Activities

1.     Use the News: Besides DNA testing for crime analysis, how is DNA information used in society today? What kind of genetic engineering could you imagine might someday be possible? After research and brainstorming, write a news article about a “genetic breakthrough.” What do you imagine can be created? Will everyone agree it’s a positive discovery? What benefit to society will it bring?

2.     Use labeled and/or colored Styrofoam balls and toothpicks to create a small piece of a model DNA strand. You may just want to create the helix structure rather than trying to label the nucleotide pairs properly.

3.     “Cloning” is a term you may have heard in the news and in fictional material. What does it mean? Research and write a report about what cloning has to do with DNA and how it is being used in science research today.

World of Wonder meets many state educational standards. This guide helps teachers identify standards and related activities generally intended for grade 6, but teachers can modify activities to the appropriate grade level.