Week 8

 What did you learn this week?

This week we learned about DNA mutations and how they can affect DNA strands. We learned that there are three types of mutations which are:

1.  Insertion

2. Deletion 

3. Substitution/replacement 

We learned that some mutations can be good, bad, or neutral. Majority of mutations are neutral. 

We also were able to check on our fast plants for the last time. Our fast plants have definitely started to die, they do not stand up straight on their own anymore. One thing that is new about our fast plants, is that we can see the seeds now, so that is exciting! See updated image of our fast plant below. 

How can you apply what you’ve learned to your future teaching? 

In class, we learned about DNA mutations and how they can affect your genotype and your phenotype. We did an activity that was very fun and interesting and is something that I would apply to my future classroom. This is especially a fun activity for our students who love superheroes/Marvel movies. We learned about Normal Joe and how when his DNA was mutated with a substitution mutation, he stayed “Normal Joe”. When there was an insertion mutation in his DNA he changed to “Villain Joe”. When there was a deletion mutation in his DNA, he changed to “Super Hero Joe”. This shows the students that the different mutations can cause good changes, bad changes, and also neutral changes (no change). Below are a few pictures from the activity that we did in class. 

Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already know? 

I am able to relate what we learned to my current knowledge because I knew that we all had DNA and that there could be mutations, but I wasn’t aware there were different kinds of mutations and what they were. I also didn’t realize that there could be good, neutral, or bad outcomes from the mutations. I always assumed they were bad because when I think of the word “mutation”, I think of negative things and negative mutations.