Curated OER
Genes
Students explore the history, inheritance and mutations of genetics. In this genetic lesson plan students complete experiments on DNA sequences.
Curated OER
Who Done It?
Students work in groups to solve various murder mysteries using DNA evidence to implicate suspects. Teams compete to solve the crimes the fastest, while using various scientific methods to accomplish their task.
Curated OER
Microarrays: Chipping Away at the Mysteries of Science and Medicine
Students research microarrays on the internet in cooperative groups. Students write an essay describing the use of microarrays in environmental research and in medicine.
Curated OER
The Effect of Natural Selection on Genes, Traits and Individuals
Rotating through five stations, evolutionary biologists explore the question of how changes in DNA facilitate the changes in a population over time. High-quality, colorful cards of animals, skeletons, skulls, and DNA sequences can all be...
Curated OER
Edible DNA
Students use multicolored soft candies (gumdrops and candy orange slices) and toothpicks to create models of DNA structures. They discuss the fact that DNA must copy itself before splitting into two cells. Students demonstrate this by...
Curated OER
DNA and Genes
Students analyze the structure of DNA. They describe how the structure of DNA enables it to reproduce itself accurately. Students discuss genes and the sequence of nucleotides occur in DNA.
Curated OER
DNA Extraction From a Variety of Tissue Samples
Students, working in cooperative groups, extract very impure samples of DNA from a number of tissue samples. They determine how the samples can be preserved and how they are similar.
Curated OER
How is Foreign DNA Inserted into Organisms During the Genetic Engineering of Crops?
Students examine the positive benefits and negative consequences of genetically modified organisms following a lecture covering key biotech concepts and techniques. Students then conduct and experiment comparing the travel rate of...
University of Colorado
Punnett Squares with Piebald Deer
Explore the science behind Earth's amazing diversity of life with this lesson plan on genetics. Looking at specific traits in piebald deer, carnations, and roan cattle, young scientists use Punnett squares to determine the possible...
Curated OER
The Race for the Double Helix
Students participate in an ethics-based simulation. In this ethics lesson, students role play research scientists working to decipher a code. Students work in small collaborative groups and must interact with other small groups to...
Curated OER
Gene Action/Mutation Worksheet
Students define the following terms: mutation, mutagen and give examples of how they work. They also define and illustrate a point mutation. Students define and illustrate a frame shift mutation and name two types of frame shift...
American Society for Microbiology
”Build a Bacterium” Scavenger Hunt
An exciting activity has scholars use cell parts to build bacteria through cooperation with other groups. Each group has some of the cell parts needed, but they must trade with other groups to be able to fulfill their function as a...
Curated OER
Get a Life!
Students read a New York Times article associated with the issue of the decoding for genomes, the creation of life in scientific laboratories and various genetic engineering topics. They present speeches of the pro's and con's of these...
Curated OER
Island Biogeography and Evolution: Solving a Phylogenetic Puzzle With Molecular Genetics
Students engage in solving a logic problem based on real organisms and real data. They develop phylogenies for seven related populations of lizards living on the Canary Islands.
Curated OER
Ethical Decision Making Model
Learners consider the factors that relate to decisions regarding genetic disorders. They read case studies and complete a provided Bio-Ethical Decision-Making Worksheet.
Curated OER
iDNAvestigation Exploration
Students investigate DNA Fingerprinting techniques and applications. They participate in a scenario to analyze blood to discover who shattered a plexiglass backboards. In addition, they explain why the DNA fingerprint of blood from the...
Curated OER
Genetics and Molecular Biology
Students create DNA models using colored construction papers. In this biology activity, students identify enzyme restriction sites. They model how DNA plasmids replicate when taken up by a bacterial cell.
Curated OER
Labs on A Chip
Students are introduced to DNA microarrays. They discuss how scientists and doctors use them and how they work. They complete a worksheet and discuss their findings.
Curated OER
Job Hiring...Who's the best candidate?
Students, working in teams, assume they are the newly hired research director of a biotech firm interviewing the top two candidates for the position of research scientist. They evaluate the candidates and decide who should be hired based...
Curated OER
Understanding: The Power of Genes
Students study genes and the new information on genetics. In this genes lesson plan students write essays on their information on genetics.
Curated OER
Understanding the Power of Genes
Young scholars research the impacts of genetic research on homes, research laboratories, and hospitals. In this genetics lesson, students use the Internet to investigate the ways that genetics has affected our way of life. They present...
Curated OER
Ethical Decision Making Model-Dealing with Genetic Disorders
In groups, learners read a case study of a couple who produced a child with hemophilia. Although tthe reading breifly mentions how a hemophiliac child is produced, the focus of this lesson is the ethical implications. This lesson is more...
Curated OER
Is Anyone Out There? Examining Astrobiology and the Value of SETI
Blow their minds with a lesson on the search for life outside of our planet! A brief video proposes the question of how to define life. A couple of articles investigate the possibility of alien existence. Finally, the class is divided...
Field Museum
The Case of Darwin's Finches
One of the most striking pieces of evidence for Darwin's Evolution of Species was his observations of finches and how their beaks differed from island to island, depending on their primary food sources. So what would happen to the theory...