Fun with Strawberries

Hello All,

Strawberries are in season and it is time for some summer fun!  There are many great resources online for strawberry DNA extraction.  Strawberries are easy to work with and offer plentiful DNA yields.  Students’ having a visible model to work with makes it easier to introduce certain genetic concepts.  I recommend Science Buddies: Do-it-Yourself DNA.  The setup is friendly to those that have more of a kitchen chemistry setting in their classroom.  Science Buddies is also a great site for science fair project reference and ideas. 

If you prefer a site with a thorough lesson plan written out to span 7^th-12^th grade, view the ucbiotech.org education resource Strawberry DNA Extraction.  It contains references to the National Education Science Standards from 1996.  Steve Spangler Science also offers a procedure video with access to the written online experiment, Strawberry DNA – Food Science.  The Steve Spangler Science site is an outstanding resource for the science classroom when searching for hands-on activities.

From here, you may want to search for DNA extraction explanation videos.  It may be interesting to experiment with other fruits or vegetables such as onion, banana, or kiwi.  This may also be a good time for students to isolate their own DNA from cheek cells or other skin cells.  In the summer, I'm partial to strawberries.

Happy extracting,

Mrs. A