Unit 6: Human Genetics

Students apply their knowledge of life and heredity to the theory of evolution, exploring how the fossil record, DNA analysis, and embryonic comparisons provide evidence of common ancestry and diversity.

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In the second case study, students investigate how natural selection is one way that evolution occurs, continuing to apply what they know about heredity and traits to the likelihood of an organism surviving in its environment. They extend this focus by exploring how the ability of an organism to survive changes when its environment changes.

Once students understand how natural selection acts on genetic variations within a population, students explore artificial selection. They begin with an investigation into how Punnett squares can be used to predict the probabilities of offspring inheriting specific traits, and then use their model to select for a specific trait over several generations.