Second semester blues...

Oye... second semester really hits you hard, doesn't it?

I apologize that I have been absent for so long. This school year has been particularly rough. But, now we are on spring break (woo!) and I have some time to post!

I have a lot of news coming next week. For now, I will just update you on my TpT store. New products include:

The Amazing Dissolving Lollipops -- A lab activity on factors that affect dissolving

Phase Changes of Water lab -- Students learn what really happens when water goes from solid, to liquid, to gas

Bacteria in Yogurt lab -- Always a crowd pleaser! Students use plain yogurt and methylene blue to view bacteria cells with a microscope.

Transcription and Translation practice -- This worksheet contains 5 different DNA strands for students to decode. Students must first write the mRNA strand, and then the amino acid strand. There are 10 codons each, for a total of 50 practice problems!


If you need a specific handout or lab activity, feel free to message me and I'll see what I can find!


Cheers!
- S :)

"Sockase" enzyme activity

Hello everyone! :)

I would like to share an activity that I did in my classes for the last few years. It's called "sockase", and it only requires a few materials.

Students often have a hard time understanding enzymes. They are impossible to see in real life. Enzyme activities, like that one lab where students use peroxide and liver, fall short with many students. They are unable to think abstractly, and they cannot understand what is really happening.

In "sockase", students role play as enzymes. Their job is to assemble a "molecule" -- two beads on a pipe cleaner. This activity takes the students through five trials:

1. A fully functioning, single enzyme (one student assembling products)
2. Many fully functioning enzymes (whole group assembling products) 
3. One "socked" enzyme (denatured)
4. Many "socked" enzymes
5. No enzymes at all (the enzyme is completely absent)

Click here to get the activity from my TpT store.

What do students learn?

They find that a denatured enzyme cannot work. It is nearly impossible to string beads with socks on your hands! They find that many enzymes work better than just one enzyme. And, they learn that having no enzymes means that no product gets made. 

This activity is student approved! They always love it (especially the boys, since it is a small competition to them) and they have learned a lot about enzymes. I think this activity really drives the point home, in a way that is concrete and fun. 

I hope you will give this activity a try in your classes. If you do, let me know how it goes!

Cheers!

- S