How to Make a DNA Nucleotide Model
- 1). Paint four styrofoam balls black to represent deoxyribose sugar and four styrofoam balls yellow to represent the phosphate groups. Paint one styrofoam ball each of the remaining colors (red, blue, green, and purple) to represent the four possible bases in the nucleotide (adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine).
- 2). With a toothpick, attach a black styrofoam ball representing the deoxyribose sugar to a yellow styrofoam ball representing the phosphate group. This structure represents the sugar-phosphate nucleotide "vertebra" that joins to form the "backbone" of DNA. Repeat for the other black and yellow styrofoam balls.
- 3). Using a toothpick, attach one of the styrofoam balls representing the bases to the black styrofoam ball at a right angle to the yellow ball representing the phosphate group. Repeat for the other bases and sugar-phosphate models. All four DNA nucleotides are then represented by the four models constructed. To connect the nucleotides together to form a DNA chain, use a toothpick to connect the phosphate group of one nucleotide to the sugar of another nucleotide. To construct double-stranded DNA, align the bases so that adenine pairs with thymine, and cytosine pairs with guanine.
Source...