I m a g i n e D N A i s a t w i s t e d l a d d e r. T h e o u t s i d e o f t h e l a d d e r i s m a d e u p o f a l t e r n a ti n g s u ga r a n d

p h o s p h a t e m o l e c u l e s . T h e s u ga r i s c a l l e d d e ox y r i b o s e . T h e r u n g s o f t h e l a d d e r a re m a d e o f a p a i r o f m o l e c u l e s c a l l e d n i t ro ge n b a s e s . T h e re a re

fo u r n i t ro ge n b a s e s i n D N A : a d e n i n e , g u a n i n e , c y t o s i n e , a n d t hy m i n e . B e c a u s e o f t h e c h e m i c a l s t r u c t u re s o f t h e b a s e s , a d e n i n e o n l y p a i rs w i t h

t hy m i n e , a n d c y t o s i n e o n l y p a i rs w i t h g u a n i n e t o fo r m a r u n g .

DNA Paper Model

STEP 1:

Each group member should receive one sheet of phosphate molecules and one sheet of deoxyribose molecules.

Each group member will receive a different sheet of nitrogen bases.

Color the molecules: Deoxyribose = Orange Phosphate = Purple Adenine = Red Thymine = Green Cytosine = Yellow Guanine = Blue

Cut out the molecules.

STEP 2:

Arrange your molecules to make nucleotides that each include one phosphate molecule, one deoxyribose molecule and one nitrogen base.

Using a SMALL piece of tape, attach the nitrogen base molecule to the sugar molecule by matching up the dots.

Using a SMALL piece of tape, attach the phosphate molecule to your model by matching up the stars.

STEP 3:

Arrange your nucleotides to create a strand that reads:

A-T-T-C-C-G-T-A-G-CUsing a SMALL piece of tape, attach the phosphate

molecules to the sugar molecules by matching up the squares.

STEP 4:

Using a SMALL piece of tape, attach the complimentary nucleotides to the DNA strand you created.

Using a SMALL piece of tape, attach the phosphate molecules to the sugar molecules by matching up the squares to complete your DNA strand.

STEP 5:

Bring your DNA strand to Mr. ague to join up with other lab group’s models.