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This afternoon Jake and I were sitting in the kitchen having a snack and he asked me,

“Mom, what vowels make the “g” say “juh” instead of “guh?”

So I was trying to think of some examples and thought of “genes” and “gigantic.”  Then I said,

“But not the kind of jeans that you wear, the kind of genes that make up your genetic code.”

Then I’m thinking, What am I getting myself into, trying to explain what genes are!? But I already started it, so then I said,

“Like the DNA code…”  And I looked at Jake and started to try and explain what DNA is.  But he stopped me, waved his little 5 year old hand in the air as if to motion me to stop and said,

“I know what DNA is, Mom.”

I said, “You do?”

He said, “Yeah.”

I said, “Okay, what is it?”

He said, “You know, they’re like the building blocks of life.”

I know this kid well, so I was only mildly surprised at his answer.  Mostly I was just glad that I wasn’t going to have to do any more explaining of a subject that I know nothing about, so I said, “Yeah, you’re right.”  Then he started thinking more about DNA and asked me,

“So is DNA alive?  Like a cell or a molecule?”  So at that point, I said the only thing I could say,

”I don’t know.  Let’s Google it and find out.”  He said,

“Google it?!  What’s Google?”

My little Jakob Hays Yoakum may be able to tell me what DNA is, but at least I get to teach him how to “Google” things!

So we Googled his question about DNA and then we Googled his other question from earlier that day, “Why is it called a “Jack-o-lantern?”

So in case you are wondering or have an emerging little gifted scientist on your hands like I do, here are the answers to his questions that we found…

DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic Acid. DNA is not technically alive. However, it is contained in all living things. Even single celled organisms, bacteria, and viruses contain DNA. It contains genes that carry the information about a living creature. So, it carries the information that determines what a thing will look like, what diseases it may be more prone to, how the thing will function, and so on. It also is needed for an organism to create cells, proteins, and RNA. This is why DNA is often referred to as a blueprint. Though, as stated before it’s not technically alive.

AND

A jack-o’-lantern is typically a carved pumpkin. It is associated chiefly with the holiday of Halloween and was named after the phenomenon of strange light flickering over peat bogs, called ignis fatuus or jack-o’-lantern.