Skip to main content
  • A Gene for Drunkenness?

    Book Chapter | January 2010

    This chapter focuses on the relationship between genes and alcoholism. Examining this relationship can help students make wise choices about drinking, and it also can help them gain a wider perspective on genetics—a…

  • Mutations in Genes

    Book Chapter | July 2015

    The purpose of this lab is to introduce students to the transfer of genetic information through inheritance and how DNA-level mutations can influence the functions of organisms. Specifically, the investigation will…

  • DNA, Genes, and Chromosomes

    Book Chapter | February 2011

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about structures they encounter when they learn about heredity. The probe is designed to reveal students’ ideas about the “parts and wholes” relationship…

  • Sweet Genes in Corn (Teacher Edition)

    Book Chapter | December 2005

    This chapter begins with consideration of sugars made by the plant during photosynthesis and the movement of those sugars within the plant by diffusion along concentration gradients and by other processes. By exploring…

  • Sweet Genes in Corn (Student Edition)

    Book Chapter | December 2005

    One of the joys of summer is sweet, fresh, crisp corn on the cob. Most corn is starchy and usually does not taste sweet. Why isn't corn on the cob starchy? What makes sweet corn sweet? Find the answers in this chapter…

  • It Skips a Generation: Traits, Genes, and Crosses (Student Edition)

    Book Chapter | December 2005

    Long before they understood why the strategy worked, farmers knew how to crossbreed plants to obtain more desirable traits. Even today, a farmer who knows nothing about genetics can tell you that when a blue type of…

  • It Skips a Generation: Traits, Genes, and Crosses (Teacher Edition)

    Book Chapter | December 2005

    Many of the early discoveries in genetics occured in plants. Plants have a few special characteristics that make them ideal for studying genetics. From one known cross, many genetically similar "siblings" are produced.…

  • Genes Are Us

    Journal Article | September 2012

    The authors review DNA fingerprinting and describe two standards-based lessons they have used in middle school science classes to provide a hands-on approach to learning the basic idea of how restriction enzymes work,…

  • Sculpting the Barnyard Gene Pool

    Journal Article | September 2016

    Immersing students in the science and engineering of chicken genetics and hatcheries.

  • An Interdisciplinary Approach to Gene Therapy

    Journal Article | October 2016

    Integrate T-W-L-H-Q, Word Splash, and discussion-based literacy strategies into a genetics unit.

  • Chromonoodles: Jump Into the Gene Pool

    Journal Article | June 2011

    The authors use pool "noodles" to model chromosomes in the biology classroom. Students gain a greater appreciation of the interdependence of DNA and inherited traits.

  • Genes and Race in the Classroom: Science in a Social Context

    Journal Article | April 2005

    This article describes a course for nonscience majors that uses the issue of race in humans to stimulate interest in genetics and other sciences. Student outcomes, including valuing and understanding science, plus an…

  • Sonic Hedgehog: A Good Gene Gone Bad?

    Journal Article | August 2001

    In this case of a baby born with the genetic condition holoprosencephaly, students explore the “Sonic hedgehog” gene, signal transduction, and the ethics of body and tissue donation. The two-part assignment involves…

  • Case Study: Skinny Genes? An Interdisciplinary Look at a Complex Behavioral Disorder

    Journal Article | December 2017

    This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. This directed case study uses a progressive disclosure model to expose…

  • Favorite Demonstration: An Activity to Demonstrate the Genetic Code, Gene Duplication, and Divergence

    Journal Article | June 2011

    This activity provides a way for students to practice using the genetic code and, as a result, to realize the redundancy of the genetic code by practicing "reverse translation" and understand why it's physiologically…

Asset 2