Lesson Plan
MENSA Education & Research Foundation

Peas in a Pod: Genetics

For Teachers 4th - 8th
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...
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Nature Research

Scitable: Population and Quantitative Genetics

For Students 9th - 10th
Do you know the difference between population genetics and quantitative genetics? This webpage examines both population genetics which concentrates on frequencies of alleles and genotypes and quantitative genetics which deals with the...
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University of Arizona

The Biology Project: Genetic Drift: An Explanation

For Students 9th - 10th
This explanation of genetic drift is straightforward and easy to understand. Illustrations are provided to help visual learners
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Estrella Mountain Community College

Estrella Mountian College: Introduction to Genetics

For Students 9th - 10th
This site explains genetic beliefs before and after Mendel, and also includes a section on Mendel himself and his experiments, entitled, "The Monk and his Peas".
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Palomar Community College District

Palomar College: Mendels' Genetics

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from Palomar College provides a good background on exactly what Mendel did. Vocabulary links throughout make this a very good introduction article for genetics.
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New York University

Population Size and Genetic Drift: Lecture Notes

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a college level lecture on genetic drift, complete with mathmatic formulae, includes special links.
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Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Variations on Mendel's Laws (Overview)

For Students 9th - 10th
Article reviews Mendel's basic model of inheritance then provides an overview of variations on Mendel's laws, including multiple alleles, incomplete dominance, co-dominance, pleiotropy, lethal alleles, sex linkage, genetic interactions,...
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Other

University of Illinois: Population Genetics [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the University of Illinois at Chicago provides an in-depth article on Human Genetics, with a focus on primarily population genetics. The article is factual and informative full of charts, formulas, and extensive text. A...
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Other

Univ. Of Connecticut: Hardy Weinberg Principle and Estimating Allele Frequencies

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the University of Connecticut is Kent Holsinger's site on The Hardy-Weinberg Principle. A great site to check out on the subject, with links to additional information, including: derivation of the Hardy-Weinberg Principle,...
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Nobel Media AB

The Nobel Prize: Thomas Hunt Morgan and His Legacy

For Students 9th - 10th
This detailed article from the Nobel e-Museum explores Thomas Hunt Morgan's career and research in genetics. Read how Morgan's work influenced later scientists and the modern scientific world.
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Other

Evolution: The Theory of Natural Selection (Part 1)

For Students 9th - 10th
These pages are part of a site called Evolution that accompany a textbook by the same name. Mark Ridley is the author. This section has an advanced discussion of determining allele and genotype frequencies using the Hardy-Weinberg ratio.
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Other

North Dakota State: Mendel's First Law (Law of Segregation)

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource explains Mendel's first law (Law of Segregation) in detail. Includes Mendel's original experiments with results and conclusions.
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Palomar Community College District

Waynes Word: Multiple Gene (Polygenic) Inheritance

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Explains and gives examples of polygenic inheritance.
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University of Arizona

University of Arizona: Blood Types Tutorial

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the University of Arizona describes how blood type is passed on from parent to child. The tutorial covers the genetics of the ABO blood groups as well as Rh factor. There are even practice problems and blood type calculators!
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University of Maryland

Univ. Of Maryland Baltimore Cty/biology Century

For Students 9th - 10th
Historical perspective on Mendel's contribution. Spends a little time setting up what the current beliefs of Mendel's day were and how he changed things with what he did.
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University of Hamburg

University of Hamburg: Deviations From Mendelian Laws And: What Is the Meaning of Dominance?

For Students 9th - 10th
Upper level discussion of several of Mendel's experiments and laws.
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Other

Lawrence Livermore National Lab: Probabilities of Traits

For Students 9th - 10th
This site explains how to determine the chances of inheriting certain traits from our parents. It gives mathematical examples and exercises.
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Other

North Dakota State Univ.: Mendel's Law of Ind. Assort.

For Students 9th - 10th
Mendel's second law and how he arrived at it through his experiments. Includes vocabulary and examples.