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Ellis Abel Learns.

In my own words · Cedar Rapids, IA

Why I love DNA

Astronaut Kate Rubins holds a handheld DNA sequencer while running a gene sequencing experiment aboard the space station. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Genetics" page — read by families in Cedar Rapids, IA.
Astronaut Kate Rubins holds a handheld DNA sequencer while running a gene sequencing experiment aboard the space station. NASA · Public domain
  • There are instructions inside me.
  • I got half from each parent.
  • Almost all of it is the same in everybody.

You can love DNA in Cedar Rapids.

What it really is

DNA is a long instruction set copied into nearly every cell you have.

Three things to try today

  1. List three things you got from each parent.
  2. Find one that skipped a generation.
  3. Find out what a trait is.
Astronaut Kate Rubins holds a handheld DNA sequencer while running a gene sequencing experiment aboard the space station. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Genetics" page — read by families in Cedar Rapids, IA.
Astronaut Kate Rubins holds a handheld DNA sequencer while running a gene sequencing experiment aboard the space station. NASA · Public domain

For the grown-up reading this

The Cedar Rapids, IA metro area has about 279,285 residents, ranking 183rd in the country. Interest comes first and skill comes second, in that order, always. This page is for the first part.

Humans are about 99.9% identical genetically. Say the number; it lands.

If the kid who loves this is a girl

Read what one popular teacher said to one little girl who took out the classroom trash without being asked — and what that girl did with the rest of her life.

Girls are great at math — Cedar Rapids, IA →

Love something else too

Astronaut Ricky Arnold processes swab samples of microbes collected from space station surfaces at a work station. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Germs" page — read by families in Cedar Rapids, IA.Why I love germsA research laboratory seen from outside through a glass window, with a scientist inside preparing samples for analysis. Real USGS photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Science" page — read by families in Cedar Rapids, IA.Why I love scienceA wide-angle view of the flight control room of NASA's Mission Control Center, filled with rows of consoles and display screens. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Technology" page — read by families in Cedar Rapids, IA.Why I love technologyLong rows of black cabinets housing the Discover supercomputer at the NASA Center for Climate Simulation. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Computers" page — read by families in Cedar Rapids, IA.Why I love computersTwo small AstroPi Raspberry Pi computers with camera modules floating in the Columbus laboratory of the space station. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Coding" page — read by families in Cedar Rapids, IA.Why I love codingA close-up of one row of the Discover supercomputer, showing about 2,000 processors stacked in cabinets with cabling. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Data" page — read by families in Cedar Rapids, IA.Why I love dataThe Robonaut 2 humanoid robot, with a gold-visored head and two jointed arms, mounted inside the Destiny laboratory of the space station. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Robotics" page — read by families in Cedar Rapids, IA.Why I love robotsThe tracked crawler-transporter carries a mobile launcher platform and twin solid rocket boosters along the crawlerway toward Launch Pad 39A. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Engineering" page — read by families in Cedar Rapids, IA.Why I love engineering

Near Cedar Rapids

Why I love DNA, everywhere in the US · All things to love · STEM jobs you could do · Summer camps in Cedar Rapids