Strawberry DNA Extraction

Have you ever wondered how scientists get a sample of DNA from a plant, animal, or other organism? All living organisms have DNA. DNA, which is short for deoxyribonucleic acid, is the blueprint for almost everything that happens inside the cells of an organism — overall, it tells the organism how to develop and function. DNA is so important that it can be found in nearly every cell of a living organism. In this activity, you will make your own DNA extraction kit from household… Read more

All living things have DNA inside their cells. How do scientists extract the DNA from cells in order to study it? In this science experiment you can make your own DNA extraction kit from household chemicals and use it to extract DNA from strawberries. Read more

Use these free STEM lessons and science activities to explore DNA, heredity, and genetics with K-12 students. How are we like our parents? What makes apples and onions different? Why are some siblings similar in appearance or behavior and others different? How do our genes determine our features and physical characteristics? Can our genes also predict our health or the probability that we will get a disease? DNA holds the key to answering these… Read more