The students in Grade 10 have been busy studying the molecule of life, DNA. They began by studying the structure of DNA, and to support the understanding of structure, students recently built models of DNA using gummi bears, liquorice sticks and cocktail sticks!
Once they had completed the models they looked at the usefulness of models in science and evaluated their models by considering what the model was missing and how it could be made more accurate.
Students have also been learning about inheritance and looked at the processes of mitosis and meiosis (cell division). In order to deepen their understanding of these processes, the students replicated the process of meiosis by building fantasy creatures called “reebops” using marshmallows, pins and cocktail sticks.
Mother and father Reebop reproduced to produce many baby Reebops with many different features from mum & dad, no two babies looked alike!![](http://his-makingadifference.de/wordpress_his86400/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/thumb_IMG_0148_1024.jpg)
Students have also been given the task of looking at a trait in their own family to produce a pedigree (family tree) to demonstrate their understanding of the rules of inheritance, so they may be asking you about their families.
Grade 10 are designing their own investigations in the next few weeks to do with DNA. This is an opportunity for the students to demonstrate their scientific inquiry skills, which is great preparation for the IB sciences (physics, chemistry & biology). It is in a sense a mini version of the internal assessment in the Diploma Programme which is worth 20% of the students’ final grade.
Half of the students in Grade 10 have been busy making DNA from various different foods, including strawberries, peas and chicken liver! What they have discovered is that extracting DNA is an easy process and it can even be done at home in your kitchen. Just ask them about it! ![](http://his-makingadifference.de/wordpress_his86400/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/thumb_IMG_0170_1024.jpg)
Meanwhile the other half have been working on a project learning about the Human Genome project and its similarities to the old Greek myth about Pandora’s box.
The groups will switch round after the break and the other half of the class will carry out their own investigations in the laboratory whilst the others work on a different written task about modelling DNA change over time by looking at the effects of processes of evolutionary change using a piece of text over several generations.
![](http://his-makingadifference.de/wordpress_his86400/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/thumb_IMG_0176_1024.jpg)
text & photos: SAB