TE804:StudentLearningStories

Name:CoreyKapolka
MentorTeacher:JeffBoggs
Classandgradelevel:MYPHonorsBiology,
EighthGrade

School:CityHighMiddleSchool
Date:4/3/15

BriefOverview
AsatoolforencouragingmystudentstoconsidertheprevalenceofDNAinnature,I
designedaseriesoflessonsthatledtoalaboratoryexperimentinwhichmystudentsextracted
DNAusingamodifiedversionofamethodmadeavailablethroughtheUniversityofGeorgia.
ThestudentsinmyeighthgradeHonorsBiologyclassesgenerallyperformbetteron
standardizedtestsandoverallgradesrelativetotheirpeersatotherschools.Ourschool,
however,wasverylimitedinthekindsofresourcestypicallyfoundinaneducationallaboratory
(weunfortunatelydidnothaveadedicatedlaboratoryspace),andourteacherstendtoneedtobe
creativeinhowwecanproduceengagingandenrichingexperiencesforourstudentsperforming
laboratoryexperiments.TheexperimentIchoseformystudentsisinexpensiveandrathereasyto
setup,andprovidesastimulatingvisualeffectwhiledemonstratingimportantprinciplesinthe
natureandubiquityofDNAinlife.
Weprefacedtheactivitybyrecallingthecommonstructureofbiologicalmacromolecules
thatwasstudiedearlierintheyear,andaddedthestructureofnucleicacids(DNA,RNA)tothat
knowledge.Oncemystudentsunderstoodthebasicstructureofthesemolecules,weconsidered
justhowsmallandhowlargetheycouldbeusingcomparisonstolengthswhosescalestheymay
betterappreciate(i.e.afewmeterstotripstothemoonandback).Makingsenseofverysmall
componentsoflifecanbedifficult,andmyaimwiththefollowingextractionexperimentwasto
providesomeappreciationofhowimportantandabundantDNAisinlivingcells,though
individualstrandsareoverallincrediblysmall.Theexperimentalsochallengesstudentsto
considertherelativeabundanceofDNAinlifebydemonstratinghowdifferentformsoflifeall
utilizeDNAbutcanhavevaryingamountscontainedwithintheircells.
Thestudentsindividuallyreviewedtheexperimentalprocedureandcompletedpre
laboratoryquestionstopreparefortheactivity.Followingaverbalassessmentoftheir
understandingoftheprocedure,Idemonstratedafewtrickytechniquesthestudentswouldneed
tobeabletoperformandorganizedsmallgroupsthatwouldcompletetheexperimenttogether.
Thegroupswereresponsibleforindependentlyfollowingtheexperimentalprotocol,andI
providedassistancewhereneeded.Ibelievethatstudentsmustbegivenopportunitiesto
experiencetheprocessesofsciencewithoutconstantguidance,allowingthemthefreedomto
succeedorfailaccordingtotheirownactions.Whenerrorsarose,thosestudentsattemptedthe
experimentagainandperformedbetterhavinglearnedfromtheirmistakes.Whenperformed

correctly,chromatin(DNAandprotein)fromthechosenfruitwillbesuspendedinclearethanol
andbeeasilyvisible.Theeffectofseeingthechromatinarisefromthefruitextractoftenelicitsa
positiveresponsefromstudents,whothenwishtosharetheirresultsandcomparewithgroups
whousedadifferentfruitinextraction.
Theoriginalprotocolforthisexperimentcalledfortheuseofstrawberriesalone,andI
incorporatedbananasasasecondoptionforextraction.ComparingtherelativeamountsofDNA
frommultiplespeciesaddsanelementofinquirytothisexperiment,whichIbelieveincreases
thevalueoftheactivityasarepresentationofascientificprocess.Iprovidedstrawberriesand
bananachunksofasimilarsizetoeachgroupinanattempttocreateconditionsinwhich
studentscouldcomparetheamountsofchromatinextractedfromeachsamplespecies.Students
werealsoencouragedtoconsiderwhatinformationwouldhelpthemtodeterminewhatsample
speciescontainsthegreatestamountofDNApercellofthetwospecies,andthenrelatethis
informationtothechromosomalcontentofhumancells.
Often,studentsofthisagegroupassociatevolumeofgeneticinformationwith
'complexity'oforganismshumans,forinstance,arethoughttohavethegreatestamountof
DNAamonglivingspeciesbecauseweare'complex.'Thisactivitydemonstratesthatthisbelief
isnotnecessarilytrue,andchallengesthenotionthathumanityissomehowseparatedfromthe
restoflifeduetogeneticsuperiority.

