With a rush of excitement, I also recalled that the huge, naturally lit foyer is lined with glass writing boards. Zealous with enthusiasm, I began developing a Flashback Flipped Friday lesson plan. A 30 minute vodcast covers the basics of macromolecule structure https://youtu.be/6aKEuXdMwck. I opt for calling it Flashback because I draw everything (modeling the building of knowledge structures through multimodal approaches) - no PowerPoint Slides. I create a set of critical thought questions that ask students to also draw on the glass boards using the knowledge that they gained from the vodcast (assignment below).
And when the Friday comes, I am literally shaking with anticipation. We all gather near the south doors! I welcome all of my students and realize that my TAs have also come as have my GAs and then I realize, there is Bethann and a huge handful of other students who took my class semesters before. It is as if there is a carnival in town. And there is! I hand out dry erase pens, erasures, the active learning exercises. Student groups disperse as if a drop of oil has pushed their water loving bodies to the room's periphery; not a glass board is unused. The energy is off the charts as I run from one group to another, asking questions, helping with drawings and being literally "blown away" by the sexy minds that I encounter.
Later that day, as I talked with one of my students in office hours, he said, "Rachel, I felt like I was allowed to learn". And, perhaps, there is nothing that I can say further to champion the value of this active learning day.
We will return to the STEM foyer for our next Friday Flashback and Flip Day on September 16th!
Friday Flashback and
Flip Day (September 2nd, 2016)
- PROTEINS
Proteins
have many functions. Please make a drawing of three different things that
proteins do within cells.
For Amanda: Luffin P-1
is an antimicrobial peptide made by plants (specifically a particular Gourd).
Luffin P-1 has been shown to have anti-HIV-1 activity (Pharmaceuticals, 2015,
vol 8 and J. Struct. Biol. 2011,
174, 164–172)
The sequence of the
peptide is below:
GSPRTEYEACRVRCQVAEHGVEPRRQRRCQQVCEKRLREREGRRE
2)
Please
draw the structure of the most common amino acid in Luffin P-1.
3)
Please
examine the amino acids in Luffin P-1. Circle the basic amino acids; put a
square around the acidic amino acids. Is Luffin P-1 overall acidic or basic?
4)
If
you know that Luffin P-1 is comprised of primarily alpha-helix and no
beta-strands, please try to draw the overall secondary and tertiary structure
of this amazing peptide. Please label the amino and carboxyl termini and note
which amino acids are there. Please also try to hypothesize (and label) the
location of at least three other amino acids in the above sequence.
5)
Would
Luffin P-1 be ‘happy’ dissolved in water? (Answer this question by using an
approach such as that you used in #3).
6)
Luffin
P-1 does not have quaternary structure. Try drawing a protein that has
quaternary structure.
7)
In
the drawing that you made of the protein with quaternary structure in #6
(above), find an alpha helix that has one side that faces the inside of the
protein and one side that faces the outside. This type of alpha-helix is called
an amphipathic alpha helix (this means it is a helix with a ‘dual nature’!)
Pick out one amino acid that would be each side of the dual natured alpha
helix.
II.
CARBOHYDRATES
1)
Draw
a molecule of glucose. On your picture, show the way in which one –OH on glucose
would interact with one molecule of water.
2)
Draw
a second molecule of glucose and show what would happen if it were linked to
the first molecule of glucose. What molecule is lost and what is the name of
the resulting bond.
3)
Both
cellulose and glycogen are polysaccharides composed of glucose subunits. Some
microorganisms can use cellulose as a food source but humans cannot. Why? What
does this have to do with ruminants?
III.
NUCLEIC ACIDS
1)
Draw
the full structure of the following short fragment of DNA. 5’GCTAC3’.
2)
How
would you know that the above molecule was DNA if you hadn’t been told?
3)
Label
the purines and pyrimidines in your DNA drawing.
4)
Label
the 3’-5’ phosphodiester bonds in your DNA drawing.
5)
What
would change if the molecule you drew was RNA and not DNA? Why is DNA and not
RNA, the molecule of life?
IV.
LIPIDS
1)
Draw
a phospholipid
2)
Label
the nonpolar (hydrophobic tails) on your phospholipid; label the polar head
group.
3)
Note
the location on this molecule that would differ if it were a TAG instead of a
phospholipid.
4)
Show
a drawing that indicates how your drawn phospholipid would fit into a
biological membrane.
Finally, be sure that you label the repeating subunits in
your drawing of the protein, the nucleic acid and the carbohydrate.
When everything is done,
write your group member’s names on the drawing and have one group member who
has a camera on his/her smart phone, take a photo of your drawing masterpiece.
You will find an assignment on WyoCourses where you can upload a pdf of this
photo. It is due before Monday at midnight. Thanks for the Flipped Friday Fun!!
