DNA Keychain Directions

Materials: Bag of beads / 2 Wires / Key ring

Procedure
1. Separate your wires. With a marker, color the ends of one wire. This wire will be your “outside wire”. The
plain, marker-free, white wire will be you’re “inside wire.”

2. The beads in your plastic bag represent the 3 parts of the DNA molecule, phosphates, deoxyribose sugar,
and nitrogen bases.

a. Black represents the phosphate.

b. White represents the deoxyribose sugar.
c. The remaining colors represent the nitrogen bases. Choose a color and shade key on your lab paper.

3. Take your “outside wire” and fold in half to a “U” shape. String the beads on the “outside wire” exactly as
seen in the picture below.

N N
P S B B
S P

4. Take your “inside wire.” Add your next pair of nitrogen bases. Make sure they are correctly matched.

N N
B B

N N
P S B B
S P
5. Make sure your beads are in the middle and your wires are even. In the next step, you will be connecting
the wires together. One the “outside” wire, add a sugar (white bead) and a phosphate (black bead). Take
the “inside wire” and run it through the phosphate beads on the ends.

P
P N N
B B

S S

P S N N S P
B B

6. This step will set up the pattern to finish beading your key chain. You will keep adding base pairs to the
“inside wire”, correctly matched. You will add sugars and phosphates to the “outside wire.” As you add
phosphates, you will run the “inside wire through the phosphate beads and the nitrogen base pairs as seen
in the picture.

P P
N N
B B S
S

P
P
N N S
B B
S

P
P N N
B B

S S
N N
P S B B
S P

7. Once you have used your last phosphate beads, you should have an extra pair of nitrogen bases left. Twist
the wire of each side of your double helix separately. Add your key ring to one side. Begin to twist the
sides of the ladders together. It should look like a knot of wire at the top. You have finished your key
chain.
Questions – DNA Key Chain Name:___________________________
Date:_____ / Period:___ / ws#________
1. Identify your DNA base colors:

Adenine = ________________ Guanine = _______________

Thymine = ________________ Cytosine = _______________

2. Cytosine always pairs with _______________________.

Adenine always pairs with ___________________.

3. In the space below, fill in your original DNA sequence for both sides of the double helix. You may use
abbreviations for the nitrogen bases.
**Be sure to label the sugars and phosphates!!

DNA STRAND Original (left) New Strand New Strand Original (right)
OoO
____ - ____

____ - ____

____ - ____

____ - ____

____ - ____

____ - ____

____ - ____

____ - ____

____ - ____

4. Where is DNA located in a cell?____________________________

5. What are the parts that make up the …….

a. the sides (back bone):______________________:______________________

b.the rungs of the ladder:__________________________________________

c. the building blocks:______________________________________________

6. When do cells duplicate their DNA and what is the name of the process?

When?______________________________ Name of Process?__________________________

7. What holds the base pairs together?__________________________________________

8. What information is coded in DNA?

9. What does the DNA code make?

10. What is a gene?

11. What is the word for passing of genes from parent to offspring? ____________________________

12. What parts make up a nucleotide?

_______________________ _____________________ ________________________

13. Using your key draw the 4 nucleotides below.

14. Which part(s) of the nucleotide always stays the same? ________________________________

15. What are chromosomes composed (made) of? ______________________________________