Cube Critters Teacher s Guide Relevant Life Science Content Standards from the National Science Education Standards 5-8: Diversity and Adaptations of Organisms Hereditary information is contained in genes, located in the chromosomes of each cell An inherited trait of an individual can be determined by one or by many genes and a single gene can influence more than one trait The characteristics of an organism can be described in terms of a combination of traits Although different species might look dissimilar, the unity among organisms becomes apparent from an analysis of internal structures and the similarity of their chemical processes 9-12: The Cell The genetic information stored in DNA is used to direct the synthesis of the thousands of proteins that each cell requires 9-12: Molecular Basis of Heredity In all organisms, the instructions for specifying the characteristics of the organism are carried in DNA, a large polymer formed from subunits of four kinds (A, G, C, and T) The chemical and structural properties of DNA explain how the genetic information that underlies heredity is encoded in genes (as a string of molecular letters ) 9-12: Biological Evolution Organisms are classified into a hierarchy of groups and subgroups based on similarities which reflect their evolutionary relationships
This activity is used in my biology class when discussing RNA s role in transcription and translation. The cube acts as our string of mrna carrying the 18 traits for an imaginary creature the students will make. Each row on the cube will code for a single amino acid and to simplify things, our traits are determined by just one amino acid. This activity works best done individually but pairs would work as well. The activity can be simplified by working in groups where each student is responsible for only a fraction of the whole cube (1 side only, 2 sides, etc) and then work together on the drawing. Suggestion: The activity can also be used when discussing classification by having the students place a collection of created organisms into classes, orders, families, etc based on characteristics of their choosing. They would then need to be able to explain and justify their classification. Time 1 day in-class (approximately 45 minutes to fill out data tables) 3-5 days to complete drawing (can be shorter, I tell my students to take their time because I will hang them up both in the room and the hallway) Materials (per group): 1 Rubik s cube 1 Cube Critter handout 1 Table of Traits (can be shared between 2 or 3 groups) Unlined paper (for final drawing, I prefer to use legal size printer paper) Colored pencils, crayons, or markers Important notes: 1) Its stated on the student handout but make sure to point out to the students that the center square on each side of the cube will never change spots and that s how the faces are named. So when it says yellow face it is dealing with the side of the cube with a yellow center. 2) If you haven t covered it before this activity, it may help to explain how to use a codon table. Left side is the first base, top is the second base, right side shows the last base. 3) The diagram at the bottom of the handout shows a way to look at the cube so everyone is using the same row for the same trait. It s not absolutely necessary that everyone does this, it just helps drive the point home that even when reading everything the same way, odds are you re going to have different traits.
Cube Critters All of life as we know it is based off of DNA. Everything from the smallest and simplest organisms to the biggest and most complex creatures ever to live all begin with guanine, cytosine, adenine and thymine. To better understand the universal nature of DNA and to show how four things can create an almost infinite combination of traits, we are going to work with something most (if not all) of you are familiar with: the Rubik s Cube. Despite being composed of only six colors and 20 moveable pieces, there are 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 unique combinations that can be made. To put that into perspective, if all 7 billion people alive on Earth today made the same number of combinations, with no one repeating those of anyone else, each person would need over 600 million cubes. For this reason alone, the Rubik s Cube is perfect for our study of transcription and translation. On our cube, just like with DNA, we will have codons. In DNA, a codon is 3 bases read together and on our cube, a codon will be three squares, or one row of the cube. Each codon will code for an amino acid and in our simplified version, each amino acid will determine a trait. By the time you finish, you will have determined 18 individual traits for your organism and will then illustrate your newly designed critter. Important: The center square on each side will never change its place. When a side is mentioned by color (for example: the green side), it is referring to the side with a green square in the center spot. Each side of the cube will code for 3 specific traits, all fitting a common theme. To insure that everyone reads their code the same way, the traits will be named in the following manner. With the cube arranged: The traits will be read in the order: 1 signifies the first trait, 2 the second, and 3 the third. The a, b, and c refer to the first, second, and third base respectively for that given trait.
