Strawberry DNA Extraction (ES)
Individuals of the same kind of plant or animal are recognizable as similar but can also vary in many ways. Students will use strawberries of varying shapes, sizes and colors and extract the DNA to compare the similarities and differences of the observable variations of traits that exist among similar organisms.
Topic(s)
Life Science, Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
type
Elementary school lesson
3
Grade(s):
time needed
Two 30-minute sessions
author
Jeni Peterson
national next gen standards
• LS3.A: Inheritance of Traits. Many characteristics of organisms are inherited from their parents.
• LS3.B: Variation of Traits. Different organisms vary in how they look and function because they have different inherited information.
north dakota standards
• Performance Standard 3-LS3-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exists in a group of similar organisms