help.

E.L.L:

For my students that are E.L.Ls I have offered them many accommodations similar to that of my students with I.E.Ps as well as to my entire class in general. For all of my E.L.L students I will provide then with written and oral instructions as well as model to them what I am asking them to do. When I show the class the video about mutations I will put Spanish subtitles on the bottom of the screen so that they are able to follow along. They will also be working in groups and using hands on visuals. More specifically for my student who is a level one E.L.L she will receive her warm-up question and exit ticket in Spanish so that she is able to answer these questions. She will also be working with two girls who also speak Spanish. Finally the day before I gave this student an article about DNA mutations to read in Spanish to further strengthen her background knowledge on the topic at hand.

  1. Activity description and agenda
  2. Describe the activities that will help your students understand the content of your class lesson by creating an agenda with time frames for your class. Be prepared to explain why you think each activity will help students on the path toward understanding.
  3. Warm-up:
  4. Each student will be required to fill out the following question:
  5. How is protein synthesis similar to Morse code?
  6. How would an error or mutation in this code effect the outcome of a gene or recipe?
  • This warm-up question will help the to think about how to decode DNA and RNA and how an error in these sequences could lead to a mutation
  • This will help students to understand mutations and affects they may have on our overall genetic make-up
  • Video/Discussion:
  • This video will help students to better understand mutations and DNA base pairing
  • We will then as a class discuss the video and the facts we learned from it
  • We will also go over an example problem of the activity we will be learning that day
  • Activity:
  • In this activity students will be using their base-pairing skills to decode different science friendly sentences
  • This will demonstrate to them how to correctly match up different base pairs depending on if it is DNA or RNA and it will also show to them the affect that mutations may have on an organism
  • The winners of this competition will receive a prize
  • Recap/Quick-Notes:
  • As a class we will discuss our findings and the affects that mutations may have on our genetic makeup
  • Each student will be required to write down a short segment of notes, they will receive copies of these notes
  • Exit Ticket:
  • Each student will be required to answer the following question:
  • Decode the following DNA strand on your own (decode for it’s mRNA and tRNA strands):
  • ATTGCGATC = ?
  • Now that we know how to decode what do we think would happen if their was a mutation or coding error?
  • This exit ticket will help to summarize what we learned today and it is a good way for me to assess which students need more individualized attention and which ones truly grasped the information at hand
  1. What particular challenges, in terms of student learning or implementing planned activity, do you anticipate and how will you address them?

The challenges I see mainly involve classroom management. This particular class is extremely difficult to work with and I am afraid they will not listen well to the instructions and they will be unable to grasp the concept of the lesson. Unfortunately, this is the reality of urban schools so I have tried my best to make sure that the lesson is both, interactive, entertaining and educational. Also, by offering a prize I hope it will motivate the students to do well. Finally, a few students will be missing the day before this lesson because of a field trip one of the Spanish classes here at Claremont will be on. Therefore, they will miss some of the background information pertaining to this activity. I hope the rectify or deal with this situation by doing a practice problem before hand and putting them in groups with people who can help assist them as well.

  1. List the Massachusetts Learning Standards this lesson addresses.

3.2 Describe the basic process of DNA replication and how it relates to the transmission and conservation of the genetic code. Explain the basic processes of transcription and translation, and how they result in the expression of genes. Distinguish among the end products of replication, transcription, and translation.

3.3Explain how mutations in the DNA sequence of a gene may or may not result in phenotypic change in an organism. Explain how mutations in gametes may result in phenotypic changes in offspring

  1. Reflection
  1. In light of all areas of planning, but especially in terms of your stated purpose and learning goals, in what ways was the activity(ies) successful? How do you know? In what ways was it not successful? How might the activity be planned differently another time?

If I were to do this lesson again I would ask students to decode less sentences. Instead of having the students decode ten sentences I would ask them to decode five. Instead of giving each student their own copy of the sentences I would give them one large poster-board they would need to work together to decode. This would force students to work more together as a group and less individually. By making it so students have less sentences to decode they would be able to finish the activity quicker and be less frustrated. Also, it would leave more time for us as a class to discuss genetic mutations. Finally, I need to start making my own groups. This particular class is not mature enough to handle picking their own partners for the most part.

  1. What did you learn from the experience of this lesson that will inform your next LAP?

This experience has taught me to value quality of problems over quantity to help the students grasp the main concepts had hand. I also, need to work on my timing of activities and acknowledge that my freshmen class will take longer to do things then my senior class so I need to gage my time better. Finally, I need to start picking the groups for my students because they are obviously not mature enough the pick their own groups and are distracting their classmates.