Genetics

The activities in Genetics help students to understand the basic principles of genetics, including concepts of recessive and dominant alleles, relationships of phenotype to genotype, Punnett squares, and pedigree analysis. The introductory section on inheritance of albinism demonstrates how understanding meiosis and fertilization provides the basis for understanding inheritance and Punnett squares. The next two sections, Coin Toss Genetics and analysis of class data on the sex makeup of sibships, help students understand the probabilistic nature of Punnett square predictions. The final activities analyze the genetics of sickle cell anemia and pedigrees for families with albinism and achondroplasia.

Download Student Handout: PDF format or Word format

Download Teacher Preparation Notes: PDF format or Word format

We invite comments on this Hands-On Activity and the accompanying Teacher Preparation Notes, including suggestions for other teachers who are planning to use the activity, useful preparatory or follow-up activities, additional resources or any questions you have related to the activity, or a brief description of any problem you might have encountered. If you have a relevant Word document you would like to have posted on this comments page, such as a version of the protocol you have used in your classroom, or if you would prefer to send your comments or questions in a private message, please write Ingrid Waldron at iwaldron@sas.upenn.edu.

See also a complete list of activities:
Hands-on Activities for Teaching Biology to High School and Middle School Students

Multiple additional genetics activities are available at http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/bioactivities.