Student Exploration Rna And Protein Synthesis

Student Exploration: Rna And Protein Synthesis

RNA & Protein Synthesis Gizmo Activity A

Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions andprompts in the orange boxes.

Vocabulary: amino acid, anticodon, codon, gene, messenger RNA, nucleotide, ribosome, RNA, RNApolymerase, transcription, transfer RNA, translation

Prior Knowledge Questions

Suppose you want to design and build a house. How would you communicate your design plans with the construction crew that would work on the house?

To communicate my design plans with the construction crew, I would show them my planand I would then tell them how to do it.

Cells build large, complicated molecules, such as proteins. What do you think cells use as their design plans for proteins?

I think cells use DNA as their design plans for proteins.

Gizmo Warm-upJust as a construction crew uses blueprints to build a house, a cell uses DNAas plans for building proteins. In addition to DNA, another nucleic acid, calledRNA , is involved in making proteins. In the RNA and Protein Synthesis Gizmo,you will use both DNA and RNA to construct a protein out of amino acids.

DNA is composed of the bases adenine , cytosine , guanine , and thymine . RNA is composed of adenine, cytosine, guanine, and uracil .

Look at the SIMULATION pane. Is the displayed segmenta part of a DNAor RNA molecule? How do you know?

It is a part of a DNA molecule, since there is a double helix.

The enzymes split the hydrogens bonds in the middle.

Activity A:

Get the Gizmo ready:

If necessary, click Release enzyme.

Everyone Uses The Same Login: Elm: Science Password: 123456

Directions: Follow the instructions to the questions and prompts in the orange boxes.Vocabulary: amino acid, anticodon, codon, gene, messenger RNA, nucleotide, ribosome, RNA, RNApolymerase, transcription, transfer RNA, translationPrior Knowledge Questions

Suppose you want to design and build a house. How woconstruction crew that would work on the house? uld you communicate your design plans with the

Cells build large, complicated molecules, such as proteins. What do you think cells use as their design plans for proteins?

Gizmo Warm-up Just as a construction crew uses blueprints to build a house, a cell uses DNAas plans for building proteins. In addition to DNA, anothe RNA , is involved in making proteins. In the RNA and Protein Synthesis r nucleic acid, calledGizmo,you will use both DNA and RNA to construct a protein out of amino acids.3. DNA is composed of the bases adenine , cytosine thymine . RNA is composed of adenine, cytosine, guan, guanine , andine, and uracil .

Look at the SIMULATION pane. Is the displayed segment a part of a DNAor RNA molecule? How do you know?

4. RNA polymerase occur quickly. Click theis a type of enzyme. Enzymes help chemical reactions Release enzyme button, and describe what happens.

Activity A:Transcription

Get the Gizmo ready: If necessary, click Release enzyme.

Which RNA base bonded with the thymine?

Observe: In molecules of RNA, uracil takes the place of which DNA base?

What is the nucleotide sequence of the mRNA strand you built?

Rna And Protein Synthesis

Go through the process of synthesizing proteins through RNA transcription and translation. Learn about the many steps involved in protein synthesis including: unzipping of DNA, formation of mRNA, attaching of mRNA to the ribosome, and linking of amino acids to form a protein.

5 Minute Preview

Use for 5 minutes a day.

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Adapting For Online Learning

1 Not adaptable 2 Possible to adapt 3 Easy to adapt

Instructors could provide students their own pizza recipe and the worksheet to do this activity individually, or instructors could distribute an electronic version of the worksheet and recipe and ask students to complete the activity in small groups online.

Decoding A Protein Pizza

Student Exploration Rna And Protein Synthesis Answer Key Activity B

Your instructor will give you a DNA âpizza recipeâ in DNA base triplets. Use your knowledge of transcription and translation to figure out what kind of pizza you have!

Write down the DNA pizza recipe in the DNA section of the chart, three letters at a time, going vertically down the chart in the far left column.

Transcribe each DNA triplet in the pizza recipe into a mRNA codon.

Once each triplet has been transcribed into mRNA, you can begin to translate the mRNA code to construct your pizza. Use the Pizza Ingredients Listto decode what ingredients are in your pizza. The ingredients in the chart are in mRNA, so refer to your mRNA codons in the second column.

Use your Amino Acids Reference Sheet to figure out which amino acid corresponds to each mRNA codon. In this case you are doing the work of the ribosome: matching the mRNA codon to the specific amino acid that is needed for the growing protein chain. Just like all of the ingredients together make a tasty pizza, so too does each amino acid play an important role in making up a larger protein!

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What Is The Genetic Code

Is prokaryotic translation different from eukaryotic translation?

At its heart, the genetic code is the set of “rules” that a cell uses to interpretthe nucleotide sequence within a molecule of mRNA. This sequence is broken intoa series of three-nucleotide units known as codons . The three-letter nature of codons means that the fournucleotides found in mRNA A, U, G, and C can produce a total of 64different combinations. Of these 64 codons, 61 represent amino acids, and theremaining three represent stop signals, which trigger the end of proteinsynthesis. Because there are only 20 different amino acids but 64 possiblecodons, most amino acids are indicated by more than one codon. This phenomenonis known as redundancy or degeneracy, and it is important to thegenetic code because it minimizes the harmful effects that incorrectly placednucleotides can have on protein synthesis. Yet another factor that helpsmitigate these potentially damaging effects is the fact that there is nooverlap in the genetic code. This means that the three nucleotides within aparticular codon are a part of that codon only thus, they are not included in either of the adjacent codons.

Summarize: How Do Genes Determine The Traits Of An Organism Explain In Detail

4. Extend your thinking: Sometimes errors occur during transcription or translation. Examinethe codon chart on the previous page. Notice that each amino acid is coded for by severaldifferent codons. For example, alanine is coded for by GCU, GCC, GCA, and GCG.How might this offset transcription or translation errors?Slight changes to a codon would result in no changeto the amino acid coded for, and thus no change to the protein. This decreases the chancethat a transcription or translation error will cause a faulty protein to form.

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A U G C C U A U U G A U G G C C C A U A A G U U

Predict: How would a change to the sequence of nucleotides in a DNA segment affect the mRNA transcribed from the DNA?

Infer: Why do you think stop and start codon signalsare necessary for protein synthesis?

I think start and stop codon signals are necessary for protein synthesis, so the tRNA knowswhere to start and knows where to end.

Summarize: Describe the processes of transcription and translation in your own words, based on what you have observed in the Gizmo.

Transcription: is when a mRNA strand is made complimentary to the DNA strand it is building from, in the three steps of initiation, elongation, and termination.

Translation: is when a mRNA codon is read in the ribosome, then a tRNA molecule goes ahead and brings the anticodons with it enzymes, that will connect to form proteins, in the three steps of initiation, elongation, and termination, at the ribosome.

Extension:

Get the Gizmo ready:

You will not need to use the Gizmo for this activity.

Introduction: Inside a ribosome, amino acids are linked together to form a protein molecule. As the chain ofamino acids grows, it folds and coils to form a three-dimensional shape. The complex shape that resultsdetermines the properties of the protein. Proteins have a wide variety of structures and perform many essentialfunctions in living things.

A sequence of DNA that codes for a specific protein is called a gene. By coding for proteins, genes determinean organisms inherited traits.

What Happens Next

RNA & Protein Synthesis Gizmo Activity B

After a polypeptide chain is synthesized, it may undergo additional processes. For example, it may assume a folded shape due to interactions between its amino acids. It may also bind with other polypeptides or with different types of molecules, such as lipids to be modified for the specific job they will do.7 Summary

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Student Exploration Rna And Protein Synthesis