GoalsforStudentLearning
Nucleicacidscanbeaveryabstracttopicforyoungstudentstostudy.Highschool
biologystudentscouldeasilylearnagooddealabouttheirstructureandtheirpurposeinliving
cells,butmissthebiggoaloflearningwhyDNAandRNAareimportant.Iintendedtousethis
experimenttoencouragemystudentstointeractwiththistopicinawaythatwouldhelpthem
remembertheimportanceanduniversalityofnucleicacidsthroughoutalllife.Recognizingthis
simpletruthiscriticallyimportantforunderstandingmodernbreakthroughsingenetic
engineeringandtheevolutionaryrelationshipsamongthediversityofextinctandlivingspecies.
Thishelpstoconnectseveralunitstogethergenetics,nucleicacids,andevolutioninaway
thatenrichesstudents'understandingofeachofthem.Oneofmygoalswhenmappingoutmy
curriculumistotietogethereachunitwithmanyothers,creatingacohesivestorythatmy
studentscantraceandrememberaswemovethrougheachtopic.
Thisactivityalsoincorporatesthestudyofnucleicacidswithatopicpopularwithmost
students:food!Somestudentsmaynotconsiderthesourceorcomponentsoftheirfooduntil
beingchallenged to do so, and through extracting DNA from foods they are exposed to the idea
that all food contains DNA. They are then led to connect this knowledge with their existing
knowledge that DNA is a defining feature of life, resulting in the synthesis of the notion of all
food being once living. This idea can lead to discussions of nutrition and diet, an important topic
for students at this age to consider.
The goals of this activity sequence align with a component of the NGSS Diciplinary Core
Idea LS1.A All cells contain genetic information in the form of DNA molecules, and standard

HS-LS3-1 Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in
coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring. I have noticed
that students often associate 'complexity' of traits of a species (humans in particular) with a
greater amount of DNA or chromosomes, which is not universally true. By evaluating their
conceptions of 'complexity' against per-cell chromosome counts (e.g. 46 in humans, 56 in
strawberries, 1440 in Ophioglossum reticulatum), students may question their conceptions of the
role of DNA and chromosomes in producing 'complex' forms of life.
I have also incorporated a recommended NGSS practice appropriate for my eighth grade
students (MS-LS1-1), by modifying this activity into an investigation that produces qualitative
data to be used as evidence in determining relative quantities of DNA in multiple species.
Experimentation provides my students with personal experiences in gathering and using data to
support or reject models and arguments, a critically important skill to be developed and used
throughout manyacademicdisciplinesanddailylife.Istrivetoincludeenriching
experimentationineachofmyunits,andIhavefoundthatthisactivityisafittingcomponentof
thenucleicacidtopic.

StoryofWhatHappened
TobeginourDNAextractionlaboratory,mystudentsreadthroughtheintroductionand
procedureincludedwiththelabmaterialsandcompletedprelabquestionsthatchallengedtheir
understandingofthenatureofDNA.Iassessedtheirunderstandingofthemethodswithoral
questionsforeachgroupandclarifiedmisunderstandingsabouttheorderofstepsinthe
procedure,suchaswhentoaddthesoapbufferandcoldethanol.
IdemonstratedmethodsofpreparingtheDNAextractionsolutionsandaddingthecold
ethanolwhichwouldextractchromatin,butdidnotcompletetheentiretyofthefinalstepto
leaveituptothestudentstomaketheirownobservationsoftheextraction.Eachgroupof34
studentswasresponsibleforcompletingtheactivity,andeachstudentwasindividually
responsibleforansweringquestionsprovidedalongwiththeexperimentalprotocol.Acoupleof
groupsincorrectlyperformedtheexperimentupontheirfirstattempt,buthadlittledifficulty
oncetheyreviewedtheprocedureagain.Whenproblemsarose,Iprovidedadvicebutleftitto
thestudentstocompletetheirexperimentandmaketheirownobservations.
Asstudentswerecompletingtheirexperiments,Iapproachedindividualgroupsandasked
themtodescribetheirobservations.Commonobservationswerethattheextractedmasswas
'shiny','goopy',and'stringy'.Thestudentswerepromptedtoconsiderhowthisrelatestothe
structureofchromosomesandDNA,andwhethertheycouldseeindividualDNAstrands.This
ledintoquestionsincludedwiththelabhandout,whichstudentsthencompletedontheirown.
Onceseveralgroupshadcompletedtheirobservations,thestudentsbegantocarefullymove
abouttheroomandlookattheresultsofagroupthathadadifferentsamplefruitinorderto
compareamountsofextractedgeneticmaterialbetweenspecies.
Theimpressionsofmanystudentswerethatthebananaextractshadproduced
substantiallymoreDNAthanthestrawberriesbecausetheybelievedthebulkofthebanana
extractwasDNA.Onceeachgrouphadtheopportunitytoobserveextractsofbothstrawberries
andbananas,Iaskedforideasaboutwhatfurtherinformationwouldhelpthestudentsto

