Curated OER
How Does Chance Influence Inheritance?
Students complete a lab based on how chance affects which genes appear in gametes as in Mendel's Law of Segregation. They review the theories, vocabulary words, and historical background of Gregor Mendel's work with pea plants. They...
Curated OER
The Meaning of Genetic Variation
Students investigate variation in the beta globin gene by identifying base changes that do and do not alter function, and by using several Internet-based resources to consider the significance in different environments of the base...
Curated OER
Natural Selection
Students observe, measure and record variations that may be due to genetic inheritance. They look at the length of seeds for germinating pinto and lima beans and measure the distance between eyes in humans. They graph and discuss the...
Curated OER
Meiosis
Students study meiosis and how it leads to variation. In this genetic reproduction lesson students complete a lab activity that calculates different genetic possibilities.
Curated OER
The Acetate Animal Hunt
High schoolers determine which adaptations allow an organism to survive and reproduce in a certain environment. Students act as "predators" to pick up acetate discs "prey" scattered around the classroom. High schoolers list the number...
Curated OER
How Evolution Works
Learners discuss the evolution of the eye and how a complex organ can evolve through natural selection. They research genetic variation, adaptation, and sexual selection. They analyze data to determine how beak length of Gal??pagos...
Personal Genetics Education Project
Scientific Themes in Personal Genetics
Humans can be tested for the presence of the BRCA gene, whose presence is an indicator that they have a greater chance of acquiring breast cancer than someone without the gene. Viewers have an opportunity to explore how genes and...
Serendip
Soap Opera Genetics – Genetics to Resolve Family Arguments
Did she cheat on her husband? Did the hospital switch the babies? Should they have children? As much as this sounds like the plot for a soap opera, all of these questions fit into a single lesson on genetics. Scholars read about three...
Columbus City Schools
Diversity of Living Things
Here's a topic classes can really dig—the fossil record. Use the well-organized and thoughtful road map to take eighth graders back in time to unearth the answer. Learn how our climate has changed, and how organisms have changed along...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Zebrafish and Skin Color
You may not know if that zebrafish in your fish tank is a model citizen—but it is definitely a model organism! What can we learn about ourselves from a tiny zebrafish? Discover more about the polygenic trait of skin color through a...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Lactase Persistence: Evidence for Selection
What's the link between lactase persistence and dairy farming? Biology scholars analyze data to find evidence of the connection, then relate this to human adaptation. Working individually and in small groups, learners view short video...
Curated OER
Mendellian Genetics
Students describe the inheritance patterns other than simple dominance. They are taught how Mendel's principles apply to all organisms. Students review the use of Punnett Squares. They are taught the principles of probability and...
Curated OER
A Bug's Life: Diary of an Insect's Metamorphosis
Fifth graders examine the stages of insect's to understand heredity. In this inherited traits lesson, 5th graders explore the life of the honeybee for its inherited traits. Students recognize the difference between inherited traits and...
Curated OER
Ecology - Reproduction and heredity
Students correlate signs of spring with reproductive strategies of varioius organisms. They describe how organisms inherit traits from generation to generation.
Curated OER
Creeping and Crawling Observing Mealworms and Earthworms
Young scholars observe the inherited traits in earthworms and mealworms. In this organisms lesson, students view a live mealworm and earthworm on a tray and identify the body parts. Young scholars measure the worms and observe the...
Curated OER
Natural Selection in Protected And Unprotected Populations
Studnets compare how two elephant seal populations fare during successive generations. They participate in a simulation using a card game to look at the differences in two populations, one that is protected from mortality by human...
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
Biology Wordsearch
For this biology worksheet, students identify and locate various vocabulary terms found in a biology lesson. There are 39 biology terms located in the word search.
Curated OER
Natural Selection and Evidence Worksheet
Matching and fill-in-the-blank exercises give biology whizzes a chance to practice vocabulary associated with evolution. Terms to be reviewed focus on evidence for evolution, natural selection concepts, and some genetics words. You could...
Curated OER
How Do Organisms Vary?
Young scholars study variation of organisms. They determine this variation arises from genetic and environmental causes.
Curated OER
Darwin vs Lamarck
Ninth graders describe variations in organisms and compare and contrast the evolutionary theories of Darwin and Lamarck. Students copy the definition of various given words and where they think they came from. They have to relate it to...
Curated OER
How Unique Are You?
Students explore how genetic information is passed down from parent to offspring. Because of this, they examine how this causes the variation in each species.
Curated OER
Bird Buffet
Fifth graders study traits of different bird beaks. In this bird lesson, 5th graders explore the function and usefulness of different inherited traits of birds.
Curated OER
Methods of Teaching Evolution To Middle School Children
Young scholars study evolutionary thought. They examine how characteristics are inherited and that they are a source of variation. They illustrate the perpetuation, elimination, and variation made among members of a species. They...