SoundBio Lab was delighted to be included in an ongoing series of workshops hosted by the Sammamish Library. Located approximately 30 minutes east of Seattle, this library just celebrated its 10th anniversary.
The Sammamish Library offers a wide variety of classes for their local community. Because of its proximity to Microsoft, families in the area tend to value STEM enrichment activities - so it was a great fit for our educational outreach program!
Our Director of Educational Outreach and SoundBio volunteer, Lauren Loh, led an enthusiastic group of 20 middle school children through two different activities over the course of 1.5 hours. We first extracted and isolated DNA from fruit, and then practiced our micro-pipetting skills. Students were assisted by four enthusiastic high school volunteers who were instrumental in preparing and cleaning up these two wetlab activities.
Blueberry DNA precipitating out at the interface.
SoundBio first led students in a short lesson about DNA and how we can extract and isolate it from plant cells. They learned about the different ingredients we add to our lysis buffer, and what role those ingredients play in extracting the DNA via separating it from proteins. They also learned that some plant genomes are large and oftentimes have >2 copies of their genome in each cell. Commercial strawberries, for example, have 8 genomes per cell (octoploid) making it a great source for an abundance of DNA.
Students were amazed to learn that when isolating DNA from fruit, you do not need a microscope to see it! There were many ‘ooh’s and ‘aahs’ as the students watched the DNA precipitate out at the last step.
We asked students to compare both strawberries and blueberries to determine which fruit yielded the most DNA. Results seemed fairly even but we think this time blueberries won. Each child got to take home their very own DNA necklace, which included their DNA placed into a 1.5ml tube clipped onto a yarn necklace.
Overall, SoundBio had a wonderful afternoon at the Sammamish Library. We hope to be invited back in the near future with new and engaging hands-on activities.
