| Lesson Title (Description) | Grade Level | Lesson Type |
Alike but Not the Same
Students conduct a classwide inventory of human traits, construct histograms of the data they collect, and play a brief game that introduces students to major concepts related to human genetic variation and the notion of each individual's uniqueness. |
9-12 |
Classroom activity |
Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium According to Hoyle
Students achieve an understanding of the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium by using decks of playing cards without recourse to algebra. |
9-12 |
Classroom activity |
Origami Birds
Students build and evolve and modify paper-and-straw “birds” to simulate natural selection acting on random mutations. |
9-12 |
Classroom activity |
The genes that lie beneath: The work of Leslea Hlusko
Evolutionary biologist Leslea Hlusko’s research takes her from the deserts of Ethiopia, where she hunts for hominid and primate fossils, to a baboon colony in San Antonio where she takes thousands of measurements of the primates' imposing canines. This research profile describes how the two projects are linked by a hunt for genetic variation, a key component of natural selection. |
9-12 |
Article |
The Meaning of Genetic Variation
Students investigate variation in the beta globin gene by identifying base
changes that do and do not alter function, and by using several internet-based resources to consider the significance in different environments of the base change associated with sickle cell disease. |
9-12 |
Classroom activity |
