High school students as scientists investigate genetics, natural selection, and evolution to answer the following driving question: Do all kinds of organisms have a lot of genetic diversity? Students analyze a dataset to see that genetic diversity varies in different populations, but all populations do have some degree of genetic diversity. After analyzing genetic diversity across different species worldwide, students wonder why some populations have higher levels of genetic diversity than others and if this difference is significant. Next, students analyze a dataset to look for patterns in genetic diversity between different populations of different species. They find no clear pattern between any specific type of organisms and amount of genetic diversity. Students read about organisms with varying degrees of genetic diversity and find patterns in causes that led to low diversity. They return to the dataset and choose some of the organisms with low diversity to find they too suffered similar environmental issues. Students consider how genetic diversity in human populations is similar or different from the populations they’ve looked at. Finally, students return to their initial Driving Question Board to determine which of the questions they had can now be answered. They then use what they have learned throughout this unit to explain how genetic diversity is maintained in populations and why genetic diversity is important, and they think about how they want to use this information to learn more and to help educate others.

This is Lesson 7 of the High Altitude Living Unit.

Click the Download PDF button above for the complete Lesson Plan.

Student Materials

Per Student

• Electronic device to interact with large dataset in Google Sheets
• 7.1 Transcript for Dogs vs Cats The Diversity Paradox
• 7.2 Genetic Diversity Data
• 7.3 Connect-Extend-Question tool
• 7.4 How is genetic diversity maintained in populations, and why is it important?

Per Student (one of the following resources depending on interest and reading level)

• Nature: Genetic Drift: Bottleneck Effect and the Case of the Bearded Vulture
• University of Oxford: Chimps show much greater genetic diversity than humans
• Australian Geographic: The extraordinary survival story of the black robin
  • Video associated with the text The Man Who Saved the Black Robin
• American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS): Inbreeding Causes Isle Royale Wolf Population Crash
• Phys.org Not all is rosy for the pink pigeon
• AoB Plants High levels of genetic diversity and population structure in an endemic and rare species: implications for conservation
• Annals of Botany Population-level genetic variation and climate change in a biodiversity hotspot

Teacher Materials

• Lesson 7 slide deck
• Minute Earth: Dogs vs. Cats: The Diversity Paradox