This set of slides was designed for remote learning during the 2020 pandemic. In regular circumstances, students would practice labeling DNA on paper and we would go over the images together.

I have also used neon markers where students draw their own double helix on their desks and label the structures. I even have a set of DNA models for students to put together and practice modeling replication.

Freshman students would do a DNA coloring activity which described the difference between DNA and RNA, or construct paper models of DNA.

This drag and drop activity attempts to recreate some of these interactive learning experiences by having students label DNA models by dragging boxes to the correct spot on Google Slides. The first slide shows the basic structure of DNA where students label the nucleotides, deoxyribose, purines, phosphates, deoxyribose, and hydrogen bonds.

Other slides go into detail about how replication occurs on the leading and lagging strand. Students label the enzymes involved in process (ligase, polymerase, helicase, primase) and identify the 3′ and 5′ ends of the molecule.

Finally students answer basic questions about DNA and the process of replication by typing answers into the slides and reordering boxes to show the sequence of events that occur during replication.