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Genetics
This hands-on, minds-on activity helps students to understand basic principles of genetics, including (1) how genotype influences phenotype via the effects of genes on protein structure and function and (2) how genes are transmitted from parents to offspring through the processes of meiosis and fertilization.
Students use model chromosomes to demonstrate how meiosis and fertilization are summarized in Punnett squares.
In the coin flip activity, students learn about the probabilistic nature of inheritance and Punnett square predictions.
Download Student Handout: PDF format or Word format
Download Teacher Preparation Notes: PDF format or Word format
The Teacher Preparation Notes provide instructional suggestions and background information and explain how this activity is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards.
We invite comments or a brief description of any problem you might have encountered. If you would prefer to send your comments or questions in a private message, please write Ingrid Waldron at iwaldron@sas.upenn.edu.
Multiple additional genetics activities are available at https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/GeneticsConcepts.
Download Minds-On Activities for Teaching Biology
Introduction and Activities Listing
Intro and Biological Molecules
- Characteristics of Life
- Levels of Organization in Biology (NGSS)
- Introduction to Proteins and DNA (NGSS)
- Enzymes Help Us Digest Food (NGSS; hands-on)
- A Scientific Investigation – What types of food contain starch and protein? (NGSS; hands-on)
- Coronaviruses – Introduction (NGSS)
- Who Took Jerell’s iPod? -- An Organic Compound Mystery (hands-on)
- Is Yeast Alive? (hands-on)
- Macromolecules Jeopardy
Cell Structure and Function
- Cell Structure and Function – Major Concepts and Learning Activities
- Cells – How do they carry out the activities of life? (NGSS)
- Why do some plants grow in odd shapes? (NGSS)
- Introduction to Osmosis (NGSS; hands-on)
- Cell Membrane Structure and Function (NGSS; hands-on)
- Cell Vocabulary Review Game
Cellular Respiration and Photosynthesis
- Cellular Respiration and Photosynthesis - Key Concepts and Activities
- How do organisms use energy? (NGSS)
- Using Models to Understand Cellular Respiration (NGSS)
- Using Models to Understand Photosynthesis (NGSS)
- Photosynthesis, Cellular Respiration and Plant Growth (NGSS; hands-on)
- Food, Physical Activity, and Body Weight (NGSS)
- How do muscles get the energy they need for athletic activity? (NGSS)
- Alcoholic Fermentation in Yeast – A Bioengineering Design Challenge (NGSS; hands-on)
- Plant Growth Puzzle (NGSS)
- Where does a tree’s mass come from? (NGSS)
- Photosynthesis Investigation (NGSS; hands-on)
Cell Division
- Mitosis and the Cell Cycle (NGSS; hands-on)
- Mitosis and the Cell Cycle (NGSS)
- Meiosis and Fertilization – Understanding How Genes Are Inherited (NGSS; hands-on)
- Understanding How Genes are Inherited via Meiosis and Fertilization (NGSS)
- Comparing Mitosis and Meiosis
- What causes melanoma and other types of cancer? (NGSS)
- Mistakes in Meiosis – Down Syndrome or Embryo Death (NGSS)
- Mitosis, Meiosis and Fertilization Vocabulary Review Game
Genetics
- Genetics Concepts and Activities (NGSS)
- Genetics (NGSS; hands-on)
- Genetics Intro – Family Members (NGSS)
- Genetics Sickle Cell Anemia and Trait (NGSS)
- Genetics Probability – Sex Ratios (NGSS)
- Mistake in copying DNA & Dwarfism (NGSS)
- Soap Opera Genetics (NGSS)
- Were the babies switched? The Genetics of Blood Types (NGSS; hands-on)
- Dragon Genetics I (hands-on)
- Dragon Genetics II (hands-on)
- Learning about Genetic Disorders
- Genetics Vocabulary Review Game
- Genetics Jeopardy
Molecular Biology
- Molecular Biology: Major Concepts and Learning Activities (NGSS)
- DNA (NGSS; hands-on)
- DNA Function, Structure and Replication (NGSS)
- How Genes Can Cause Disease - Introduction to Transcription and Translation (NGSS; hands-on)
- How Genes Can Cause Disease - Understanding Transcription and Translation (NGSS)
- UV, Mutations and DNA Repair (NGSS; hands-on)
- What types of mutations cause more vs. less severe muscular dystrophy? (NGSS)
- Making Red Blood Cells (NGSS)
- Genetic Engineering Challenge – Preventing Vitamin A Deficiency (NGSS)
- Gene Editing with CRISPR-Cas – Potential Sickle Cell Anemia Cure (NGSS)
- Molecular Biology Vocabulary Review Game
Evolution
- Resources for Teaching and Learning about Evolution
- Evolution by Natural Selection (NGSS; hands-on)
- What is natural selection? (NGSS)
- Natural Selection and the Peppered Moth (NGSS)
- How have mutations and natural selection affected fur color in mice? (NGSS)
- How Whales Evolved (NGSS)
- How Eyes Evolved – Analyzing the Evidence (NGSS)
- How does evolution result in similarities and differences? (NGSS; hands-on)
- What is a species? (NGSS)
- Coronavirus Evolution and the COVID-19 Pandemic (NGSS)
- Evolution and Adaptations (NGSS)
Ecology
- Ecology Concepts and Learning Activities (NGSS)
- Exponential and Logistic Population Growth Models vs. Complex Reality (NGSS)
- Some Similarities between the Spread of Infectious Disease and Population Growth (NGSS; hands-on)
- Stability and Change in Biological Communities (NGSS)
- Food Webs, Energy Flow, Carbon Cycle and Trophic Pyramids (NGSS)
- Food Webs (NGSS)
- Carbon Cycles and Energy Flow through Ecosystems (NGSS)
- Trophic Pyramids (NGSS)
- Introduction to Global Warming (NGSS)
- Food and Climate Change – How can we feed a growing world population without increasing global warming? (NGSS)
- Coral Bleaching (NGSS)
- Global Warming (NGSS) (NGSS)
- Resources for Teaching about Climate Change
- The Ecology of Lyme Disease (NGSS)
Human Physiology and Health
- Negative Feedback, Homeostasis, and Positive Feedback, with Breathing Experiment (NGSS; hands-on)
- Homeostasis, Negative Feedback, and Positive Feedback (NGSS)
- How do food molecules reach our muscles? (NGSS)
- How do we Sense the Flavors of Food? (NGSS; hands-on)
- COVID-19 Vaccines (NGSS)
- Molecular and Evolutionary Biology of HIV/AIDS and Treatment (NGSS)
- Resources for Teaching Cancer Biology
- Carbohydrate Consumption, Athletics, Health – Using Science Process Skills
- Vitamins and Health – Why Experts Disagree
- Regulation of Human Heart Rate (hands-on)
- Should You Drink Sports Drinks? When? Why?
