Protein+Syntheis

Presented by Kasi Bolden



If you could, in your review, address the following questions:

1. Does the lab present protein synthesis in the proper sequence so students will gain understanding? Yes or No 2. Are there any materials that can be substituted or eliminated? 3. Do you think the first and second steps of the procedure are necessary? 4. Do you feel it's necessary to teach the importance of 3' or 5'? 5. Please list any flaws in this activity. List any flaw that may cause confusion.

Louann: It does a good job with protein synthesis as an isolated event, but doesn't relate it to transcription. That may be a good thing or not. I've found that when I cover them together the kids tend to get more confused. The materials are easily substituted with simple paper I think it is important to explain 3' and 5' because it reinforces the importance of the structure. The only flaw I noticed was the lack of a stop codon.

Carrie: 1. Yes 2. The concepts of this lab are wonderful, however, the materials do not appear to be very sturdy. I think this lab could be easily replicated with materials already found in a common biology lab. 3. Yes, the first two steps identify the relationship between the anticodon, the tRNA, and the amino acid. 4. 3' to 5' should be mentioned for directional references. 5. The flimsiness of the materials will lead to material flaws as amino acids can easily get out of order.

Emily Zablocki: 1. yes 2. I would laminate the materials to make them more usable or so they would last longer. I think that this lab could be easily replicated but it may be work the cost to have the set of materials. 3. yes the steps are necessary to illustrate the tRNAs job of carrying the amino acid to the ribosome. 4. yes 3'-5' should be taught to explain that their is an exact direction that nucleotides are added in both replication and transcription. 5. i think taping the materials is a bad idea. it would damage the paper and make it unusable for the future.

Deb Semmler 1. yes 2. I agree with everyone that the materials are nothing to write home about. You can duplicate everything easily enough. I would definitely laminate everything and have complete sets of the necessary materials in ziplock bags. 3. You definitely want to set up how tRNA works. I did not, however, like the chemical diagrams that were given for the amino acids. They did not easily show the similarities (ie amino groups, carboxyl groups), I would use different pictures. 4. It is important that they know that DNA is transcribed in a specific direction. 5. Again, I did not like the diagrams. I also agree that taping the amino acids together is not a good idea. It will tear the already flimsy materials.

Jim: 1. Yes; 2. No; 3. Yes; 4. Yes; 5. As Louann mentioned, a stop codon would have been nice. I thought this activity was good, especially for the price. It gets the point across.

Ken: 1. Yes, this is very appropriate for a basic intro to translation. 2. The master ribosome sheet needs work to appropriately position the mRNA and tRNA with the subunits. 3. Yes. 4. Only to show them direction of translation if a basic or regular class. 5. Flaws are: flimsiness of materials (which can be fixed by laminating); I also would not bother with taping stuff.

Julie- 1. yes 2. NO, but laminate the materials before student use. 3. yes. The job of TRNA is important for students to understand. 4. yes 5. Do not use tape.

Alvin 1. Yes, 2. It would be nice if everything came laminated. 3. I would worry that tape would damage the manipulatives. 4. The lab doesn't explain the 3' and 5' very well. 5. Tape will cause too much damage. I would rather just have them loose than tape them.