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Kate Stafford
17109@advanced.org
This idea, best for students who have been exposed to genetic principles, can be a personalized test or a friendly classroom competition. Simply have students visit our Knowledge Quiz, and give the answers they think are correct. When answers are submitted, the quiz returns personalized results telling the answer given, the correct answer, and the reason that answer is correct. Use this ability as a test for students, or have them write down the number of correct answers and share their totals with the class. Give prizes to the highest scorers. Students can also take the test individually at first, then in groups, and compare the results. This encourages collaboration and sharing of information between students.
Kate Stafford
17109@advanced.org
This friendly classroom competition is ideal for introducing students unfamiliar with genetics principles to basic patterns of inheritance. It also integrates the Internet with classic teaching methods. Simply have students visit our interactive game alone or in small groups. Have them follow the instructions and write down their scores (maximum possible: 8). Then have students share their scores with the class, and give a reward for the highest scorers. Another idea: have students play the game once before exposure to genetic principles or reading our Genetics Tutorial, and record their score. Then have them play again after being taught in class or reading the Tutorial, and record their score again. Give prizes to those with the highest original score and to those who have improved the most.
Kate Stafford
17109@advanced.org
Many teachers have done the traditional population genetics experiment in which a survey of the genetic traits of students was carried out, tallied, and recorded. Often, results of one class are compared with the results of another class, and these differences are analyzed. This experiment takes that classic one step further. In order to try this experiment, take the traditional survey of the students in the class. (Traits to use: hair color, eye color, handedness, tongue-rolling, eye dominance. For explanations, see our survey page.) Then tally and record the results. However, the next step is unique and integrates the Internet into classroom experiments. Go to the Survey page on this site and compare the results of your class with the compiled results of Internet respondents. Analyze the differences as usual, asking questions such as, "Are the results different, or similar? Are there predominant ethnic groups in our school that affected our results? Which is probably a better sample of our town / city? Of the country? Of the world?" Another interesting experiment: survey several different classes, then see which class is closest to our compiled results.
Kate Stafford
17109@advanced.org
Home DNA extraction is a fun, interesting experiment that is easy to perform in the classroom and does not require messy, dangerous, or expensive materials. To perform this experiment, collect the following materials: test tubes, glass or plastic stirrers, eyedroppers, dish detergent, and pureed meat (liver, steak, or chicken work best). Give each participant a test tube and glass stirrer. Have participants use the eyedroppers to put about 2 inches of pureed meat in their test tubes. Then have them add about 1 inch of dish detergent and mix gently with the stirrers. When the ingredients have been thoroughly combined and have settled into three distinct "layers", have students slowly rotate the stirrers in the tubes while lifting the stirrers out. If the experiment has been properly performed, students should see "strings" of white material wrapped around the stirrer. This material is DNA! For a more complicated experiment, try comparing the quantity of DNA extracted from different meats; compare the quantity of fresh vs. processed meats; or compare meats with other organic materials like fruit or tree bark.
Created by Kate Stafford and Michael Mannor for ThinkQuest.
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