Logansport fifth-graders learn to extract strawberry DNA

Over the past two weeks, students in Logansport's Ivy Tech Community College's Phi Theta Kappa honors society have been teaching local fifth-graders about DNA and how food has changed over time.

Ivy Tech students spent time at Franklin Elementary School on Nov. 29 to conduct a DNA extraction experiment with students.

Instead of finding DNA from humans, the students used strawberries, which they can extract and isolate within a matter of minutes due to it yielding more than DNA than other fruits.

Ivy Tech students then added isopropyl alcohol in the tube and the kids stirred the liquid to find the DNA.

Carrie Sherer, president of Beta Gamma Zeta, the Ivy Tech-Logansport campus chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, said the honors society has worked with students in the schools for a few years now, focusing on science experiments for the group's Honors in Action project.

Sherer added she most enjoys seeing the reactions of kids embracing the lesson and experiment.