Procedure: 1) Scramble your Rubik s Cube thoroughly 2) Place the cube with the yellow face on the top and the orange face facing you. 3) Beginning with the top left corner of the yellow face, record the arrangement of your cube in Data Table 1 (It may be helpful to write down both the color on the cube and the base in the area provided) 4) For each set of three bases, find the corresponding amino acid on the codon table 5) Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the orange and blue faces. 6) After getting your information for the yellow, orange and blue faces, flip your cube over so the white face is on top and green face is towards you. 7) Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the three remaining faces. 8) After filling in the amino acids for all traits, complete Data Table 2 by writing the amino acid for each trait from Data Table 1 into the appropriate box and matching the amino acid to the trait description 9) Once all trait descriptions are written, draw a quick sketch of what each trait will look like in you finished critter 10) Draw and color a detailed image of your newly created critter on a separate sheet of paper, making sure to include all 18 of the traits in your drawing. Codon Table* * In a real codon table, the codons UAA, UAG, and UGA are considered stop codons where translation would end. For our activity, that would be a big problem so they are replaced with the two imaginary amino acids fakeinine and pretendisine
Green (G) = Guanine (G) Yellow (Y) = Adenine (A) White (W) = Uracil (U) Blue (B) = Cytosine (C ) Red (R) (on face with Yellow, Orange or Blue center) = Guanine (G) Red (R) (on face with White, Green, or Red center) = Adenine (A) Orange (O) (on face with Yellow, Orange or Blue center) = Uracil (U) Orange (O) (on face with White, Green, or Red center) = Cytosine (C ) Data Table 1 Face Row EXAMPLE Base 1 Base 2 Base 3 Amino Acid Color = Base Color = Base Color = Base G = G Y = A W = U Aspartic Acid Yellow Orange Trait 1 = = = Trait 2 = = = Trait 3 = = = Trait 1 = = = Trait 2 = = = Trait 3 = = = Trait 1 = = = Blue Trait 2 = = = Trait 3 = = = White Green Trait 1 = = = Trait 2 = = = Trait 3 = = = Trait 1 = = = Trait 2 = = = Trait 3 = = = Trait 1 = = = Red Trait 2 = = = Trait 3 = = =
Orange - Colorations Yellow - General Appearance Data Table 2 Face Row Amino Acid Trait Description Sketch Trait 1 - Coverings Trait 2 - Body Size Trait 3 - Body Type Trait 1 - Base Color Trait 2 - Pattern Color Trait 3 - Pattern
White - Head Structures Blue - Extremities Face Row Amino Acid Trait Description Sketch Trait 1 - Leg Length Trait 2 - Tail Type Trait 3 - Foot Type Trait 1 - Muzzle Trait 2 - Ears Trait 3 - Eyes
Red - Environment Green - Fantanstic Add-Ons Face Row Amino Acid Trait Description Sketch Trait 1 - Wings Trait 2 - Fire Color Trait 3 - Horns Trait 1 - Biome Trait 2 - Time of Activity Trait 3 - Egg Type
Yellow Face = Appearance Trait 1 - Coverings Fur Feathers Scales Smooth Asparagine Proline Aspartic Acid Alanine Glutamine Serine Cysteine Arginine Histidine Fakeinine Glycine Leucine Valine Glutamic Acid Pretendisine Lysine Isoleucine Phenylalanine Threonine Trait 2 - Body Size Dog-Sized Horse-Sized Bear-Sized Elephant-Sized Arginine Alanine Asparagine Glutamine Aspartic Acid Pretendisine Leucine Glycine Cysteine Serine Proline Histidine Fakeinine Threonine Isoleucine Glutamic Acid Valine Phenylalanine Lysine Methionine Trait 3 - Body Type Skinny Medium Big "Chunky" Asparagine Arginine Glutamic Acid Alanine Aspartic Acid Proline Glycine Cysteine Glutamine Methionine Fakeinine Histidine Valine Serine Isoleucine Leucine Threonine Phenylalanine Lysine Pretendisine
