Continuing from the previous post, I want to highlight more raps that I have been creating to teach students basic science related topics. In this post, I specifically want to discuss and share Biology-related raps that I have created. While I do not have access to the actual audio files of the raps because they are on my home computer, I can still share the lyrics to hopefully show you how I have been going about this! It all started when I got an email from a past high school teacher of mine asking me if I wanted to become an AP Biology Tutor. At first, I hesitated because it had been so long since I had taken AP Biology or any other Biology course. I was not sure that I remembered enough to teach someone else. The last thing I wanted to do was be a terrible tutor. However, I decided to be courageous and give it a try. Unfortunately, my first two tutoring sessions that I did over Teams were not what I had hoped for. Well, I had thought I explained well, it was clear that the person I was tutoring had not properly understood the concept. After some self-reflection, I decided I needed to try a different approach. That’s when I thought about making a rap song to teach this student the material. We were specifically focusing on the concept of DNA replication in this session. So, I made a rap about DNA replication. Here are the lyrics I’ve written so far:
In the nucleus where the code exists.
We got a lit double helix twist.
This beat gonna slip harder than Sierra Mist.
DNA replication, so many steps, need to make a list.
Enzymes come in; Helicase unwound.
Bonds broken; bonds rewound.
Strands separate, a zipper out in the light.
Replication fork shining real bright.
Primase creates the primer, a starting point.
New DNA strands made, together joint.
Leading strand, continuous traction.
Lagging strand, complete distraction.
Okazaki fragments created, connected like pieces of a puzzle.
Stay calm, no need to get confuzzled.
Proofread code, check for mistakes
Get the Exonuclease crew. That’s a real hot take.
Do the Mismatch Repair. Somethin you’ll really preciate.
I was delighted by what the student told me about their understanding of DNA replication after this rap. Not only did they understand the workflow of the topic better, but they also understood how the different pieces and aspects of the topic came together, even if one aspect only influenced another aspect indirectly. The presence of a higher-level understanding of the topic really heartened me, and it has only corroborated my suspicion that people learn things much better when they are engaged. While only time will tell, if you are teacher or a professor at Georgia Tech or other colleges and you are reading this and you feel like your students are struggling to grasp a concept, feel free to give something like this a try. You might find that you have a lot of fun, and that your students are much less confused! If you do try it, let me know how it goes!