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Amino Acid Starter Kid 6-Group Set
Amino Acid Starter Kit 6-Group Set
Teaching Points
Students explore the shape and chemical properties of the 20 amino acid sidechains with engaging plastic models. The sidechains feature dual coloring schemes – color on the plastic clip indicates chemical properties, while the individual atoms of the sidechains are colored by atom type. Since understanding protein structure begins with this unique combination of shape and chemical properties of the amino acid sidechains, students will gain a basic knowledge of the laws that determine protein folding.
Protein folding is influenced by several factors, one of which is the chemical properties of the amino acid sidechains. Through this exercise, students will explore the chemical properties that dictate the way a protein will fold. A flexible, foam-covered wire represents the backbone of the peptide to which the plastic sidechains are attached.
Models in this Collection
- 12 Amino Acid Starter Kits
- 1 Chemical Properties Circle with rubber bumpers for each amino acid
- 22 plastic amino acid sidechains (1 of each amino acid, plus 1 additional cysteine and 1 additional histidine)
- 1 four-foot Mini-Toober
- 2 Mini-Toober Endcaps (1 red and 1 blue)
- 6 Hydrogen Bond Connectors
- Amino Acid Sidechain List
Amino Acid Starter Kit© Teacher Resources:
Amino Acid Starter Kit© Contents and Assembly Directions
Find information about the contents of your Amino Acid Starter Kit© and directions for assembling the pieces so you and your students can start folding proteins.
Amino Acid Starter Kit© Introduction
Proteins are large, linear polymers of amino acids that spontaneously fold into complex 3D shapes. The Introduction describes the activities in the three student handouts.
Amino Acid Starter Kit© Teacher Notes
Provide your students with a basic understanding of how proteins fold by focusing on 4 teaching points.
Amino Acid Starter Kit© Student Handout 1 and Key
Using engaging tools, your students learn the chemical properties and structure of amino acid side chains, determine a primary sequence and explore tertiary structure by folding a protein with a: hydrophobic core, disulfide bond and hydrophilic amino acids on the surface.
Amino Acid Starter Kit© Student Handout 2 and Key
In this next protein folding activity, your students will learn about secondary structure by folding an alpha helix and beta sheet to form a zinc finger. Zinc fingers are a repeating motif found in many DNA binding proteins.
Amino Acid Starter Kit© Student Handout 3 and Key
In this third activity, your students will explore enzymes before folding their own active site. They will learn that active sites are formed by amino acids that are far apart in the protein's primary secquence. They also will discover how secondary structure provides stability for the protein to function.
Amino Acid Side Chain Chart©
Your students will use this chart to identify amino acid side chains. It features a dual color scheme for the chemical properties and atomic structure of side chains.
Amino Acid Starter Kit© Videos
Explore a variety of videos to help enhance your use of the Amino Acid Starter Kit and classroom study of amino acids and proteins.
Amino Acid Starter Kit© Digital Student Modeling Activities
Students can build an amino acid and identify its parts, join amino acids to build a protein chain, identify and sort the 20 different side chains and answer thought questions.
Amino Acid Starter Kit© Additional Activities
There are many variations to the basic mini toober 3D protein folding exercise described in Student Handout 1. Examples of variations include reversible denaturation, reverse engineering, and the effects of mutation, among others.
Genetic Codon Chart©
Your students will build a seamless connection between the triplet codon in mRNA and the chemical property of the amino acid it encodes, since this chart features the same color scheme as 3DMD's Amino Acid Side Chain Chart.
Amino Acid Starter Kit© Jmol Tutorials
Explore Jmol tutorials on amino acids and protein folding.