determinewhichspeciesproducedthegreatestamountofDNA.Ideasincludedtheamountofthe
fruitused,thenumberofcellsineachsample,andthenumberofchromosomesinacompleteset
ofchromosomesineachspecies.Ithendescribedhowmanychromosomesareregularlyfoundin
cellsofeachsample33inbananasand56instrawberriesandaskedstudentstocompare
thosenumberstothenumberofchromosomesthatlearnedearlierarenormallyfoundinhuman
cells(46).
Afterthestudentsreturnedtheirmaterialsandcleanedtheirtables,wediscussedwhatthe
studentscouldconcludeabouttheprevalenceofDNAinfoodand'complex'organisms.A
generalconclusionwasthatallfoodwasonceliving,andsomustalsocontainDNA,thoughone
studentbroughtupaverygoodpointaboutthenatureofallfood:someseasonings,saltin
particular,werenoteverliving.Iconcludedtheactivitybyaddressingtherelativeamountsof
DNAindifferentspecies.Manystudentsinitiallyhadtheimpressionthathumansmusthavea
greaternumberofchromosomescomparedtospecieslikestrawberriesduetoourgreat
complexityoftraits,butfollowingtheactivitytheyrealizedthatthiswasnotthecase.Ithen
extrapolatedbypointingouthowsomespecieshaveveryfewchromosomes(e.g.8perfruitfly
cell),andothershavequitealargenumber(e.g.upto1440percellofcinnamonferns).Given
thisfinalbitofknowledge,thestudentsusedtheremainderofthelabperiodcompletingthefinal
questionsprovidedwiththelab.

EvidenceofStudentLearning
Studentswererequiredtocompleteandsubmitsummaryquestionsthataccompaniedthe
experimentalprotocolfortheDNAextractionactivity.Mygoalwiththesequestionswasto
evaluatewhetherstudentsunderstoodthebroaderimplicationsofobservingDNAfrommultiple
species;mostimportantly,thatDNAisfoundthroughoutalllifeandthattheamountofDNAper
cellcanvarywidelyamongspecies.Thefirstpageofquestionswereprovidedintheoriginal
versionofthisactivitycreatedbytheUniversityofGeorgia,andthefinalpageIcreatedinan
attempttoincorporatescientificinquiryintotheexperiment.
Acommonmisconceptionaroseduringthecompletionoftheexperimentconcerning
relativeamountsofDNAinstrawberriesandbananasduetoadifferenceintheappearanceofthe
extractionsolutionsfollowingadditionofethanol.Thebananaextractiontendedtoformagel,
whichmanystudentsinterpretedasbeingsolidDNA.Furtherexperimentationwithblueberries
withadifferentgroupofstudentsresultedinamuchbetterextractionofDNArelativeto
bananas,thoughutilizingaroughlyequivalentvolumeofblueberriescomparedtostrawberries
mayincurgreatermaterialcoststhanusingbananas.Anupdatedversionofthisactivityfavors
theuseofblueberries.
Examplesofindividualstudentworkareprovidedinattacheddocuments.Manystudents
wereabletoincorporatepriorknowledgeofsimplebiochemistryanddensityinaddressing
questionsaboutthepurposesofstepsintheexperiment.Insomecases(suchasLogan's
responses),simplemisunderstandingsoftheeffectsofphysicalvs.chemicaltreatmentsofthe

fruitwereevident.Somestudentswerecreativewiththeirdescriptionsoftheirobservations,
suchasAmydescribingethanolextractingDNAlikeamagnetandSamcomparingstrandsof
DNAtoaspiderweb.Itrytoemphasizethecreativenatureofsciencetomystudentsaswellas
creativethinkingandcomparisonsinstudentresponses,sothesekindsofanswersIliketoread.
SomestudentsexplainedwhyDNAisfoundinfoodbydirectlyreferringtotheirobservations
fromtheexperiment(seeLogan),andothersexplainedhowallfoodmusthaveDNAbyusing
theexperimentalspeciesasrepresentationsofplantsandanimalsingeneral(AmyandSam).
Studentsobservedmultiplefruitextractionsandwereprovidedwithinformation
regardingDNAcontentinstrawberries,bananas,andhumans,theninstructedtodraw
conclusionsabouttherelativecontentofDNAineachspecies.Priortolearninghowmany
chromosomesarenormallyfoundinthecellsofstrawberries,bananas,andhumans,several
studentshadtheimpressionthatbananshadagreateramountofDNAthanstrawberries,andthat
humanshadfarmorethaneitherofthethefruits.Withtheadditionalinformation,moststudents
theninferredthatstrawberrieshadthegreatestamountofDNA,followedbyhumansand
bananas.AmyandLogan'sanswersshowedsomeconfusionregardingthenumberof
chromosomesfoundinhumancells:shestatedthathumanshave23chromosomesintheir
cells,whichsuggeststhatshewasthinkingofthehaploidnumberofhumanchromosomes
ratherthandiploid(diploidbeing2xhaploidandisthenormalcondition).Iattemptedtoclarify
thisconfusionduringthefollowingclassperiods,becauseunderstandinghaploidvs.diploid
chromosomenumbersisanimportantpartofunderstandinggeneticsaswellasnucleicacids.

Evidenceofstudentwork:Amy

Evidenceofstudentwork:Logan

Evidenceofstudentwork:Sam

GradingRubric
Summary Comments
Comments on specific sections. Criteria for grading are the bulleted lists in each section.
Overview
Goals for student learning
Story of what happened
Evidence of student
learning
Final Grade =