{"id":5210,"date":"2015-10-01T12:48:25","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T17:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kabt.org\/?p=5210"},"modified":"2015-10-23T12:15:05","modified_gmt":"2015-10-23T17:15:05","slug":"in-my-classroom-10-protein-folding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kabt.org\/?p=5210","title":{"rendered":"In My Classroom #10: Protein Folding"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the KABT blog segment, \u201cIn My Classroom\u201d. This is a segment that will post about every two weeks from a different member. In 250 words or less, share one thing that you are currently doing in your classroom. That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n

The idea is that we all do cool stuff in our rooms and to some people there have been cool things so long that it feels like they are old news. However, there are new teachers that may be hearing things for the first time and veterans that benefit from reminders. So let\u2019s share things, new and old alike. When you\u2019re tagged you have two weeks to post the next entry. Your established staple of a lab or idea might be just what someone needs. So be brief, be timely and share it out! Here we go:<\/p>\n

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Last week I used a very simple, very low-tech but highly effective way to teach protein folding.\u00a0 After teaching my students how to read the genetic code, I gave them a strand of DNA for which they would transcribe and translate to find the amino acid sequence.\u00a0 Students then used those little marshmallows and strung them on a strand of thread, much the way many of us strung popcorn garland for the holidays.<\/p>\n

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They wrote on each marshmallow (with sharpies) the name of the amino acid.\u00a0 I provided each student a chart which gave them a basic chemical description of each amino acid (polar, non-polar, etc..)\u00a0 We then walked through how the primary structure of their protein would fold.\u00a0 With each fold they would use toothpicks to hold their marshmallows in place \u2013 representing whichever type of bond formed.\u00a0 When we were done \u2013 volla!\u00a0 A 3D protein!\u00a0 (My students have not had chemistry yet, so we needed to cover basic<\/em> chemical bonding\u2026.but they generally got the idea.)<\/p>\n

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I just finished grading their assessments late last week, and the majority of students have a decent understanding of tertiary structure of proteins.\u00a0 I like taking an abstract concept and turning it into something concrete!\u00a0 Now\u2026.its Drew Ising\u2019s<\/strong> turn\u2026\u2026..tag!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the KABT blog segment, \u201cIn My Classroom\u201d. This is a segment that will post about every two weeks from a different member. In 250 words or less, share one thing that you are currently doing in your classroom. That\u2019s it. The idea is that we all do cool stuff in our rooms and
+ Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5671,"featured_media":5211,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_s2mail":"yes","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[622,9,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-my-classroom","category-labs","category-teaching-resources"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t