Lesson Plan

Soap Opera Genetics – Genetics to Resolve Family Arguments

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This Soap Opera Genetics – Genetics to Resolve Family Arguments lesson plan also includes:

Did she cheat on her husband? Did the hospital switch the babies? Should they have children? As much as this sounds like the plot for a soap opera, all of these questions fit into a single lesson on genetics. Scholars read about three different family situations and apply their knowledge of Punnett squares to settle arguments.

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CCSS: Designed
Additional Tags
Instructional Ideas
  • Ask for volunteers to share the differences in their siblings or surprising things about them versus their parents' phenotypes
  • Extend the lesson to discuss the importance of blood matching in organ donations
Classroom Considerations
  • Relies on prior knowledge of dominant and recessive alleles, meiosis, fertilization, inheritance, and Punnett squares
Pros
  • Offers interesting, real-life situations
  • Encourages using higher order thinking skills
Cons
  • None
Common Core