Are your students constantly asking “What is protein synthesis?”
If your students are anything like mine, then they definitely are struggling to master simple protein synthesis steps. Every year I dread teaching this particular unit in my freshman biology class because students have a hard time grasping the concepts of protein synthesis. I came up with this relay race game to make teaching and reviewing the steps of protein synthesis way more fun! Students will review the topics of transcription, translation, DNA, mRNA, ribosomes, and the nucleus.
Before we jump in, if you are looking to get students studying in your biology classroom, then I may have just the right thing for you! I have created a free guidebook that gives you 5 specific strategies that you can use to teach your students how to study. I describe in detail the 5 strategies I have used in my classroom that allowed students to be successful with biology. Teach your students to study like a rockstar today!
A modeling protein synthesis activity that students will actually love
In my opinion, protein synthesis is one of the most difficult topics in biology for students to grasp. They really struggle with this topic because it is hard to visualize, it’s complex and full of new vocabulary.
In my district, biology is taught freshman year and attached to a state standardized test in June. Students are required to pass the biology state test in order to graduate. This test definitely puts emphasis on questions related to protein synthesis. It is my job to create expert learners in the classroom that have mastered this particular standard.
But because the topic is so complex, I have really had to think about how exactly to teach it in a way to get students to mastery. The first thing I realized is that, students are not tested on many of the finer details of protein synthesis. Therefore, I have boiled down the process to the most simple protein synthesis steps.
I spend at least a week going through this process and reinforcing the vocabulary to help students achieve mastery. Near the end of teaching this topic, I really want to ensure that students understand the steps of protein synthesis. I wanted to come up with a review activity that was more engaging than just a worksheet that had students transcribing and translating DNA and RNA.
One day an idea came to me when I was driving to work. Because this process that multiple steps involved, I could have students compete in a relay-style race to take a piece of DNA and use it to build a protein. I knew that a relay race would be wayyy more fun and engaging for the students as we reviewed the steps. It also ensures that all students are accountable for their role in the game.
Classroom set up
For this review game, you will be turning your classroom into a cell. Certain locations in your room will be designated as different organelles of a cell. Students will move through the cell to complete the steps of transcription and translation to create a protein!
You will need a large open area. If working inside a classroom, it is best to move any desks or furniture to have enough room for students to be moving around the classroom. You could also play this game outside, weather depending. I have played inside and outside, and both ways working perfectly!
First, you need to choose an area of the room to represent the nucleus of the cell. I actually make the hallway outside of my classroom the nucleus. I hang a poster in the hall to represent the nucleus. Before the game, I created random DNA sequences. Around the nucleus poster, I hang my 6 DNA sequences. Because DNA is trapped inside the nucleus, the DNA sequences taped to the wall should not be removed or brought back into the classroom.
Next, you need to designate an area to be the cell’s ribosome. This is where students will move to create the protein. I usually have a table set up in the back of the room to represent the ribosome. On the table, I leave several copies of a codon chart.
Finally, you will need mini whiteboards and whiteboard markers. (If you don’t have a mini whiteboard, you could easily substitute poster paper or even computer paper with a clipboard). Because this is a relay game, students will be passing the whiteboard as the baton between group members. The whiteboard is where students will copy, transcribe, and translate their DNA sequences into protein sequences.
Rules of the relay race for modeling protein synthesis
Once you have your classroom ready, it’s time to understand the rules of the game. You will need to divide your class into groups of 4 (depending on your numbers, you can have groups of 3). You can decide how you want to divide up the class into groups.
I personally prefer to create random groups for this game. You can switch up the groups between each round so that one group does not end up dominating the game. I use a random group generator from Flippity. You just input all my students’ names and have it split the class into random groups of 4. After each round, I use the shuffle tool to switch up the groups.
Within the groups of 3 or 4 students, each student needs to be assigned a role.
Person A will run to the nucleus to replicate the DNA onto the whiteboard. Once copied they will run back into the room and pass the whiteboard off to person B.
Person B will run back to the nucleus to transcribe the DNA sequence into mRNA. They will then return to their group and pass the whiteboard to person C.
Person C will mark the codons in the mRNA using dashes to separate the sets of 3 nucleotides. Once finished, they will pass the whiteboard to person D.
Person D will run to the ribosome where they will use the provided codon chart to translate the mRNA sequence into a sequence of amino acids. Upon completion, person D will bring the board to the teacher to check for correctness.
Playing the game to review the simple steps of protein synthesis
Before we begin, I give each group a mini whiteboard and a dry-erase marker. Students will use the board to copy down the DNA sequence, then transcribe it to mRNA, and finally write out the protein sequence. As students complete their job, they will hand off the board and marker to the next person up in the relay.
Once I put students in their random groups, I let them decide who will take on which role for the first round. Students in the group need to make sure each person knows what their job entails. keep the roles posted on the board during the round so students can reference them in case they forget. I tell students that every person in the group will do each role at least once as they will switch jobs between rounds.
Before we start, I make sure to remind the students that the DNA cannot leave the nucleus so even though the DNA is copied on the board, it must physically go to the nucleus for transcription to occur.
Once everyone is ready and in their groups, I announce that the round will begin. I have all the students playing role A line up in one spot. Then I give them the 3, 2, 1 count down and we begin!! I let the round go until the first group is correct.
The first group to correctly transcribe and translate the DNA into a protein wins the round! If I see that one group begins to dominate over the rest of the groups, I do end up shuffling the teams to make it as fair as possible. I also want to make sure that each person has a chance to take on each role.
My students absolutely love this game and I think you will too! You will see ALL students fully engaged as they are reviewing the simple steps of protein synthesis. I hope you find this Protein Synthesis Relay Game helpful for your students in your high school biology classroom!
Check out some of my other protein synthesis resources at my TPT store!
I absolutely love sharing my ideas to help students become expert learners in your biology classroom. After reading this, if you feel you are ready to help your students master biology content, register for my free guidebook! Get the 5 strategies to teach your students how to study for biology so they will be more prepared than ever, especially when it comes to simple protein synthesis steps!
