What does your class know about GMOs? Are they savvy to selective breeding? Challenge young minds to engineer the greatest crop of all time using a hands-on genetics unit. Learners discover the good and bad details of selective breeding,...

Consider the riddle of dragon genetics. Young scientists simulate being dragon parents and determining which traits their child will have. Then they learn of a new relative and must determine how they are related using probability and...

How has the concept of race changed over time? Explore the genetic, cultural, and social aspects of race through a series of impactful activities. Scholars discover how race is influenced by inherited traits, examine census records to...

How do organisms end up with such a wide variety of traits? It's in their genes! Kick off your inherited traits lesson using a brief video that covers alleles and genes. The narrator describes heterozygous and homozygous genotypes, how...

Pupils puzzled by pedigree charts? Not anymore! Show them proper pedigree protocol using a short video from an excellent biology playlist. Content includes pedigree symbols and terminology, interpreting pedigrees of various lengths, and...

It's alive! Young mad scientists create monsters as they explore the probabilities of genetic traits during a well-structured inquiry lesson. Pairs travel from station to station, rolling the dice and adding traits to their creations as...

Young scientists learn the laws of genetics through data collection and research. They use discussions and online resources to develop an understanding of the related vocabulary.

Your pupils become geneticists as they create a cat offspring. The next lesson in a series continues an exploration of genetic makeup as scholars consider parent traits to build their offspring. Using household items, they create kittens...

Explore single-gene traits in humans. After viewing a video introducing genetic vocabulary, individuals identify their phenotype and possible genotypes of specific traits. They consider both dominant and recessive traits. This is the...

Scholars often find new vocabulary overwhelming—help break it down for them. A helpful video addresses the vocabulary associated with genetics and cell division. It offers the definition of each and a short explanation. Cartoon graphics...

Darwin and others hypothesized evolution, but they never explained how it worked genetically. The video introduces Mendel and his hypothesis, which scientists have now proved. It explains how he created the hypothesis and what...

Docturs use a pedigree analysis chart to predict genetic disorders inherited in a family. The video explains how to interpret pedigrees and how to determine dominant, recessive, and sex-linked traits.

Any pattern of inheritance that does not follow Mendel's laws uses non-Mendelian inheritance. The video explains this type of genetics with many guided practice problems. It covers incomplete dominance, codominance, and sex-linked traits.

How did scientists determine the cause of illness before technology? Science scholars play the role of medical researcher in an engaging guided inquiry activity. Using observations, technical reading, and Punnett squares, learners...

Can your class solve the Mystery of the Crooked Cell? Junior geneticists collaborate to learn about sickle cell anemia in a fascinating lesson plan. The included materials help them to examine the genetic factors behind the disease...

This inheritance unit is pure geneious! Middle school geneticists explore the chromosome theory of inheritance through experiments, modeling, and collaborative work. The activities assess observation skills, as well as data collection...

A discussion of bioluminescence launches an investigation of animal adaptations. After re-watching the opening minutes of Dark Water, class members listen to a reading of What Do You Do with a Tail Like This, and then create a new animal...

Explore human genetics through the world of Harry Potter. A thorough lesson develops the introductory concepts of genetics using characters of the popular book series. Learners study topics from DNA and chromosomes to Punnett Squares and...

Ever been told you have your father's eyes? How did it happen? Young biologists get a hands-on experience in meiotic gene expression with a fun pairs-based activity. Participants use pipe cleaner chromosomes with trait beads to make...

If you knew people would pay extra for a bald dragon, could you pick which parents you should breed in order to get the highest number? The unit examines heredity and genetics through breeding dragons, mice, dogs, and tries to figure...

How would you feel if you made a huge scientific discovery, published it everywhere, and shared it with every scientist, only to have it ignored for 35 years because no one understood your genius? Unfortunately, Gregor Mendel died before...

Ear wax, either wet or dry, is inherited on chromosome 16. The narrator of a video about heredity uses ear wax to introduce the concepts of alleles, dominant and recessive traits, and heterozygous and homozygous genotypes. 

Until the 1960s, the life expectancy of a hemophiliac was only 11 years. An informative video explains how to solve a Punnett square when there is a sex-linked trait — in this case hemophilia. It includes a discussion of the xy...

What type of pig is always smiling? A grinny pig! The video is an excellent introduction to monohybrid crosses and simple Punnett Squares. It includes explanations of dominant versus recessive and genotype versus phenotype.