Objective: Students will browse the Genetics Science Learning Center Website to learn about basic genetics, including the structure of DNA, transcription and translation, and the relationship between genes, proteins and traits.
Site Location: http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/ .............Click on the link that says "Tour the Basics" .
2. What does DNA stand for? ______deoxyribonucleic acid____________________
3. Why is DNA called a blueprint? ___________it encodes a set of plans________________________________
4. The "twisted ladder" shape of the DNA molecule is called a ______double helix__________________
5. Name the four bases found in a DNA molecule: ____A, C, T, G___________________________________
6. A DNA strand is made of __letters_____________ which make up _____words__________ which
make up sentences.
7. These "sentences" are called _____genes_____________________________
8. What is a gene? ____________instruction manuals____________________
9. Blood cells use a protein called _________hemoglobin___________________ to capture
and carry oxygen.
10. When a gene is changed, it is said to be ___________mutated_______________________________
11. A mutation in the hemoglobin gene causes what disorder: __________hemophilia________________
12. If you stretched out all the DNA from a single cell, how long would it be??
_________3 meters long__________
13. How many chromosomes are in a human cell? __46___ a mosquito? _6__ a carp?
__104__
14. How is a protein like a car engine?
___________each part has a job_________________________
15. Receptor proteins are responsible for picking up ___________signals____________________________
16. Each gene in DNA encodes information on how to make a ____protein_________________________
17. Once in the cytoplasm, the ____ribosomes____________ reads the message.
18. The passing of traits from parents
to child is the basis of _____heredity___________________
19. Every child receives___half____ of its chromosomes from his mother and
half from his ____father____
20. When a sperm and egg join, they create a single cell called a ______zygote_____________________
21. Each child inherits a __unique (or complete)______________ set of chromosomes.
22. Give an example of a physical
trait: ______hair color, eye color, height, etc...___________________________________
23. A dog fetching a bone is an example of what kind of trait? _________behavioral___________________
24. Scientists describe the set of information for each form of trait as an
__allele__________________
25.
What word is used to describe having two of the same alleles? ____homozygous_______________ What letters would be used to describe someone with a hitchhiker's thumb? __hh____
26. What letters would be used to describe a heterozygous combination? ____Hh___
27. What combination of alleles are possible in a child if the parents are Hh and Hh (there are four)? _hh, HH, Hh, Hh____________
28. Give an example of incomplete dominance: _______carnations_____________
29. Build a DNA molecule. What is the base pair rule? _________A pairs with T, G pairs with C____________________________
30. Define transcription: __________________makes mRNA_________________________________________
31. Define translation: ______________makes protein___________________________________
32. Follow the instructions for the activity. List the amino acid sequence you
created. ________met, leu, asp, phe
33. Fireflies glow to attract a ___mate________________________
and to avoid ___________predators__________________
34. RNA polymerase binds to the ____luc______________ gene.
35. When transcription is complete, the LUC mRNA moves to the _____cytoplasm____________
36. The ribosome interprets the mRNA to produce a string of _______amino acids________
37. In order to become a functioning luciferase enzyme, the string must ____bend and fold_________________
38. The enzymes bind to _______luciferon______________to create light.