Overview
This interactive website allows students to examine the process of how each protein is coded for in the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) which hold the “The Secret Code of Life”. Students are able to manipulate models to explore transcription to demonstrate how complementary nucleotides bind to ensure a correct copy. Next, students are able to manipulate and observe, step by step, the process of translation. Students are then able to observe the folding of proteins and experiment with a protein model simulation. Lastly, students are able to apply mutations to a simulated protein sequence to observe what happens to the protein.
This activity was created as a result of the GAP Resource Summit.
Subject Area
Grade(s)
Learning Resource Type
Activity Learning Objectives
- Describe the process of how DNA determines the structure of proteins.
- Explain the process of transcription.
- Identify the four types of nucleotides: adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G) and cytosine (C).
- Describe how it takes three nucleotides (called a triplet) to code for each amino acid of a protein.
- Explain the process of translation.
- Explain how proteins fold.
- Describe how mutations in the DNA affect the formation of the protein.
Activity Assessment Strategies
Students will answer the questions from each page then generate the answers for the teacher to assess.
Students can print the Response Summary or share the results with the teacher via email.