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©CrazyScienceLady
 Materials per group:
1 strawberry DNA Extraction Teacher Page
1 sandwich baggie Buffer Solution: 450 mL water, 1 teaspoon salt,
10 mL Buffer Solution 25 mL shampoo (do not create bubbles); mix
1 coffee filter beforehand.
1 funnel
1 test tube (rack is helpful, but not Chill 91% Isopropyl Alcohol (found in any
necessary) grocery or drug store) in fridge beforehand.
6-8 mL 91% isopropyl alcohol,
chilled Have small graduated cylinders on hand. I
Coffee straw/ stirrer made stations for getting buffer solution and
Small container for DNA (see photo) isopropyl. An eyedropper is nice to have for
the isopropyl.

Keep in fridge. Place strawberry Continue until Collect 10 mL

Mash strawberry.
in bag. strawberry is Buffer Solution.
Do not pop bag!
liquified. Be patient.

Pour buffer into Fold filter in half, Pour strawberry liquid

Collect filter, test Collect 6-8 mL
strawberry bag. Mix. twice. Open ONE fold into filter/funnel.
tube, funnel isopropyl alcohol.
Do not pop or create and place in funnel. Collect liquid in test
bubbles. tube.

Give it a few minutes. Carefully pour or Allow DNA to come up out of the Collect DNA with coffee
Carefully press thru dropper isopropyl on strawberry solution into the rubbing stirrer and place in small
any remaining liquid. top. alcohol. container. ©CrazyScienceLady
Name ___________________________ Date ______________

DNA Extraction
DNA is found within the nucleus of a cell. Today, you will be extracting DNA
from the cells of a strawberry. Follow these directions CAREFULLY.

1. Place your strawberry inside your sandwich bag. Mash it CAREFULLY and
COMPLETELY without popping the bag! Take your time. You want a
liquified strawberry in the bag when you’re done. Spend 2-3 minutes on
this.
2. Go to the station with the DNA Buffer Solution. Measure out 10 mL with a
graduated cylinder and add it to your bag of liquid strawberry. Gently mix
without causing bubbles (or as few bubbles as possible).
a. The buffer solution contains soap. The soap dissolves the cell
membrane and nuclear membrane, making the DNA accessible.
b. There is salt in the buffer solution. The salt changes the solubility of
the DNA, so it can easily be removed from all the water in the
solution.
3. Collect one coffee filter, one funnel, one test-tube, and a test-tube rack if
available.
4. Fold the coffee filter in half and then in half again, so it is a quarter of a
circle. Separate ONE fold from the other three, and place in funnel. Place
funnel, with filter, in test-tube.
5. Pour strawberry liquid into filter/ funnel/ test-tube. Do not overflow. As
strawberry juice drips out the bottom, you can add more as space
becomes available in the filter.
6. Collect a minimum of one inch of strawberry juice in test-tube. Press
strawberry through with side of filter as needed. Dispose of filter and
strawberry clumps.
7. Go to station with isopropyl alcohol. Collect 6-8 mL and slowly pour, or
dropper, it into the test-tube, so it sits on TOP of the strawberry juice.
8. After several minutes, you will begin to see white strands collecting in the
isopropyl alcohol. This is the DNA rising out of the strawberry solution.
9. Once enough DNA is within the isopropyl, use a coffee stirrer to gently
collect (it will be the consistency of snot) and place in small container.
a. The isopropyl alcohol is less dense than water, so it floats on top. The
rubbing alcohol causes the DNA to separate from the strawberry solution.

©CrazyScienceLady
Name ___________________________ Date ______________

DNA Extraction
Questions:

1. Why is it difficult to remove DNA from cells? Explain two reasons.

2. How were we able to get through the “rest” of the cell in order to “free” the
DNA?

3. Why do you think it took so long to discover the structure of DNA?

©CrazyScienceLady
Name Key Date ______________

DNA Extraction
Questions:

1. Why is it difficult to remove DNA from cells? Explain two reasons.

The DNA is microscopic, the cells are microscopic, the DNA is contained in a
nucleus, in a microscopic cell, that is then surrounded by a cell membrane.

2. How were we able to get through the “rest” of the cell in order to “free” the
DNA?
We used dish soap (or shampoo) to dissolve the membranes. This causes
them to break apart. The salt helps the DNA to become less soluble in the
water, ie. the cytoplasm, so it can be removed from the cell.

3. Why do you think it took so long to discover the structure of DNA?

Cells are small, the nucleus is smaller, and DNA is smaller yet. Even after we
removed the DNA from the strawberries, you can see the structure of it, it just
looks like a ball of snot.

©CrazyScienceLady