Where did the virus come from?

Where did the virus come from? What is it made of?

Students will understand what the coronavirus is made out of and how it came to infect humans.

Poll

How did humans first become infected with Covid-19?

• Another human had it first

• It came from an animal

• It came from outer space

• A human created it

Poll

Which animal did the Covid-19 virus come from?

Bats

• Bats are known carriers of the coronavirus.

• In 2003 there was another coronavirus threat linked to bats

• Bats tested in the first Covid-19 hotspot have a similar viral genome to the virus found in humans

Multiple Choice

How do we know that this virus came from bats?

• humans and bats have similar DNA

• They found a sick bat with Covid

• The viral genetics

• We don't know

The Genetics of Covid-19

• Covid-19 is an RNA strand virus

• These strands of RNA have a genetic code that tells a host cell how to build more of it.

• The RNA is the instruction manual

• The viral covid RNA found in bats is very similar to the viral covid RNA found in humans

What is RNA?

Ribonucleic acid

• RNA is a strand of genetic information made from nucleotides

• Nucleotides are the structural parts of RNA and DNA

Multiple Choice

What are the structural parts of RNA and DNA called?

• Ribosomes

• Nucleotides

• Ribonucleic Acid

• Spikes

Nucleotides

• Nucleotides are found in both RNA and DNA.

• There are 4 nucleotides that make RNA (Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Uricil)

Groups of Nucleotides

• Three nucleotides next to each other make up a "Codon"

• Codons code for amino acids (protein)

• Proteins code for EVERYTHING in the cell (genetic traits, hormones, enzymes)

Multiple Choice

A group of three nucleotides next to each other make up a...

• Codon

• RNA strand

• nucleic acid

• Base pair

Recap:

• Covid-19 is a RNA strand virus which means all of virus's genetic information is one strand of RNA

• RNA is a single strand of genetic information that tells the cell what proteins to make

• The cell looks at 3 nucleotides next to each other that code for amino acids

• The amino acids will then make proteins or more virus

Open Ended

Using what we just covered, how did scientists know that bats were the cause of our current Covid-19 virus?

Multiple Choice

What are the structural parts of RNA and DNA called?

• Ribosomes

• Nucleotides

• Ribonucleic Acid

• Spikes