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 instructional activity on genetics. Scholars read about three different family situations and apply their knowledge of Punnett squares to settle arguments.

Concepts

genetics, inheritance, punnett squares, alleles, phenotypes, codominance, incomplete dominance

Show More Show Less

Additional Tags

science

Show More Show Less

Instructional Ideas

• Ask for volunteers to share the differences in their siblings or surprising things about them versus their parents' phenotypes
• Extend the lesson to discuss the importance of blood matching in organ donations

Classroom Considerations

• Relies on prior knowledge of dominant and recessive alleles, meiosis, fertilization, inheritance, and Punnett squares

Pros

• Offers interesting, real-life situations
• Encourages using higher order thinking skills

Cons

• None

Common Core

RST.9-10.1 RST.11-12.1