MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Peas in a Pod: Genetics
Can peas have grandparents? Learn about inherited traits and heredity with a set of activities focused on Mendelian genetics. As your class learns about the process of passing traits along in Punnett squares, they take on the role of...
University of Colorado
Punnett Squares with Piebald Deer
Explore the science behind Earth's amazing diversity of life with this instructional activity on genetics. Looking at specific traits in piebald deer, carnations, and roan cattle, young scientists use Punnett...
Serendip
Genetics
A handout on genetic inheritance begins with a reading on alleles and how they can result in albinism. Junior geneticists learn to complete Punnett squares and participate in a coin toss simulation of allele pairing. They also learn...
BBSRC
Discovering DNA: The Recipe for Life
A pinch of adenine, a dash of thymine and ta-da, you have life! Well, it's not quite that simple, but through this series of activities and experiments young scientists learn about the structure of DNA and how it contains the recipe...
Cherokee County Schools
Dragon Genetics
It's alive! Turn young biologists into mad scientists with this engaging genetics activity. Using their knowledge of chromosomes and genes, students create dragons with unique sets of traits,...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Understanding Variation
Does where we live influence how our bodies express genetic traits? Explore variation in human skin color with an activity that incorporate video and hands-on learning. Individuals model the relationship between phenotypes and genotypes,...
Oklahoma State University
Hairy Heredity
Young scholars learn that heredity comes down to the flip of a coin with this cross-curricular math and science lesson. Using smiley faces as a model, students toss coins to determine which dominant or recessive traits...
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
A Gene Is a Discrete Sequence of DNA Nucleotides
Frederick Sanger won two Nobel prizes for protein sequencing and DNA sequencing. Young scientists learn about Dr. Sanger's research and amazing discoveries. They read an article and a biography, view videos and animations, and apply...
US National Library of Medicine
Basic Genetic Concepts and Terms
Have you ever wondered why you aren't taller or invisible? It all comes down to your dominant and recessive genes. Introduce your class members to genetics with a presentation that includes worksheets for young geneticists to...
North Carolina State University
Exploring Genetics Across the Middle School Science and Math Curricula
Where is a geneticist's favorite place to swim? A gene pool. Young geneticists complete hands-on activities, experiments, and real-world problem solving throughout the unit. With extra focus on dominant and recessive genes, Punnett...
American Museum of Natural History
Nature or Nurture Quiz
Eighteen questions ask pupils whether certain behavior or trait is based on nature or nurture. Scholars take a quiz, reflect on their answers, then challenge a friend or family member to complete it.
Agriculture in the Classroom
Roll of the Genes
Animal reproduction in sheep and cattle is explored with the help of Punnet squares. Scholars employ tools using probability to conclude the color of wool a sheep's offspring will have. Acting as animal geneticists, pupils then take...
Kenan Fellows
Unit 4: Bioethics and the Future of Biotechnology
What's the future of biotechnology? Explore a hot topic in the fourth and final unit in a series of Biotechnology lessons. Learners develop an understanding of the many issues in bioethics, then create an argument for or against the role...
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Dolan Dna Learning Center: Inheritance Calculator: Genetic Traits
An interactive Punnett Square inheritance calculator helps students work out patterns of recessive inheritance for a trait, such as straight or peaked hairline.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Dolan Dna Learning Center: Inheritance Calculator: Blank Make Your Own
An interactive Punnett Square calculator which allows students to work out patterns of inheritance for any autosomal recessive genetic trait or disease.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Dna From the Beginning: Genetic Inheritance Follows Certain Rules
Find out what happened when Mendel crossed two hybrid pea plants. The animations do a good job explaining why these crosses produce a 3:1 ratio of traits.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Mendel's Laws of Genetic Inheritance
This interactive activity, adapted from the Dolan DNA Learning Center, uses Punnett squares to illustrate Mendel's laws of inheritance and how a particular gene combination results in a 3-to-1 ratio of dominant-to-recessive traits.
CPALMS
Florida State University Cpalms: Florida Students: Yes or No to Gmo?
Discover the purpose of genetic engineering in agriculture. Explore the pros and cons of genetic modification.
Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma State University: Ag in the Classroom: Hairy Heredity [Pdf]
A simulation where students flip coins to mimic how parents pass genetic traits to their offspring through heredity. This activity also illustrates the difference between dominant and recessive genes, and how they interact with each...
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
Abpi: Genes and Inheritance
A complete, student-paced lesson on genetics and inheritance. Students work their way through illustrations and animated tutorials, and answer review questions along the way. There is a self-checking quiz at the end of the lesson.