TeachDNA
Seattle, Washington, United States
About the store
Background: academic research in molecular/cellular/developmental biology.
Aim: making molecular biology more accessible, using puzzle-toys and cartoons.
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Amino Acids DIY Sticker Sheet
Use the code to build peptides that spell out words! DIY gamify the essentials of molecular biology! Some assembly required, jumbo 'trombone' paper clips and double-stick tape not included. The amino acid cartoons are redrawn from The Way Life Works by Hoagland and Dodson - same exact cartoons as shown in our Genetic Code.
Not Specific
Biology
NGSS
HS-LS1-1
Our Friendliest Genetic Code Chart (RNA version)
This is the best Genetic Code chart ever! For novices, that is. Those 20 proteinogenic amino acids are real characters! Each has its own charming personality. They do fall into four nice categories of side-chain chemical quality, indicated by colored backgrounds. The idea for drawing side-chain atoms as kissing circles, and the representation of the invariant amino acid backbone as a simple chain-link, came from Mahlon Hoagland and/or Bert Dodson. Page 121 of their wonderful 1995 book The Way
Not Specific
Biology
NGSS
HS-LS1-1
Our Friendliest Genetic Code Chart (DNA version)
This is the best Genetic Code chart ever! For novices, that is. Those 20 proteinogenic amino acids are real characters! Each has its own charming personality. They do fall into four nice categories of side-chain chemical quality, indicated by colored backgrounds. The idea for drawing side-chain atoms as kissing circles, and the representation of the invariant amino acid backbone as a simple chain-link, came from Mahlon Hoagland and/or Bert Dodson. Page 121 of their wonderful 1995 book The Way
Not Specific
Biology
NGSS, TEKS, VA SOL
HS-LS1-1
, SCIENCE.BIO.1.G
, SCIENCE.BIO.5.A
+5
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About the store
Experience
Background: academic research in molecular/cellular/developmental biology.
Aim: making molecular biology more accessible, using puzzle-toys and cartoons.
Teaching style
Years of experience developing "Essentials of Biology" course for non-science majors at lower-echelon colleges, serving many students with zero content knowledge from high school, low literacy, and underdeveloped thinking skills, inspires me to try and meet learners near where they're coming from. Nature is awesome, science is fun, and the basics of molecular biology is not all that complicated!
Awards & shining teacher moments
Years and years ago I won an NIH postdoctoral fellowship to study the coordination of cytoplasmic polarity with cell cycle events in the early embryo of Caenorhabditis elegans. I ended up studying something else, but that's science: serendipitous!
Now I'm carrying on the work of Judy Hauck, a shining teacher who urged the creation of a new kind of DNA structure modeling kit, based on cartoons in the amazing book The Way Life Works (1995). Judy's father Mahlon Hoagland was a pioneer of molecular biology, and an amateur artist too; he partnered with professional artist Bert Dodson to create this book, and then the modular kinetic sculpture which we now call PlayDNA!
My own education history
I flunked high school genetics. I found it extremely boring, so I spent class time drawing comics or sleeping. My own parents are scientifically illiterate. I didn't discover science until second year of college - serendipity again.
As a youngster, I thought I would grow up to make a living drawing comic books. But I never had a really good story to tell. Now I do!
Additional biographical information
More information can be found online: TeachDNA.net
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