Protein Synthesis Worksheets

About this resource

Teaching protein synthesis and want pages students can actually write on? This is a complete unit for grades 8-10 on how a cell uses the instructions in DNA to build a protein: DNA is copied into mRNA (transcription), the ribosome reads the mRNA three bases at a time (translation), tRNA brings the amino acids, and the chain folds into a protein. It starts with two short readings and four process cards, then moves to the codon chart, a DNA and RNA chart, transcribing and translating rows, anticodons, a labeled cell, true or false, short answers, and two cut-and-paste pages. Every student page has a "My name" line, one short instruction and real room to write. Answer keys cover every item, and a tracker, a class grid, a team note and a family page are included.

The codon chart is the standard genetic code, all 64 codons, and every answer in the keys is worked out from that one table. The file uses no formulas and no lab materials.

EVERYTHING INSIDE (42 sheets)

• 25 student sheets in 19 kinds of sheet, each with a name line and one short instruction
• 115 scored items on 18 sheets, every key built from the same strands and tables that draw the page
• 2 readings with 3 multiple-choice questions each and a main-idea box
• 4 process cards on 2 sheets (DNA, mRNA, tRNA, ribosome), each with a drawn picture and five facts
• 1 codon chart (64 codons, start codon and stop codons shaded) with 8 codon lookups; a smaller copy of the chart is printed on the translating, anticodon and whole-path sheets
• 1 vocabulary match: 6 words (transcription, translation, codon, anticodon, ribosome, amino acid)
• 1 DNA and RNA chart: 10 boxes filled from a word bank; 1 DNA, RNA or both sheet with 8 statements
• 1 worked example: make an mRNA from a DNA strand, step by step, then try one
• 1 transcribe sheet: 6 DNA strands of 8 bases each, with the base-pair strip on the sheet
• 1 translate sheet: 4 mRNA strands of 5 codons each, from the start codon to a stop codon
• 1 anticodon sheet: 6 codons, each with a tRNA anticodon and an amino acid to write
• 1 whole-path sheet: 3 DNA strands of 12 bases each, from DNA to mRNA to amino acids
• 1 label-the-cell sheet: 6 lettered parts (nucleus, DNA, mRNA, ribosome, tRNA, amino acid chain) with a word bank
• 2 true-or-false sheets (12 sentences); 2 short-answer sheets (6 questions); 1 Find the Mistake sheet (4 sentences from an invented student)
• 2 quizzes (12 items); 1 exit-ticket sheet (3 tickets); 1 self check (8 statements)
• 24 cut-and-paste pieces on 2 sheets: put 12 protein-synthesis steps in order, and sort 12 pieces into transcription or translation; each page has 12 pieces in a 4 by 3 grid, edge to edge
• 6 answer key sheets; 1 tracker, 1 class grid, 1 team note, 1 family page
• 1 filled example (an invented student), 1 phrase bank (17 starters in 6 groups)
• Start Here and a how-to-read-a-page sheet

Built For The Student Holding The Page

A "My name" line, one short instruction with a small picture cue, and a double-rule border. Nothing on a student page is written for an adult: the keys and records are on separate teacher sheets. The cell and the process cards are drawn, not described, and every base is a labeled chip students can read at a glance. The file prints clean in black and white.

The Steps, In Order

DNA stays in the nucleus. At one gene, RNA bases pair with the DNA template: A with U, T with A, C with G and G with C. The mRNA copy leaves the nucleus and reaches a ribosome. The ribosome finds the start codon, AUG. A tRNA with the matching anticodon brings an amino acid for each codon, the amino acids join into a chain, and the ribosome stops at a stop codon (UAA, UAG or UGA). The chain folds into a protein.

Invented Examples

The students in the filled example and the mistake sheet are made up and say so. The short-answer sheets have no single right sentence: the key says what to look for.

Type In, Or Print

The name line, every answer box, every check box and every ruled work box are type-in fields in any PDF reader: click one, type, then save. You can also print any page. This is a fillable PDF; it is not a Google Slides or PowerPoint file.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

A protein synthesis practice set with the record-keeping around it. It is not a lab, a timed test, a screener, a clinical tool, or a claim about any student's age or rate of progress. There is no IEP goal language or eligibility wording anywhere in the file, and it does not claim to match any one state's standards: there is a line on the tracker for your own.

If You Want More

Forms of Energy Worksheets | Sort, Match, Energy Chains, Write 6th-8th Grade; Energy Transformations Worksheets | Energy Chains, Sort, Write 6th-8th Grade.