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Lesson Plan
Personal Genetics Education Project

Reproductive Genetic Testing: Technology, Access, and Decision Making

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
Explore the complexities of reproductive genetic testing respectfully in the learning space. Scientists read articles, view a slideshow, and complete a do-now about genetic technologies. A fishbowl activity allows scholars to discuss the...
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Instructional Video1:24
PBS

Genome 101: Life's Instruction Manual | UNC-TV Science

For Students 5th - 12th Standards
Crack open the mysteries inside a genome. Participants view an animated video describing the relationship between DNA, genes, proteins, chromosomes, and an organism's genome. A post-video worksheet allows pupils to apply knowledge by...
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Instructional Video1:23
PBS

Genes 101: Life’s Instruction Manual | UNC-TV Science

For Students 5th - 12th Standards
Discover the common genetic ground shared by humans and chickens. Group members listen and view an animation about genes and proteins, which details their roles in building biological structures such as tissues and organs. Participants...
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Activity
Serendip

Understanding How Genes Are Inherited via Meiosis and Fertilization

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Bring the excitement of genetics to scholars with a dynamic hands-on meiosis modeling experience. During the activity, biologists follow step-by-step procedures to build chromosomes, model independent assortment, learn about crossing...
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Website
American Museum of Natural History

All About Cloning

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Start seeing double. The American Museum of Natural History website provides pupils with information about Dolly, the cloned sheep. Learners find out the procedure used to create Dolly along with why scientists clone animals.
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Website
American Museum of Natural History

What is Biodiversity?

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Not all dogs are the same just like not all finches are the same. An interactive online lesson helps individuals learn about the causes and limitations to biodiversity. The clickable sections describe the basics of the genetics of...
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Website
American Museum of Natural History

What's the Big Idea About Genetics?

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Here's a quick read on genetics. An engaging online resource provides six slides of information about genetics. Learners read about the meaning of genetics to information about DNA. They also learn about the study of genes and the...
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Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

What Do You Know About Genetics?

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Just what do you know about genetics? The online resource contains 10 questions about genetics. Scholars work through the questions ranging from what DNA stands for to how much of human DNA is similar to that of a fruit fly. Scholars...
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Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

A Nature and Nurture Walk in Mendel Park

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
We are what we make of ourselves ... sometimes. Learners play a game to come up with the answer to a riddle. The game consists of determining whether different scenarios are due to nature or nature and nurture. With each correct answer,...
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Lesson Plan
Science Friday

Colorful Chromosomes

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Everything is in the genes. Individuals observe 14 different traits of themselves. Using pipe cleaners and beads, the learners create models of a chromosome representing their traits. The class then compares and contrasts everyone's...
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Lesson Plan
Agriculture in the Classroom

Design 'Y'er Genes

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
How do changes in DNA affect an organism? Scholars explore chromosomes, genes, DNA, and mutations by modeling the DNA of a strawberry. They build a DNA model, then manipulate it to show how changing the genes transforms the strawberry...
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Lesson Plan
Agriculture in the Classroom

Roll of the Genes

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Animal reproduction in sheep and cattle is explored with the help of Punnet squares. Scholars employ tools using probability to conclude the color of wool a sheep's offspring will have. Acting as animal geneticists, pupils then take...
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Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Cancer Discovery Activities

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Explore the genetic component of the second-leading cause of death in the world using a hands-on activity. After watching a video discussing the basics of cancer, learners complete activities that study the genes involved in cancer. The...
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Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Mapping Genes to Traits in Dogs Using SNPs

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Genetic analysis has gone to the dogs! Learners use real DNA information collected from dog saliva to study the relationship between genotypes and phenotypes. They analyze alleles to determine correlations to coat color, length, and...
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Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Pedigrees and the Inheritance of Lactose Intolerance

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
What, exactly, causes lactose intolerance? Scholars view a video describing a Finnish study that determined why some people are tolerant while others are intolerant. They then use the data from the study to reenact the experiment and...
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Interactive
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Genes Can Be Moved Between Species

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Biotechnology changes lives every day, but how did it all start? Learn about Cohen and Boyer's technique for recombinant DNA and the founding of this new scientific study. Then, scholars use the online interactive to discover how Hanahan...
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Interactive
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Living Things Share Common Genes

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Everything evolved from a common ancestor, but how did modern plants and animals develop so many more genes? Scholars use an online interactive to learn about the process. They begin to understand common genes with an animation, multiple...
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Interactive
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

A Genome Is an Entire Set of Genes

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Today researchers identify a gene suspected of causing a genetic disease in a matter of days rather than years, thanks to the Human Genome Project. Young scientists learn about the Human Genome Project and the scientists who designed the...
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Interactive
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Different Genes Are Active in Different Kinds of Cells

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Personalized medicine prevents many trial-and-error scenarios when time counts the most. Learn how gene expression and screening genomes improves health outcomes in cancer patients, those with auto-immune disorders, and more. An online...
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Interactive
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Genes Can Be Turned On and Off

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Regulations exist in many places from business to schools, but what about in our genes? Learn about gene regulation with an online interactive. It uses an animation to introduce the topic, many photographs of the scientists best known...
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Interactive
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Some DNA Can Jump

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Some people have a natural ability to jump, but did you know DNA also naturally jumps? Learn about the fun habit by looking at the research of a pioneering female scientist. Barbara McClintock fought prejudice and surpassed her mentors...
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Interactive
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Some DNA Does Not Encode Protein

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Roy John Britten easily earned a PhD in nuclear physics—but he found painting with water colors too difficult. Young scientists learn about Britten's life, career, and research with an online interactive. They read a biography, view...
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Interactive
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Master Genes Control Basic Body Plans

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Have you ever been so tired you missed a major announcement? Eric Wieschaus woke to a call explaining he won the Nobel Prize, but he thought it was just a dream until Christiane Nusslein-Volhard, a co-winner, explained it to him later...
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Interactive
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Genes Get Shuffled When Chromosomes Exchange Pieces

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Some genes link to others that have implications for inheritance. A set of resources lead pupils through the history of this discovery. They explain how chromosomes recombine and which parts are more susceptible to this linkage....