We were proud to fund two laboratory projects at West Side High School in Newark NJ. Students built DNA models using gummy bears, twizzlers and toothpicks. The models had to follow the appropriate base-pairing rules for DNA and also mimic the shape of DNA.
The second lab required students to use Model Magic clay to create various different potential cell shapes. They then dropped the cell shapes into a plinko board to simulate the cell traveling through a blood vessel in the body. The students timed how long it took each different shape to make it to the bottom of the plinko board, and then used their findings to determine how cell shape affects function.