Instructify

Welcome to the first of several posts on genetics and DNA leading up to the celebration of National DNA Day this month! This week’s site, DNA Interactive, is a one-stop shop for, as the name of the website suggests, interactive DNA information.

The website is divided into six sections: Timeline, Code, Manipulation, Genome, Applications, and Chronicle. Upon clicking on each section, you are taken to an interactive interface from which you can learn all about the topics you’ve selected. For example, when you click on Timeline, you get to a scrolling time line of DNA studies. When you click on an event, you’re sent to another scrolling page in which you can click to read about, listen to, or watch a video about the people involved with it. One of my favorite sections is the Applications section. If you click on the “Human Origins” button, then follow the “Variations” link, you can discover, based on a number of genetically inherited traits, exactly how many people worldwide have that exact combination of traits. Only 641 people who took the survey are just like me. Cool, huh?

So, what can you do with this as a teacher? Well, besides spending your precious planning time engrossed in the myriad videos and simulations, you can download a teacher’s guide with fifteen standards-aligned lesson plans, such as this one on gel electrophoresis. Also, you can register for an account, through which you can make guided online lessons, accessible from a separate link, for your students to complete. Here is my page and a lesson I made to help my students prepare for a fruit fly breeding experiment (see this post for an easier way to do fruit fly experiments).

There is so much to explore on this website that I suggest you set aside some time to sift through it, and of course to learn about how many people share your genetic traits. You know you’re curious… -REBECCAH HAINES

DNA Interactive

Related stuff:

Dragon DNA and other genetics fun: Genetics Web Lab Directory

Extract DNA from bananas

Avoid sticky situations with the Virtual Drosophila Lab