James Watson

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/james-watson

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was James Watson born?April 6, 1928
2. Where was James Watson born?Chicago, Illinois, USA
3. What is the career?American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist
4. What did James Watson discover about DNA?James Watson helped discover that DNA has a double helix shape, like a twisted ladder.
5. Who did James Watson work with to figure out DNA's shape?He worked with Francis Crick, using X‑ray data from Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins.

Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA): The molecule that carries the genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth, and reproduction of all known organisms.
Double Helix: The characteristic twisted ladder shape of DNA, formed by two complementary polynucleotide strands.
X-ray Diffraction: A technique used to determine the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, crucial in discovering DNA's shape.
Human Genome Project: A landmark international scientific collaboration to map and sequence all the genes of the human genome.