Week 8: Mutations


 The first thing we did in lab this week was just on our fast plants. They are starting to reach the end of their lifecycle, so a lot of the leaves are starting to die. Our flowers are still really tall and a vibrant color, but our leaves are starting to turn brown and shrivel up. 

This week in lab we talked a lot about mutations. Mutations are changes in an organism's DNA sequence. Mutations can have advantages, disadvantages, and also not even cause any changes. It all depends on what kind of mutation occurs. We did a worksheet that helped us look at what kind of mutation causes changes and what kind does not cause any effect. We also looked at a simulation that let us mutate different DNA strands and see what happened to the amino acids. 

I was able to relate this week's lab to a human biology class I took my freshman year in college. We learned about all different kinds of mutations and looked at what kinds of changes occurred. I think it was a lot easier to understand this week's lab because I already had previous knowledge of mutations. 

I want to teach kindergarten in the future, so I do not know if I can apply this learning into my classroom. I think that mutations may be a little too complex for kindergarteners to learn. The simulations and worksheet were nice representations of mutations occurring, so I think I would definitely use those materials if I were to teach about mutations in the future. 

Comments

  1. Kylie HamersMarch 12, 2025 at 9:42 AM

    Hi Kendra! I also learned there were multiple ways a mutation can occur. I remember learning about genes in Biology as well, so I can understand where they can make that connection. I think this lab is a little too complex for Kindergarteners as well, but I think we can give them an overview on genes, and they will understand!

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  2. Audrey WardMarch 12, 2025 at 10:09 AM

    Hi Kendra! Great post this week. I also had previous knowledge about DNA and mutations from other classes, but I thought it was a good refresher in lab since I forgot most of it. I would love to learn about other resources, videos, or simulations that would be better to use in younger elementary classrooms as I also want to teach kindergarten.

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  3. Reilly RMarch 12, 2025 at 11:06 AM

    Hi Kendra! I really enjoyed reading your blog this week! I also want to teach kindergarten in the future, so I also think I wouldn't be able to apply this learning into my classroom. I think it is too complex and I wonder if there is a way that we could teach it less complex to our future students.

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  4. Carly BorthMarch 12, 2025 at 12:09 PM

    Hi Kendra! I enjoyed reading your blog and hearing your thoughts on lab this week! Similar to you, I found it interesting to learn more about genetic mutations. I found it especially interesting that mutations can be either harmful or beneficial to a species, depending on the change. I thought that our activities this week were helpful to visual these changes and deepen our understanding on genetic mutations. I would use these activities in my future classroom, however, I agree that they would be too complex for kindergarten students. Great post!

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  5. Makenna KopfMarch 12, 2025 at 12:38 PM

    Hi Kendra! Good post! I also had previous knowledge relating to DNA which I thought this week was a good refresher and I think the activities we did will be good resources to use in our future classrooms. I also think that this may be too complex for younger grades, but I think there are ways we can simplify it.

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