Orange Face = Colorations Trait 1 - Base Color White Black Brown Orange Yellow Isoleucine Cysteine Alanine Glutamine Phenylalanine Valine Fakeinine Glutamic Acid Pretendisine Methionine Lysine Serine Blue Green Purple Red Arginine Glycine Aspartic Acid Histidine Asparagine Proline Threonine Leucine Trait 2 - Pattern Color White Black Brown Orange Yellow Isoleucine Cysteine Alanine Glutamine Phenylalanine Valine Fakeinine Glutamic Acid Pretendisine Methionine Lysine Serine Blue Green Purple Red Arginine Glycine Aspartic Acid Histidine Asparagine Proline Threonine Leucine Trait 3 - Pattern Stripes Dots Rings Blotches Hearts Arginine Aspartic Acid Asparagine Glycine Alanine Fakeinine Cysteine Glutamine Isoleucine Proline Glutamic Acid Histidine Leucine Pretendisine Threonine Phenylalanine Serine Lysine Valine Methionine
Blue Face = Extremities Trait 1 - Leg Length Very Short Short Medium Long Very Long Alanine Glutamine Cysteine Arginine Isoleucine Glycine Histidine Fakeinine Asparagine Methionine Threonine Leucine Phenylalanine Aspartic Acid Proline Pretendisine Serine Glutamic Acid Valine Lysine Trait 2 - Tail Type None Nub Medium Long 2 Tails Fakeinine Leucine Alanine Arginine Asparagine Glutamic Acid Phenylalanine Cysteine Glutamine Aspartic Acid Histidine Threonine Serine Glycine Isoleucine Lysine Pretendisine Proline Methionine Valine Trait 3 - Foot Type Hoof 3-Toed No Claws Short Claws Long Claws Arginine Histidine Glycine Alanine Aspartic Acid Asparagine Lysine Proline Isoleucine Cysteine Glutamic Acid Serine Valine Methionine Fakeinine Phenylalanine Threonine Glutamine Pretendisine Leucine
White Face = Head Structures Trait 1 - Muzzle Short Long Short Beak Long Beak Curved Beak Arginine Aspartic Acid Asparagine Glycine Alanine Fakeinine Cysteine Glutamine Isoleucine Proline Glutamic Acid Histidine Leucine Pretendisine Threonine Phenylalanine Serine Lysine Valine Methionine Trait 2 - Ears Short Pointed Long Pointed Short Floppy Long Floppy "Dumbo" Isoleucine Glutamic Acid Alanine Asparagine Arginine Pretendisine Histidine Fakeinine Aspartic Acid Glutamine Proline Leucine Glycine Cysteine Methionine Threonine Lysine Valine Serine Pheynlalanine Trait 3 - Eyes Blue Green Black Red Arginine Glycine Alanine Asparagine Aspartic Acid Pretendisine Glutamic Acid Histidine Cysteine Proline Leucine Isoleucine Fakeinine Serine Methionine Lysine Glutamine Threonine Phenylalanine Valine
Green Face = Fantastic Add-Ons Trait 1 - Wings None Bird Insect Dragon Fairy Isoleucine Glutamic Acid Alanine Asparagine Arginine Pretendisine Histidine Fakeinine Aspartic Acid Glutamine Proline Leucine Glycine Cysteine Methionine Threonine Lysine Valine Serine Pheynlalanine Trait 2 - Fire Color Red Orange Yellow White Blue Green Glycine Fakeinine Cysteine Leucine Arginine Alanine Lysine Histidine Glutamic Acid Isoleucine Asparagine Serine Phenylalanine Proline Valine Methionine Aspartic Acid Threonine Pretendisine Glutamine Trait 3 - Horns Antlers Small Pointy Big Pointy Curly None Arginine Aspartic Acid Asparagine Glycine Alanine Fakeinine Cysteine Glutamine Isoleucine Proline Glutamic Acid Histidine Leucine Pretendisine Threonine Phenylalanine Serine Lysine Valine Methionine
Red Face = Environment Trait 1 - Biome Desert Forest Plains Artic Arginine Fakeinine Alanine Asparagine Glutamic Acid Glycine Methionine Aspartic Acid Histidine Leucine Pretendisine Cysteine Lysine Proline Glutamine Phenylalanine Valine Serine Isoleucine Threonine Trait 2 - Time of Activity Night Day Dusk/Dawn Serine Leucine Arginine Glycine Threonine Alanine Proline Valine Isoleucine Cysteine Fakeinine Aspartic Acid Glutamic Acid Lysine Asparagine Glutamine Phenylalanine Histidine Pretendisine Methionine Trait 3 - Egg Type Blue Speckled Red Speckled Striped Solid White Solid Brown Alanine Glutamine Cysteine Arginine Isoleucine Glycine Histidine Fakeinine Asparagine Methionine Threonine Leucine Phenylalanine Aspartic Acid Proline Pretendisine Serine Glutamic Acid Valine Lysine