Year 10

Science
Lesson 2 – mutations and types of mutations

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022
 Handy tips for this lesson
View the lesson in slide show mode to use the buttons:

• Use the arrows in the top right corner to go to the next or previous
slide.

• Click the home button to go back to the first slide.

• Some slides have audio. Click on the speaker button to listen.

• Some slides may ask you a question. Have a go, then click the
answer button.

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022
 Learning intention
To understand the different types of mutations.

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022
 You will need

• A pen and a piece of paper or a laptop to record your answers.

• You may need the internet to search for answers.

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022
 Key terms
Mutations – a change in the genetic code.

Nucleus – the central part of the cell; think of this as the ‘brain’ of the
cell, it controls the cell.

Organisms – a form of life, such as plants, animals and fungi.

Chromosome – is an organised piece of DNA.

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022
 Questions

• Why is a nucleus important for almost every cell?

• How do organisms grow, repair and reproduce?

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022
 Answers
• Why is a nucleus important for almost every cell?
o The nucleus contains the cell’s chromosomes which encode genetic material.
o Responsible for all cell functions and activities.

• How do organisms grow, repair and reproduce?

o Cell division.

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022
 Mutations task
Sometimes when cells divide, as the cell copies itself, the DNA can sometimes make
mistakes. These are known as mutations.

• Whisper the following sentence to someone then ask them to write it down:

o ‘Rabbits rumble, giants grumble, dogs bark in the dark, and wolves woo in the blue.’

• Ask that person to repeat it to another person and get them to write it down.
• Would the message stay the same?
• Would the meaning change?

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022
 Types of mutations

There are many types of mutations. In this lesson the focus is on point
mutations.
There are 3 types of point mutations:
• base substitution
• base insertion
• base deletion.

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022
 Let's use an example

THE RED CAT ATE THE RAT

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022
 Base substitution example
If there was a point mutation, the sentence would change to:

THE REF CAT ATE THE RAT

Source: DNA mutation, https://www.yourgenome.org/facts/what-types-of-mutation-

are-there [CC BY 4.0] https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022
 Base insertion example

If an insertion were to mutate the sentence 'THE RED CAT ATE THE RAT',
then it might read:

THE CRE DCA TAT ETH ERA T

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022
 Base deletion example

A deletion would do something similar to the sentence:

THE EDC ATA TET HER AT

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022
 Codons
THE RED CAT ATE THE RAT

Codon

In its simplest form, a codon is code for a message.

A point mutation can cause a change to the message in different ways.

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022
 Activity
Create your own example to show the 3 types of mutations:
• substitution
• insertion
• base.

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022
 Mutations – positive or negative
Key ideas
Positive:
• Diversity

Negative:
• Disease like cancer

Important note:
Mutations are not always a bad thing. There are positives and negatives to mutations.

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022
 Summary
• When cells divide, the DNA can sometimes make mistakes and it can
change the genetic code.
• Mutations can occur in many ways (substitution, insertion, deletion).
• Mutations can be positive and negative.

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022
 Challenge
In our example, we used random letters to show how codons are made
up of 3 letters.
DNA is made up of 4 bases, which are represented by 4 letters.
What are they?

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022
 Copyright statement
The Department for Education, South Australia, has created teaching and curriculum resources
to support students during the staged return to school in 2022.

The resources are available for students, parents and teachers in South Australia, where students
are undertaking remote learning.

The material has been produced and communicated on behalf of the State and, to the extent
necessary, in reliance on section 113P and/or Part VII of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).

If you believe you own or otherwise have an interest in the copyright in any aspect of these
materials and object to its use, please notify education.customers@sa.gov.au

© Department for Education, the Government of South Australia, Learning at home, 2022