Activity for The Double Helix

This activity explores the concepts and research presented in the short film The Double Helix, which tells the story of the discovery of the molecular structure of DNA.

James Watson and Francis Crick collected and interpreted key evidence to determine that DNA molecules take the shape of a twisted ladder, a double helix. The film presents the challenges, false starts, and eventual success of their chase, culminating in the classic 1953 publication in Nature on the structure of DNA. Rarely seen archival footage is combined with interviews with some of today’s leading scientists to bring this landmark discovery and all of its implications to life. The “Student Handout” probes students’ understanding of the key concepts addressed in the film. The “Educator Materials” document provides suggested pause points in the film with questions for students, background information, and detailed discussion points; a list of related resources and references; and an answer key for the “Student Handout.”

The “Resource Google Folder” link directs to a Google Drive folder of resource documents in the Google Docs format. Not all downloadable documents for the resource may be available in this format. The Google Drive folder is set as “View Only”; to save a copy of a document in this folder to your Google Drive, open that document, then select File → “Make a copy.” These documents can be copied, modified, and distributed online following the Terms of Use listed in the “Details” section below, including crediting BioInteractive.