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Migratory Bird Treaty Act. On the first day, students learned about the uniqueness of fingerprints and produced their own fingerprint cards. Then they dusted "eggs" for prints to determine which of the "culprits" had handled them. The next day, students ran gels and compared the DNA of multiple bird species to see if the "eggs" belonged to a threatened or endangered species. Ms. Newkirk raved that the 6th graders did an excellent job of running the gels and that their work exceeded the performance of some high school students with whom she has worked. In a subsequent survey, students affirmed that this project is a valuable part of their grade's curriculum. 7TH GRADE In preparation for their DNALC visits, 7th graders learned where DNA is found in plant and animal cells, and what their functions are. Ms. Newkirk supplied students with materials to build DNA models that clearly illustrate the double-helix shape of the molecule and how the base pairs connect. As an introduction to extracting DNA from wheat germ, students learned about cell organelles and measurement. They used water to rehydrate the wheat germ, soap to lyse, or break down the cells, and then cold ethanol to precipitate the DNA into suspension. They saw firsthand that it's possible to see DNA with the naked eye. Like the 5th graders, students enclosed their samples in "DNA necklaces," which were theirs to keep. Tomas J. said, "I liked how immersive the class was, and how we got to take the sample home at the end." Zoe Y. said, "I enjoyed making the necklace and learning about how to extract DNA." 8TH GRADE Early in the 2024 academic year, Ms. Newkirk taught 8th-grade students how to perform DNA fingerprinting via agarose gel electrophoresis. On her first visit, students practiced how to load gels using micropipettes; on her second visit, students loaded and ran gels to analyze ten pieces of bacteriophage DNA that was cut with restriction enzymes and used with the students as DNA evidence collected at a crime scene. The students analyzed the banding patterns that formed in the gel to compare crime scene evidence along with known victims' and suspects' DNA. The 8th graders did an amazing job and solved the crime scene forensically. Later that fall, they traveled to the DNA Learning Center's location at City Tech in Brooklyn to do a bacterial transformation experiment. They genetically edited E. coli mm294 with both a green fluorescent protein gene (which is found naturally in jellyfish and gives them the ability to bioluminesce) and an ampicillin resistance gene that allowed the bacteria that successfully accepted the green fluorescent gene to survive and grow in the presence of ampicillin. Students learned that this bacterial transformation has approximately a 1 percent success rate; therefore they added ampicillin to the agar (bacteria's food source) so that all bacteria that does not take on the GFP edit will die. This leaves only the green glowing bacteria behind, which makes the results easier to see. Back at Trevor, 8th graders had been learning about human lactose tolerance, which is a genetic mutation that allows some humans to be able to produce lactase (the enzyme that breaks down the lactose in milk) through adulthood. For their experiment with Ms. Newkirk that December 2024, students genetically engineered bacteria to be able to break down X-gal, which is similar in shape and structure to lactose. As the bacteria broke this down, a genetic marker showed the bacteria as blue. Not only that: The room filled with the odor of spoiled milk. For their end-of-the-academic- year Celebration of Science, 8th graders performed a third bacterial transformation that was custom TREVOR DAY SCHOOL / 35 INSIDE TREVOR TREVOR TRANSLATES FEATURE AR TICLES ALUMNI

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