Curated OER
Heredity-Science Puzzlers, Twisters & Teasers
In this genetics worksheet, middle schoolers complete 9 questions about heredity, genes, and alleles in the form of riddles, word scrambles, word puzzles, and brain teasers.
Curated OER
DNA from the Beginning Study Guide
Young scholars complete a study guide using a website which is an animated primer on DNA, genes, and heredity. The Web site is organized around key concepts. The web links and study guide are included.
Curated OER
Cloning
In this cloning worksheet, high schoolers will read a paragraph about how cloning has been a benefit to medicine and agriculture. Students will underline the main idea in the paragraph and write down three supporting details. Then high...
Curated OER
Who am I and Why?
Students make comparisons about themselves and others, which are real and meaningful. They study some basic concepts in the area of genetics and do a complimentary series of experiments, or explorations that illustrate these concepts
Curated OER
The Ladder of Life
Students explain the concepts of what DNA is and where it is located in a cell, identify the two types of molecules that make up the rungs of a DNA molecule and identify the two types of Purine and Pyrimidine molecules
Curated OER
Cells: Structures and Processes
Students explore the basic unit of life, the cell in this nine lessons unit. The cell structure of animal and plant cell functions and how they affect our world are probed in this unit.
Curated OER
Pedigree Charts
Pupils explain how offspring inherit traits from their parents. In this biology instructional activity, students investigate the genes for nicotine addiction using an interactive website. They construct a fictional pedigree using their...
Curated OER
Family Pedigrees
Learners work as a class to first construct a pedigree of a popular singer, showcasing the singing gene being passed down through the generations. Students then make their own family pedigree and follow two traits through their family...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Central Dogma and Genetic Medicine
Scientists work every day to find solutions to genetic diseases. Scholars learn about the process of gene sequencing, mutations, and the results. They explore genetic diseases and therapies to intervene and help and, through case...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Zebrafish and Skin Color
You may not know if that zebrafish in your fish tank is a model citizen—but it is definitely a model organism! What can we learn about ourselves from a tiny zebrafish? Discover more about the polygenic trait of skin color through a...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Lactase Persistence: Evidence for Selection
What's the link between lactase persistence and dairy farming? Biology scholars analyze data to find evidence of the connection, then relate this to human adaptation. Working individually and in small groups, learners view short video...
Columbus City Schools
Asexual and Sexual Reproduction
Can you name a type of reproduction that produces no variation in the offspring? The multimedia lesson covers both sexual and asexual reproduction through videos and discussions. It includes topics such as genetic modification, meiosis,...
Curated OER
Paradise Lost: Picture Book Activity
Readers of Paradise Lost draw parallels between Milton's tale and Gene Zion's Harry the Dirty Dog, an illustrated children's book.
Curated OER
Where It Comes From: All About Heredity
Characteristics are not only inherited, but can be acquired through interactions with the environment.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Pedigrees and the Inheritance of Lactose Intolerance
What, exactly, causes lactose intolerance? Scholars view a video describing a Finnish study that determined why some people are tolerant while others are intolerant. They then use the data from the study to reenact the experiment and...
Personal Genetics Education Project
Using Primary Sources to Examine the History of Eugenics
Eugenics philosophy takes survival of the fittest to a whole new level. With a research-focused lesson, young scientists examine the history of the eugenics movement and its impact on society. Pupils engage with a video clip, primary...
Science 4 Inquiry
Monster Mash-Up of Genetics
It's alive! Young mad scientists create monsters as they explore the probabilities of genetic traits during a well-structured inquiry lesson. Pairs travel from station to station, rolling the dice and adding traits to their creations as...
Personal Genetics Education Project
Reproductive Genetic Testing: Technology, Access, and Decision Making
Explore the complexities of reproductive genetic testing respectfully in the learning space. Scientists read articles, view a slideshow, and complete a do-now about genetic technologies. A fishbowl activity allows scholars to discuss the...
Curated OER
Sequencing the Cystic Fibrosis Gene: A Simulation
Ninth graders use this activity to simulate the sequencing of gene and to detect the presence of possible genetic defects. They use diagrams that represent bands of nucleotides in order to determine the sequence of a small piece of the...
Curated OER
Inheritance Patterns in Zorks
In this inheritance patterns instructional activity, students create a visual of a Zork using chromosome strips to represent alleles from the father and the mother to determine the traits in the offspring. Students translate the genotype...
Curated OER
Simulation of Gene Splicing
Students use the exercise as a prelude to a "wet" lab or as a substitute for such a lab. It correlates well with colony transformation labs. This lab is recommended for students what have difficulty with the abstractions that genetic...
Curated OER
Turkeys in the Cell--The Meiosis Square Dance
Students identify synapsis as the key event in meiosis. They explain how synapsis leads to the formation of haploid gametes. Exploration of the differences between the processes of mitosis and meiosis occur. In accordance, explanations...
Curated OER
The Nash Case -- Identifying, Choosing and Using Genes
High schoolers complete a variety of exercises as they examine the case of the Nash family who conceived one child in order to provide cells that may be used in a cell transplant for a dying sibling.
Curated OER
Why Do People Fall in Love?
Students discuss human behavior, sexual selection and the underlying genetic and evolutionary reasons for mate selection. The, in groups, they rate the attractiveness of certain individuals and measure facial features for symmetry.