Cell, Socks, and Sex Cell, Socks, and Sex Description: This is a fun, easy way to teach the process of mitosis and meiosis. This will strengthen vocabulary concepts like homologus pairs, diploid, haploid, tetrad and many others. This lesson will also clear up concepts like sexual determination, trisomy and even twining. Materials: Four or five pairs of socks. Lesson Plan: I start with a long, striped piece of fabric that has been twisted hundreds of times to represent chromatin material. I use socks with colored stripes, so that I can easily make reference to the genes in them, but add the idea of homologous chromosomes and alleles. I use a similar approach to teach meiosis. Now, I add the sex chromosomes to the original autosomal chromosomes. While singing Sthe race is on and here comes Clyde in the back stretch,S the sperm swims a bit and meets the egg. Fellows Collection Index Activities Exchange Index
Ten Websites for Science Teachers We all know that the web is full of excellent web resources for science teachers and students. However, unless you live on the web, finding the best websites can become quite a challenge. This isn't a "Top Ten" list -- instead, it is a list of websites that I either use on a regular basis or just find interesting. From teaching resources for the nature of science and authentic field journals to wacky videos about numbers, I am sure that you will find something in the following list the works for you! 1) Understanding Science UC Berkeley's Understanding Science website is a "must use" for all science teachers. 2) Field Research Journals The Field Book Project from the National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institution Archives intends to create a "one stop" archive for field research journals and other documentation. 3) Evolution Berkeley's Understanding Evolution website is the precursor to their Understanding Science efforts. 4) PhET Simulations 5) Earth Exploration video
DNA from the Beginning - An animated primer of 75 experiments that made modern genetics. Dragon Delivery | Home | K20alt Lesson Snapshot 1. Engage: Students will watch a video or look at a picture and identify all of the similarities and differences of dragons. 2. 3. 4. 5. Epigenetics II: DNA Methylation in Arabidopsis Jermel Watking, Bruce Nash, and David Micklos DNA Learning Center, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Although DNA is the blueprint of life, not all genes are actively expressed in every cell within a multicellular organism. As discussed in our Carolina Tips® article, "Epigenetics I: Using Carolina Corn Ears to Teach Genetic Imprinting," phenotypic differences between cells occur because genes are turned on or off in a cell-specific way. Arabidopsis, FWA, and DNA methylation One very important step in plant development is the switch from vegetative growth to flowering for sexual reproduction. FWA is normally expressed in endosperm, a tissue that feeds the seedling but does not contribute to the structure of the adult. Classroom application To study this homeotic mutation, you can grow Arabidopsis seed in your class. This relatively simple experiment offers a sophisticated test for specific chemical changes to DNA that act as an important developmental regulator in plants.
Double Blasted In early August of 1945, Tsutomu Yamaguchi had a run of the worst luck imaginable. A double blast of radiation left his future, and the future of his descendants, in doubt. In this short: an utterly amazing survival story that spans ... well, 4 billion years when you get down to it. On the morning of August 6th, 1945, Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a work trip. Blackett Family Pedigree Create a Blackett Family Pedigree Blackett Family Members The Blackett Family DNA Activity is largely a genetic study of the inheritance of alleles in an extended family. Bob Blackett has tested DNA samples from himself and 13 other relatives. The first task of a human geneticist is the creation of a family tree, or pedigree to help with the interpretation of genotypes. From the following relationships, construct a pedigree for the Bob and his relatives. Would you like to check your answer? We have prepared a sample pedigree chart of the Blackett family that you can use to check your answer, or to skip this activity if time is limiting. View the Pedigree in a new web page Download the pdf version. Introduction : Overview | STR P | CODIS | Analysis | Inheritance | Frequency Calc. Activities : Pedigree | Collect data | Paternity testing | Missing person | RCMP freq. calc.
What makes me tick...tock? Circadian rhythms, genetics, and health | Project NEURON | University of Illinois Following the introduction of basic principles and key terminology of circadian rhythmicity in Lesson 1, this lesson begins with students discussing model organisms and how scientists use them; Drosophila melanogaster is used as a model for the study of circadian rhythms. Students use several NetLogo simulations to examine how light, temperature, and genetic mutations can affect a fly’s behavior. Students make connections between these simulations and their own circadian rhythms, developing models throughout the lesson of how three different factors (light, temperature, and genetic mutations) can affect both the flies’ activity levels and their own throughout the day. A possible extension to using these NetLogo models is to have students design and carry out their own fly experiment looking at how light affects fly activity.
Trying to Fool Cancer Photo CLEVELAND — WHEN it airs on Monday, the Ken Burns-produced documentary “Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies” will emphasize how much more we now know about the genetic basis for . This year, according to President Obama, cancer research and funding will focus on so-called precision, personalized or targeted medicine — using cancer’s molecular underpinnings to develop drugs that attack the genes or gene products that make up cancer’s factory while sparing normal cells. The problem is, cancer is rarely that simple, or that easily fooled. Three recent studies, all published or presented late last year, highlight the challenges of building a national cancer therapy policy around precision medicine. The first, from me and my colleagues at the Cleveland Clinic in collaboration with Japanese researchers, performed genetic analyses on more than 600 patients with one of two related bone marrow cancers: myelodysplastic syndromes or acute myeloid leukemia. Ten genetic mutations. Or does it?