Personal Genetics Education Project
Direct-to-consumer Genetic Testing
If you knew that you were likely to develop Alzheimer's disease in your future, how would it affect your life in the meantime? This and other similar thought-provoking questions are discussed in a lesson plan about the availability of...
Personal Genetics Education Project
DNA, Crime and Law Enforcement
Civil rights meets biotechnology in a instructional activity that scrutinizes the collection of DNA of citizens who have been arrested, but not yet convicted of a crime. Real-life cases are examined in which the DNA of a relative was...
Personal Genetics Education Project
Personalized Medicine
Genetics learners read an article and watch a video about personalized medicine and the hope it holds for treating patients more specifically than doctors currently are able to. They research, design, and produce a brochure about the...
Personal Genetics Education Project
Genetics, history and the American Eugenics Movement
A poignant 20-slide show introduces high schoolers to the amazing accomplishments of genomics and raises the question of eugenics. This instructional activity is only for mature audiences, as it deals with rape and other sensitive...
Personal Genetics Education Project
Genetics and Reproduction
Disease prevention or designer babies? Use a set of slides to introduce the growing practice of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD. Teens read related articles and then break into groups to address different scenarios. Afterward,...
Personal Genetics Education Project
Genetics, Jobs and Your Rights
Your class will read an overview of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, passed in 2008 and address the question of whether or not genetic information should be used to influence our career paths. In jigsaw style, they then are...
Personal Genetics Education Project
Protecting Athletes with Genetic Conditions: Sickle Cell Trait
Should school and professional teams test athletes for sickle cell trait? Will it protect them by providing knowledge or lead to discrimination by not allowing them to participate in sports? After learning about this genetic disorder,...
Personal Genetics Education Project
Introduction to Personal Genetics
Adolescents have the opportunity to consider how they feel about the possibilities presented by the current availability of genetic sequencing. After some instruction, they participate in a four-corners activity in which you read a...
Curated OER
Pandora's Box
Some of today's technologies are controversial, in vitro fertilization being one of them. Mature high school biology classes examine the technology involved in and dilemmas created by this procedure. They play different roles in an...
Curated OER
Bioethics and Effective Health Care
High Schoolers participate in a class discussion on the ethical issues faced in the health care industry today. In groups, they develop their own definition of bioethics and role play the role of one of the various types of members of...
Curated OER
Teaching Controversial Science Issues Through Law Related Education
A set of lessons help aspiring scientists practice the critical thinking skills required for facing controversial issues such as evolution. As a group, they discuss what controversy consists of. They compare and constrast the concepts of...
Curated OER
Teaching Bioethics
Use this guide for incorporating bioethics into your biology curriculum or for teaching a unit on the topic. A syllabus for an entire year is also available. The resource provides lists of online, video, and printed resources; however,...
Curated OER
Commercial Surrogacy: Questions & Considerations of Parties with Vested Interests
Teenagers explore the topic of surrogate motherhood. They examine the technology involved, types of surrogacy, interested groups, and current laws. Each collaborative group is assigned an interest group. They work together to develop...
Curated OER
Bioethics: Where the Future May Take Us
Young scholars analyze ethical issues related to technology, medicine, and reproduction. In this ethics lesson plan, students research selected bioethics issues and discuss their risks and benefits. Young scholars present their research...
Curated OER
Bioethics: Where the Future May Take Us
Learners investigate bioethical issues. In this bioethical issues lesson, students research gene cloning, imaging technologies, transplantation, and other bioethical issues. Learners share their finding with their classmate and compose...
Curated OER
Bioethics: Tool for Portfolio and Performance Assessment
Students, in cooperative studying groups, assume the affirmative or negative position of a particular issue (premise). They research the issue and participate in a debate. In addition, they write essays to complete a portfolio entry.
Curated OER
In Search of a Land Ethic
Students research the theory that everything is connected to everything else. Students explore the concept of how do we put normative values on our nonhuman environment. Students investigate an ecologist and write an informational...
Curated OER
Biologically Altered (B/A Fish)
Young scholars complete a variety of activities as they examine the ethics involved in biologically altering fish. They hold a mock town meeting in which they determine whether or not a transgenic aquaculture should be allowed to locate...
Curated OER
The Mad Pursuit Search for the Structure of DNA
Students complete a variety of activities as they study the historical story of Rosalind Franklin not receiving credit for her contributions in discovering the structure of DNA.
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
Welcome to Love Canal
Learners engage in a variety of activities that address the ethical issues surrounding the Love Canal case study.
Curated OER
Bioethics: Debates in Human Genetics
Students, in groups, research and prepare a debate regarding various bioethical situations. After the debates, each student prepares a ortfolio outlining their own personal opinions.
Curated OER
Issues and Ethics
Awakening young scientists to the notion of ethics and its impact on developing topics, such as biotechnology, will be simple if you use this basic PowerPoint summarizing some of the current controversial practices.
Curated OER
Gene Therapy - Biotechnology
Students complete a unit of study on bioethics. They participate in a discussion about gene therapy and its uses. They review two case studies and discuss the ethical issues focused on in the cases. They develop a patient record based...