Genetics and Heredity

Evolution

Unit 1: Genetics and Heredity Unit Description:

In this high school unit on genetics and heredity, students explore muscular conditions (Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy) common to a group of boys. Students' questions about what causes this condition leads to investigations about the role of proteins, DNA, and inheritance in the disorder. In the first part of this unit students figure out how heritable traits and disorders are related to the structure and function of proteins. In the second part of this unit students investigate how we can use genetic engineering technologies to cure genetic disorders and explore the ethical implications of needed technologies such as, CRISPR-Cas9.

Unit 2: Evolution Unit Description:

This high school unit on natural selection and evolution starts out with students exploring the case of a young girl with a life-threatening infection of pan-resistant bacteria. This case sparks questions that lead them to investigate the growing prevalence of such cases and discrepancies between antibiotic use in their communities and CDC recommendations. As they develop a model to explain how bacteria populations change over time, students expand their investigations to look at whether similar population changes are occurring in a population of birds (Juncos).