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Model Viruses
- Play-dough
- Q-Tips
- Pipe Cleaners
- Ziplock Bag
- Scissors
We'll use the image below of a Corona virus as a template to create our model.
Spikes - help stick to surfaces.
Lipid Bilayer - act as the outer 'walls' of the virus.
Capsid - provides protection to the genetic material.
Genetic Material - the 'blueprint' of the virus.
- Use play-dough to make a hollowed ball about the size of a tennis ball. The play-dough will act as the body 'or lipid bilayer' of the virus.
- Cut the q-tips in half. Stick the q-tips on the outer surface of the play-dough ball. The q-tips will act as the Spikes of the virus.
- Place a pipe cleaner in a ziplock bag. Place the bag in the center of the play-dough ball. The pipe cleaner act as the genetic information or blueprints while the bag act as the capsid.
Viruses cause many diseases such as the common cold or COVID-19 - these are tiny, almost imperceptible beings that infect living beings to make more copies of themselves.
There are predominantly two kinds of shapes found amongst viruses: rods, or filaments, and spheres. The rod shape is because of the linear array of the nucleic acid and the protein subunits making up the capsid. The sphere shape is a 20-sided polygon.