Human Genetics: A Worldwide Search for the Dominant Trait

Curriculum Standards

As a result of the activities, all students should develop an understanding of heredity.
As a result of the activities, all students should develop an understanding of science as a human endeavor.
As a result of the activities, all students should develop an understanding about scientific inquiry.
As a result of the activities, all students should develop an understanding of math in the study of science.

4.1: All Students Will Develop the Ability to Pose and Solve Mathematical Problems in Mathematics, Other Disciplines, and Everyday Experiences
4.2: All Students Will Communicate Mathematically through Written, Oral, Symbolic, and Visual Forms of Expression.
4.3: All Students Will Connect Mathematics to Other Learning by Understanding the Interrelationships of Mathematical Ideas and the Roles that Mathematics and Mathematical Modeling Play in Other Disciplines and in Life
4.4: All Students Will Develop Reasoning Ability and Will Become Self-Reliant, Independent Mathematical Thinkers.
4.5: All Students Will Regularly and Routinely Use Calculators, Computers, Manipulatives, and Other Mathematical Tools to Enhance Mathematical Thinking, Understanding, And Power.
4.9: All Students Will Develop an Understanding of and Will Use Measurement to Describe and Analyze Phenomena.
4.11: All Students Will Develop an Understanding of Patterns, Relationships, and Functions and Will Use Them to Represent and Explain Real-World Phenomena.
4.13: All Students Will Develop an Understanding of Algebraic Concepts and Processes and Will Use Them to Represent and Analyze Relationships among Variable Quantities and to Solve Problems.
4.16: All Students Will Demonstrate High Levels of Mathematical Thought through Experiences which Extend beyond Traditional Computation, Algebra, and Geometry.

5.2: All Students Will Develop Problem-Solving, Decision-Making and Inquiry Skills, Reflected by Formulating Usable Questions and Hypotheses, Planning Experiments, Conducting Systematic Observations, Interpreting and Analyzing Data, Drawing Conclusions, and Communicating Results.
5.4: All Students Will Develop an Understanding of Technology as an Application of Scientific Principles.
5.5: All Students Will Integrate Mathematics as a Tool for Problem-Solving in Science, and as a Means of Expressing and/or Modeling Scientific Theories.
5.6: All Students Will Gain An Understanding Of The Structure, Characteristics, And Basic Needs Of
Organisms.

Standard 2: All students will use technology, information and other tools.
Standard 3: All students will use critical thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving skills.

Apply mathematical knowledge to solve real-world problems and problems that arise from the investigation of mathematical ideas, using representations such as pictures, charts, and tables

Formulate questions independently with the aid of references appropriate for guiding the search for explanations of everyday observations

Represent, present, and defend their proposed explanations of everyday observations so that they can be understood and assessed by others

Seek to clarify, to assess critically, and to reconcile with their own thinking the ideas presented by others, including peers, teachers, author's, and scientists

Design charts, tables, graphs and other representations of observations in conventional and creative ways to help them address their research question or hypothesis

Interpret the organized data to answer the research question or hypothesis and to gain insight into the problem

Modify their personal understanding of phenomena based on evaluation of their hypothesis

Systematically obtain accurate and relevant information pertaining to a particular topic from a range of sources, including local and national media, libraries, museums, governmental agencies, industries, and individuals

Describe sexual and asexual mechanisms for passing genetic materials from generation to generation

Describe simple mechanisms related to the inheritance of some physical traits in offspring

Work effectively-Contributing to the work of a brainstorming group, laboratory partnership, cooperative learning group, or project team; planning procedures; identify and managing responsibilities of team members; and staying on task, whether working alone or as part of a group

Distinguish between observation and inference given a representation of a scientific situation
Tell the difference between facts and assumptions

Explain biological diversity in terms of the transmission of genetic characteristics
Explain why there are different breeds of dogs or kinds of plants

Describe how organisms accomplish basic life functions at various levels of organization and structures Describe a life function like digestion complete with the appropriate anatomy

The student uses expressions, equations, inequalities, graphs, and formulas to represent and interpret situations.
The student understands and uses the tools of data analysis for managing information.
The student understands that all matter has observable, measurable properties.
The student uses the scientific processes and habits of mind to solve problems.
The student knows the patterns and advantages of sexual and asexual reproduction in plants and animals.
The student knows that the variation in each species is due to the exchange and interaction of genetic information as it is passed from parent to offspring.

1SC-E1: Identify a question, formulate a hypothesis, control and manipulate variables, devise experiments, predict outcomes, compare and analyze results, and defend conclusions.
1SC-E3: Organize and present data gathered from their own experiences, using appropriate mathematical analyses and graphical representations.
1SC-E4: Identify and refine questions from previous investigations.
1SC-P1: Propose solutions to practical and theoretical problems by synthesizing and evaluating information gained from scientific investigations.
1SC-P3: Analyze and evaluate reports of scientific studies.
1SC-P6: Identify and refine a researchable question, conduct the experiment, collect and analyze data, share and discuss findings.
2SC-E3: Provide different explanations for a phenomenon; defend and refute the explanations.
2SC-E5: Explain how scientific theory, hypothesis generation and experimentation are interrelated.
4SC-E6. Describe the role of genes in heredity
4SC-P2. Describe the molecular basis of heredity (e.g., DNA, genes, chromosomes and mutations)
4SC-D1. Analyze the general structure and function of DNA and its role in heredity, protein synthesis, and disease as a vehicle for genetic continuity and as a source of genetic diversity upon which natural selection can act

8.SI.1: Demonstrates abilities to do scientific inquiry.
8.SI.2: Demonstrates an understanding about the nature of science and scientific inquiry.
8.SI.3: Develops and uses scientific attitudes and habits of mind.
8.SI.4: Demonstrates an understanding of the science and technology that they encounter in their daily lives.
8.SM.LS.RH Demonstrates an understanding of reproduction and heredity
12.LS.2 Demonstrates an understanding of the molecular basis of heredity