Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________________________
Student Exploration: RNA and Protein Synthesis
Vocabulary: amino acid, anticodon, codon, messenger RNA, nucleotide, ribosome, RNA, RNA polymerase, transcription, transfer RNA, translation
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. 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?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
2. 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 DNA as plans for building proteins. In addition to DNA, another nucleic acid, called RNA, 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.
1. DNA is composed of the bases adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T). RNA is composed of adenine, cytosine, guanine, and uracil (U).
Look at the SIMULATION pane. Is the shown molecule DNA or RNA? How do you know?
________________________________________________
2. RNA polymerase is a type of enzyme. Enzymes help chemical reactions occur quickly. Click the Release enzyme button, and describe what happens.
_________________________________________________________________________
Activity A:
Transcription
Get the Gizmo ready:
If necessary, click Release enzyme.
Introduction: The first stage of building a protein involves a process known as transcription. In...