by Daniel Evert

Grade Level: 7-8

Content Area: Science

• Students will be able to define and use genetic terminology.
• Students will be able to identify a minimum of five inherited traits, stating whether they are dominant or recessive.
• Students will be able to create a Punnett Square to calculate the probability of offspring inheriting a given trait.
• Students will be able to utilize handheld applications to: create learning tools, demonstrate content knowledge, and share learning with others.

Other Materials

• Classroom Text - Cells, Heredity, and Classification (Holt, Rinehart and Winston)
• Genetic Science Learning Center - http://gslc.genetics.utah.edu/
• The Gene School - http://library.thinkquest.org/28599/?tqskip1=1

Procedures

Day 1

1. Give an overview of today’s lesson and goals.
2. Review necessary genetic information from previous lessons.
3. Add the following vocabulary words to our genetics list within Dictionary Maker.
• homozygous dominant, homozygous recessive, heterozygous, Punnett square, and probability
4. Review definitions as a class. Complete the “examples” portion for each definition together in Dictionary Maker.
5. Give each student a copy of the Inherited Traits handout and review what each trait is. Identify if each is a dominant or recessive trait.
6. Have students use Social Survey or Free Grid to create a survey to record the genetic traits of 5-10 people outside of school (use traits from the handout).
   Bring survey results to class tomorrow.
7. Briefly review today’s learning and reflect on goals.
   

   Day 2

8. Review yesterday’s lesson, preview today’s, and state lesson goals.
9. Draw a chart of inherited traits on the board. In each box, have students record the results of their surveys from yesterday.
10. Analyze the total number of people surveyed to determine whether or not dominant traits showed up more often than recessive traits. Discuss why the results ended up the way they did.
11. Introduce that Punnett squares can be used to calculate what chance each person had of inheriting the traits they exhibited.
12. Give students the Punnett Square handout and teach them how to draw and fill one out. Remind students to pay close attention to whether the genes are homozygous dominant, homozygous recessive, or heterozygous allele combinations. Complete several examples as a class.
13. Have students choose an independent practice activity to demonstrate knowledge learned over the last two days.
    • Quizzler
      • Create a quiz, using Quizzler, that reviews genetic information covered over the last two days.
      • There must be a minimum of 10 questions.
    • Sketchy
      • Create a Sketchy that demonstrates how to draw and complete a Punnett Square.
      • There must be a minimum of 10 slides.
        

Games As Learning Tools
Once students have finished their projects, and have demonstrated a basic understanding of inheritance, they can play Geney to reinforce their learning.