State Standards:
Reproduction and Heredity
Standard #7: Recognize that every organism requires a set of instructions that specifies its traits. These instructions are stored in the organism’s chromosomes. Heredity is the passage of these instructions from one generation to another.

Standard # 8: Recognize that hereditary information is contained in genes located in the chromosomes of each cell. A human cell contains about 30,000 different genes on 23 different chromosomes.

Major Learning Targets:
  • I can identify Mendel and summarize the work he did in genetics and state why it was significant
  • I can explain that the different forms a gene can take for a given trait are called alleles
  • I can demonstrate that when the genes for a trait combine, one may be stronger than another and express itself while the other remains hidden
  • I can recognize that not all traits are controlled by one gene, but may be controlled by several and this is why there is a great variety of ways traits are expressed
  • I can use letters to represent the alleles an organism has for a given trait
  • I can explain what the Human Genome project is and it’s implications for the future of genetics study


Important Concepts:
  • Sexual reproduction allows for a great variety of traits to be expressed in offspring
  • Mendel’s work dramatically changed the way we understand what traits get passed on through generations and how
  • Even with the same two parents, each offspring still has a great variety of traits
  • I can research what the Human Genome Project is and extrapolate how it can be used in the future

Important Skills:
  • Students will be able to assess the class for the presence of simple dominant and recessive traits
  • Students will be able to use the Capital/lowercase letter system for showing what alleles are present in an organism.


Assessments and Projects in Addition to Weekly Test:
Create a baby- Lab and report
__http://campbellms.typepad.com/files/phenotype-babies.pdf__

Ethics and Genetics: Research current work in genetics and create a documentary on whether or not these practices are ethical and why. Topics: GMO’s, Designer babies, Cloning


Resources:
Prentice Hall Life Science
Chapter 4
Sec 1 Mendel’s Work pg 110-115

Human Genome Project
http://www.genome.gov/10001772#al-1

Designer Baby Ethics
http://www.bionetonline.org/english/content/db_intro.htm

Ethics of Designer Babies
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/14/ethics-of-designer-babies_n_4966189.html

DNA Tests and Medicine
https://newsela.com/articles/genetics-future/id/2602/