Lesson: DNA Discovery and Structure Biology

Students will be able to

• describe the structure of DNA as a polymer composed of many nucleotides joined by phosphodiester bonds forming a sugar–phosphate backbone,
• recall that DNA is held in a double-helix shape by hydrogen bonds that form between complementary base pairs,
• understand that DNA is read in the – direction,
• apply knowledge of DNA base pairings to simple calculations,
• recall that the double helix model of DNA was proposed by Watson and Crick,
• outline the contributions of Rosalind Franklin to the discovery of DNA structure.