Weekly Update-February 7th

Dear Families,
This week we would like to highlight an amazing experience in our science lab.  We had a visit from a staff member at the DNA Lab from Cold Spring Harbor.  She brought special equipment which allowed the children to get a close up view of mutated flies and worms.  Continue reading to find out what your child thought about the experience...

Becca: I liked looking at the pennies up close.  I was able to see the rust.

Stephanie: It was cool seeing the worms and fruit flies close up.

Madeline: I "liked" watching the worms eat the bacteria in the Petri dish.

Trevor: I saw a fly under the microscope that had three heads and that was cool.

Austin: I saw an albino fruit fly.  It was different from all the rest and that was really cool.

Caitlin: I couldn't believe how tiny the worms were.  It was weird when they moved under the microscope.

Jared: I was surprised by how small the fruit flies were.

Kyra: I saw a pupa from the fruit flies and it didn't have any arms or legs!

Emilie: I was amazed by how tiny the worms were and how you could only see them under the microscope.  I looked at two types of worms.  One was curved like a C and one was curved like an S.  The C worm was mutated.

Adam: I liked looking at the mutated fruit flies because they were so different than the normal ones.  I saw an all gold fruit fly and normally fruit flies are black with red eyes.

Brian: My favorite part was looking at the worms.  It was really cool to see them moving. 

Logan: I enjoyed learning about all the different mutations in humans.  We talked about insulin and keratin.  Keratin is what makes your hair and nails grow. 

Steven: I enjoyed looking at the mutated worms under the microscope because it was cool to see them moving.

Chris: I enjoyed looking at the penny under the microscope.  I thought it was so cool that I could see Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial.

Daniel: I liked seeing the worms move.  The worms we were looking at were tiny instead of big like regular worms. 

PJ: I saw the worms moving under the microscope.  The mutated fruit flies were curled into a ball and didn't have wings.

Alites: Overall, the experience taught us how similar our genetic makeup is to other living things.  Did you know that a human and a fruit fly share 60 percent of the same genetic makeup?

A sample lab sheet.