Homechool Science Camp: Strawberry DNA

*I was provided with the items for Homeschool Science Camp free of charge. Please see my disclaimer at the bottom of this post for more information.


Over the last several months, we have had the opportunity to participate in Homeschool Science Camp.  We have done a lot of great projects such as Ecosystem in a Bottle, Garden in a Glove, Toothbrush Robots, and more!  Our last project for Homeschool Science Camp was to extract DNA from a strawberry.

You can find step by step directions here.

And see a video demonstration of the experiment here.



Supplies Needed:


Deionized Water
Iodized Salt
Dish Soap
Strawberry
Plastic Baggie
Paper Towel or Coffee Filter
Test Tube Rack
Conical Tube
Funnel
Craft Stick
Cold 91% Rubbing Alcohol

And if you want to make it into a necklace
yarn
Micro tube


We received the supplies for this experiment several weeks ago.  But, the liquids were not included. On the supply list it said that Deionized water could be found easily at grocery stores.  But I was not able to find it at either of the grocery stores in this town.  I spoke to a science teacher who told me I could substitute destilled water so we used that instead.

The first thing we had to do was make the lysis buffer using the water, dish soap, and salt.

Next we put the strawberry into the baggie and squished it.

We measured 35 ml of lysis buffer and added it to our squished strawberry.

We put the conical tube in the tube rack, placed the funnel over it and put the coffee filter inside.

We poured the strawberry mixture into the funnel to filter out the chunks of strawberry and only keep the liquid.

Next we poured in the rubbing alcohol, and watched the DNA rise to the top!

To complete the activity we drew out the DNA with a craft stick, put it in the Micro tube and placed the yarn around it.  This makes a little necklace that you can carry the DNA inside.

We have never done anything like this before.  The children enjoyed this activity. It is a great way for them to actually see the building blocks of life.  This would make a great hands on science project for those studying biology or botany, or for kids like mine who love science!

Disclaimer: I received the products in this kit complimentary from Monsanto as part of their #CampSci Homeschool Science Program.  I received no other compensation and all opinions are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance to the FTC regulations.