Natural Science - Year II
Unit 60: Crick, Watson, and DNA
Course Materials are always under revision! Weblecture content may change anytime prior to two weeks before scheduled chat session for content.
History Weblecture for Unit 60
| This Unit's | Homework Page | History Lecture | Science Lecture | Lab | Parents' Notes |
History Lecture for Unit 60: Unravelling the Structure of DNA
For Class
- Period: 1900-1970
For the interactive timelines, click on an image to bring it into focus and read notes.
Click on the icon to bring up the timeline in a separate browser window. You can then resize the window to make it easier to read the information.
Click here: Timeline PDF to bring up the timeline as a PDF document. You can then click on the individual events to see more information if you want. Exploring this version of the timeline is optional!
- Geographic Location: Europe and America
- People to know: George Beadle and Edward Tatem, Hershey and Chase, Francis Crick and James Watson
- See science topics: DNA Structure and Genetic Inheritance
Lecture:
Reading Notes
The Discovery of DNA
The story of the discovery of DNA is one of the great tales of the human scientific endeavor. For a century, many people experimented, published, and debated the original and structure of the chemicals which control inheritance of particular characteristics and the functions of the cell.
- Identify the discovery of each of the following people, and be able to show how it contributed to the eventual understanding of the function and structure of DNA:
- 1860s: Friedrich Meischer
- 1908: Archibald Garrod
- 1928: Frederick Griffith
- 1940s: Beadle and Tatum
- 1944: Avery, MacLeod, McCarty
- 1952: Hershey and Chase
- 1953: Rosalind Franklin and MHF Wilkins
- 1953: Francis Crick and James Watson
Study/Discussion Questions:
- What is DNA? Where in the cell is it found?
- What experimental proof showed that particular gene controlled at least one particular trait?
- What experimental proof determined whether DNA or proteins carried the "inheritance information"?
- What experimental evidence did Rosalind Franklin assemble?
- How did Watson and Crick interpret Franklin's evidence?
Further Study/On Your Own
- You can read about Friedrich Meischer's discovery of DNA.
© 2005 - 2019 This course is offered through Scholars Online, a non-profit organization supporting classical Christian education through online courses. Permission to copy course content (lessons and labs) for personal study is granted to students currently or formerly enrolled in the course through Scholars Online. Reproduction for any other purpose, without the express written consent of the author, is prohibited.