Ready to kick off your genetics unit? I prefer starting with DNA and then moving onto Punnett squares and inheritance patterns. For me, it makes more sense to teach DNA first and explain what a gene actually is. If you start with inheritance and use the word “gene” or “allele,”
At the end of our DNA unit, we learn about DNA fingerprinting and how it is used in forensic science. This really hooks students- they feel like real crime scene investigators! I’ve compiled some teaching resources and general lab tips if you plan to teach about DNA fingerprinting and run
Protein synthesis is not one of my favorite biology topics to teach. It can be a big enough struggle to get students understanding all those A’s, U’s, C’s, and G’s, and then even MORE of a struggle to get them understanding the bigger picture on how that code translates to
Epigenetics is a fascinating field of science. If you aren’t familiar with it, the epigenome is the study of how your behaviors and environment impact gene expression. I pose the question to my students- if an identical twin gets cancer, does that mean the other twin will automatically get cancer?
Do your students truly understand protein synthesis? Not just knowing how to convert DNA to mRNA to amino acids, but TRULY understand how and why the process works? I struggled with this for a while. My students were great with A’s, T’s, C’s, and G’s (and U!) but couldn’t explain
Looking for some new ideas and activities to teach cladograms and phylogenetic trees? Check out this list below of fun activities and interactive websites. 1. Cladogram Construction: This free activity from Carolina Biological is nice and simple- a great way to introduce cladograms to your students. It has students construct
If you’ve scoured the internet looking for fun Karyotype activities like I have, you know they are few and far between. Most activities involve students cutting out 23 chromosomes, finding the homologous pair on a worksheet, and gluing them together. This activity ends with paper scraps everywhere, missing chromosomes, and
*If you are already familiar with how CRISPR works to make GMOs and just want the teaching resources, hop down below the Youtube video* Some people are terrified of the phrase “Genetically modified organism,” yet they are literally everywhere. Roughly 75% of the foods in grocery stores have been genetically
Ready to teach protein synthesis? (If you missed my DNA structure and replication blog post, back up and start there). Protein Synthesis is actually a fun concept for me to teach. For me, there are 2 barriers you need to cross in order for students to learn protein synthesis:1. Learning
One comment I frequently hear from biology teachers is “My students keep mixing up mitosis and meiosis.” I had this problem for many years (the first 5 years of teaching to be exact). During my cells unit I would teach both mitosis and meiosis. I would begin by teaching them
This is one lab that you don’t want to miss! It’s easy, the materials are inexpensive (you probably already have them at home), and it ties together multiple concepts. Winner! In this lab, students will analyze a pedigree of a fictitious family. In the introduction, students read that “Jon and
