Giraffe Neck Create a scenario starting with the ancestors of giraffes having
shorter necks, and then propose mechanisms that could result in
the length of the giraffe's neck increasing over time.

the sugar-phosphate backbone forms the structural framework of nucleic acids, including dna and rna. this backbone is composed of alternating sugar and phosphate groups, and defines directionality of the molecule.

step 1: initiation

initiation is the beginning of transcription. it occurs when the enzyme rna polymerase binds to a region of a gene called the promoter. this signals the dna to unwind so the enzyme can ‘‘read’’ the bases in one of the dna strands. the enzyme is now ready to make a strand of mrna with a complementary sequence of bases.

step 2: elongation

elongation is the addition of nucleotides to the mrna strand. rna polymerase reads the unwound dna strand and builds the mrna molecule, using complementary base pairs. there is a brief time during this process when the newly formed rna is bound to the unwound dna. during this process, an adenine (a) in the dna binds to an uracil (u) in the rna.

step 3: termination

termination is the ending of transcription, and occurs when rna polymerase crosses a stop (termination) sequence in the gene. the mrna strand is complete, and it detaches from dna.

the rocks are classified by the geological process they are formed by. the three main groups of rocks are igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary. minerals are not they are classified under the chemical classes they are in. these groups include silicates, sulfates and carbonates.