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Comments
2020 revision
The biggest change has been that parts of the Genetics Student Handout and the Genetics Supplement have been revised as individual activities:
The revised Genetics Student Handout includes improved versions of the two hands-on activities in the original Genetics Student Handout.
Remote ready individual activities
The new individual activities are all REMOTE READY!
Best wishes to all, and thank you to Dr. Waldron.
Ann
answers to genetic supplement
Are there answers for the genetic supplement? Specifically for comparing the punnet square and pedigree models?
answer key
Please see the Teacher Preparation Notes for information about this comparison (page 15) and how to request a key (page 4).
Ingrid
2019 revision
Many parts of the Genetics and Genetics Supplement Student Handouts have been reworded and reorganized to make it easier for students to understand the concepts and to increase student interest. Multiple parts of the Teacher Preparation Notes have also been revised for improved clarity and emphasis on the most important points.
2018 revision
The Genetics activity has been entirely rewritten to focus on the guiding question, “How do genes contribute to the similarities and differences between parents and their children?” In the Student Handout, we have made major changes to the questions and improved the logical flow to help students understand important concepts and to counteract common misconceptions about genetics. These changes will help students better understand topics such as polygenic inheritance, the role of mutations, and what a Punnett square can and cannot predict.
model chromosomes
Can you tell me an example of what we can use for "model chromosomes" . Just cut something from a drawing?
Model chromosomes
Instructions for making model chromosomes are available in the Teacher Preparation Notes for our mitosis activity (/sci_edu/waldron/#mitosis). There are two versions of the introduction to genetics principles in our genetics activity. One (in the Student Handout) uses model chromosomes and is designed for people who have completed the mitosis and meiosis activities which use the model chromosomes. The other (in the Genetics Supplement) does not use model chromosomes and is designed for people who have not completed the mitosis and meiosis activities.
Ingrid
answer key
Hi
I am wondering if there is an answer key available for the Genetics handouts?
Answer key
Please see the Teacher Preparation Notes for information about an answer key and other useful information.
Ingrid
2017 revision
The revisions of the Student Handout include more emphasis on having students actively construct their understanding of key points, with less explicit explanation. The revisions will also help students better understand random variation and the strengths and limitations of Punnett squares as models of inheritance. The revisions of the Teacher Preparation Notes include more guidance on how to incorporate NGSS Crosscutting Concepts In this activity.
2016 revision
Many of the questions and explanations have been clarified to improve student understanding of important concepts. Also, the Genetics Student Handout is now designed to follow our meiosis and fertilization activity, and an alternative introductory module for teachers who do not want to use the model chromosomes is provided in the Genetics Supplement.
2014 revision
The 2014 revision includes clarification of many of the questions and explanations in the Student Handout, as well as clarification of the instructions and background information in the Teacher Preparation Notes. The introductory module in the Genetics Supplement has been modified to reduce redundancy for teachers who will be using this activity after our Meiosis and Fertilization activity.
2013 revision
The 2013 revision of this genetics activity provides a streamlined Student Handout that engages students in learning all of the basic concepts, together with a Genetics Supplement that includes two extension activities that reinforce the basic concepts and introduce additional genetics concepts and skills. In addition, the introductory explanations in the Student Handout have been clarified, and the questions in the Student Handout and Genetics Supplement have been revised to more closely align with the learning goals and with Next Generation Science Standards.
January, 2011 revision
The Student Handout now includes a more explicit use of model chromosomes or diagrams to ensure that students understand how meiosis and fertilization result in inheritance and provide the basis for understanding Punnett squares. Numerous additional revisions in the Student Handout and Teacher Preparation Notes are designed to improve understanding of the biology of genetics.
July, 2010 revision
In this revision of the Genetics activity we have modified the coin toss activity so students compare the distribution of genotypes in their families of four "children" with the results for the entire class. The larger sample size provided by using the distribution of genotypes for all of the "children" produced by the students in your class will result in less random variation and a closer approximation to the predictions of the Punnett square. We have made additional, more minor improvements in both the Student Handout and the Teacher Preparation Notes.
January, 2010 revision
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