IN THE CLASSROOM -- Celling out

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT BEACH - With the classic Mission Impossible theme song

thumping in the background, two junior FBI agent look-alikes described

the function of transfer and messenger ribosomal nucleic acid, or RNA, in

animal cells.

“We’re sort of like the detectives of the animal cell,” explained

Nathan Cramer, 12.

As a little life-science review, the function of messenger RNA is to

decode DNA into a readable form and act as the messenger between the DNA

and protein-producing ribosomes in cells.

The function of transfer RNA is to read the messenger RNA and bring

amino acids to ribosomes in the proper sequence.

Whatever all that means.

It was supposed to be an hour packed with student presentations. But a

strange epidemic kept 20 seventh-grade students in two sections of Karin

Nieto’s science class home Monday.

I am quite sure those students were cursing their bad luck -- getting

sick the day they were supposed to do their presentations.

So instead of 20 or so presentations, there were a few per class --

but those were excellent.

The assignment was to give an oral presentation about one part of an

animal cell, informing the class about its size, function and

composition, while being dressed up as that part of the cell -- thus the

spy twins representing the RNA.

Another descriptive duo was Alex Flores and Joseph Lavers, both 12,

who depicted the nucleus and nucleoli of a cell.

As the nucleus, Alex wore a big red box on his front, which contained

his nucleoli, Joseph, who wore a smaller red box. Joseph popped out of

Alex’s nucleus box throwing plastic ribosomes, because as we all know,

the job of the nucleoli is to make ribosomes.

All in all it was quite an educational experience. It made me realize

just how much I forget.

* IN THE CLASSROOM is a weekly feature in which Daily Pilot education

writer Danette Goulet visits a campus within the Newport-Mesa Unified

School District and writes about her experience.

FYI

WHO: Karin Nieto’s seventh-grade life-science classes

WHAT: Act the part of animal cell organelles

WHERE: Ensign Intermediate School

LESSON: This presentation was the culmination of the animal cell unit.