DNA Color-By-Number

How do I teach that DNA is made of nucleotides and base pairs?  A coloring page, of course!  I mean, why not?  Everyone loves to color and having this page in my students' Interactive Notebooks serves as a reminder of the structure of DNA.

This Color-by-Number worksheet is meant to be an introduction into the nucleotides and bases that make up the structure of DNA.

I use this as an introductory activity, with no prior teaching. 

After it is colored, we talk about the matching patterns of the base pairs (A with T and C with G). 

I also explain to them that these pairs can happen in an infinite number of sequences, such as:

A-T, C-G, A-T, C-G

OR

C-G, C-G, G-C, A-T

I further explain that any mismatched pairing of bases, A-C or G-T for example, would result in a mutation of the gene.  This mutation could be inherited by the offspring of the organism.

Finally, we talk about how not all mutations are a bad thing because this is how evolution happens.

If you'd like to pick up a copy, click here.

How do you introduce the structure of DNA?  I'd love to hear about it!