DNA to Proteins: Transcription, Translation & Constructing a Polypeptide Set #3

The third in a series of thirty transcription/translation problem sets for AP biology & high school biology students.

Each contains a unique DNA/polypeptide sequence and each challenges students to decode the sequence using a different approach.

Students will identify DNA and mRNA codons, tRNA anticodons, amino acid names, 3-letter and 1-letter codes, plus structural formulas for each amino acid. Activity A concludes with the construction of a polypeptide chain.

All are designed to introduce students to as many amino acids as possible, reduce redundancy and ensure assembled polypeptides fit on one page. Therefore:

• Each polypeptide chain contains ten different amino acids, with no repeats.
• mRNA strands do not start with the most common start codon, AUG. The AUG codon in these activities is used to code for non-initial methionines.
• All mRNA strands end with one of the three stop codons: UAA, UAG, & UGA. No stop codons are used mid-strand.

The thirty different DNA strands in the complete bundle each code for a unique sequence of ten amino acids. Together, all thirty activities use each amino acid a total of fifteen times: Alanine, Arginine, Asparagine, Aspartic Acid, Cysteine, Glutamic Acid, Glutamine, Glycine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Proline, Serine, Threonine, Tryptophan, Tyrosine, and Valine.

These practical dry lab activities are great for learning, practice, differentiation, and assessment (use some as formative and others as summative). Students may self-check their progress with the pre-made Easel assessments.

Problem Set #3 includes:

• One DNA-to-Polypeptide Activity A (1-page).
• One Polypeptide-to-DNA Activity B (1-page).
• Images of twenty amino acids to cut & paste on worksheets (2-pages).
• Printing guide (1-page).
• All answers (2-pages).
• One pre-made digital Easel activity.
• One auto-grading Easel assessment (students may self-check their work using this tool).

To support these activities a free Genetic Code Table and a Genetic Code Wheel are also available. Just click on each link.

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