Biology Lesson Plan

Name(s): Teresa Walls

Date/Time: Thursday, July 10, 2014 (TNT Summer Institute 2014)

Name of Course, Grade, and Level : High school Biology and Pre-AP Biology

Science Patterns of Inheritance

Topic

Title of Lesson: Dragon Genetics

Concept Statement:

At the end of this lesson, students will understand how dominant and recessive traits are inherited and
passed on to offspring, as well as the three types of dominance. They will understand that gametes
combine to give the offspring a full complement of chromosomes, with half coming from each parent,
allowing for genetic recombination with each new generation.

Source of Lesson:

“Dragon Genetics” kit from Science Kit & Boreal Laboratories.

Sherman, Kimberly. (2012). Genetics and heredity lesson plan. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
https://quigleysciencestandards.wikispaces.com

University of Utah Health Sciences. PTC: genes and bitter taste. Retrieved 6/18/2014.
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/inheritance/ptc/.

List of appropriate TEKS: Chapter 112.34 Biology

TEKS # Student Expectation

2 (C) The student uses scientific methods and equipment during laboratory and field
investigations. The student is expected to:
(C) know scientific theories are based on natural and physical phenomena and are
capable of being tested by multiple independent researchers. Unlike
hypotheses, scientific theories are well-established and highly-reliable
explanations, but they may be subject to change as new areas of science and
new technologies are developed;
6 (B), (D), (F), The student knows the mechanisms of genetics, including the role of nucleic acids
(G) and the principles of Mendelian genetics. The student is expected to:
(B) recognize that components that make up the genetic code are common to all
organisms;
(F) predict possible outcomes of various genetic combinations such as monohybrid
crosses, dihybrid crosses and non-Mendelian inheritance;
 Objectives Evaluation Questions (at least one open-ended)
Write objectives in IWBAT form. Each question should match the written objective. You may use one of
your sample TAKS/STAAR problems as a guiding template for your
evaluation questions. Note: these should be the SAME questions you are
utilizing in the evaluation section.
Include answers to all questions.
Include 1 real-world, 1 griddable, and 1 explanation question
1 “I will be able to explain the How does a dominant trait differ from a recessive trait?
difference between a dominant
and recessive trait.”
2 “I will be able to predict the In cocker spaniels the allele for a black coat color (B) is dominant
outcome of a monohybrid cross over the allele for a brown coat color (b). If a brown cocker spaniel
between two individual is crossed with a heterozygous black cocker spaniel, which of the
organisms.” following genotypic ratios can be expected?
F 0 BB: 2 Bb: 2 bb
G 1 BB: 2 Bb: 1 bb
H 2 BB: 0 Bb: 2 bb
J 2 BB: 1 Bb: 0 bb
3 “I will be able to differentiate Explain the difference between “genotype” and “phenotype"
between genotype and
phenotype and give examples of
each.
4 “I will be able to list the three List the three types of genetic dominance and give an
types of dominance and give an example for each type.
example of each type.”

Resources, Materials, Handouts, and Equipment List in table format:

ITEM Quantity Source List who this is for

(Specify worksheets) (How many do you need?) (Who is responsible? (teacher, student, group)

Dragon Genetics kit from Ward’s 1 (class set of 16, designed for Teacher Students and
Science students to work in pairs) teacher
https://wardsci.com/store/catalo
g/product.jsp?catalog_number=3
66295
Poster-sized Post-It® paper 1 tablet Teacher Students and
teacher
Supply box for each table 1 per table Teacher Students
containing scissors, Post-It®
notes, map pencils and Sharpies.
Paper towels two towels per group Teacher Students
Vocabulary cards to laminate and 1 set Teacher Students
put on board as terms are
introduced
Advanced Preparations:

(1) The Dragon Genetics kit requires some preparation by the teacher before class begins. There is a
packet that comes with the kit that has instructions as well as blackline masters. Read through the
packet to familiarize yourself with the activities. Instructions on how to set up the kit can be found on
page 4 of the packet.
(2) Make copies of activity sheets.
(3) A box of student supplies per group.

PowerPoint (Embed as Object here): (Be sure the PPT includes all components outlined on the rubric)

5E Lesson Plan
Objective Statement: At the end of this lesson, students will be able to explain how dominant and
recessive traits are passed from parent to offspring.

ENGAGEMENT Time : 5 Minutes

Probing/Eliciting Questions and
What the Teacher Will Do What the Students Will Do
Students Responses
A pre-test for this content was Each student will get a Post-It note
given on the previous day. and answer each question on a
separate note.
The teacher will ask each
student to get 2 Post-It® notes
from the supply box on the
table.

Ask the students to:

(1) clasp their hands

together and observe
which thumb is on
top, the right or the
left. The students will
write this information
on their Post-It® note.
(2) write down if they are
right-handed or left-
handed on the second
Post-It® note .
(3) The students will then
be asked to stick these
notes on a designated
chart at the front of
the room. This chart
will be divided into
segments that
correspond with the
possible answers that
students might have.

Take a moment to let the students

look at the posters.
1. Students should notice
1. “Look at the Post-It® notes on that on the “Thumb”
the poster. What do you poster that more people
notice?” indicated that they were
right-handed than left-
handed. For hand-
clasping, there should be
more left-over-right
individuals than right-over-
left. (These patterns
SHOULD be observed in a
classroom of typical size.)

2. “These characteristics that we

2. [Left thumb-over-right is
just looked at can also be
dominant, with right thumb-
called traits. Look at the class
over-left being recessive. ]
results on our posters. Based
Why? [Because there are left-
on our class results when
over-rights in our class.]
looking at our posters, which
do you think is most common,
right thumb-over-left or left
thumb-over-right? Why?”

3. “What about right- or left- 3. [Right-handedness is more

handedness? What do you common.]
think the pattern of
inheritance is for this trait?”

4. [DNA]
4. “What determines the traits
[genes]
that we inherit? “
[our parents]
Transition Statement
‘Let’s take a look at some other traits and explore how these traits are inherited.”

EXPLORATION Time: 20 Minutes

Probing/Eliciting Questions and
What the Teacher Will Do What the Students Will Do
Student Responses
Pass out handout entitled Students will put their name on the
“Dragon Genetics Worksheet handout and follow along as the
#3A: “Do Your Ears Hang directions are read aloud.
Low?”

Have a student read the

instructions for this activity
aloud.

“You are going to be working

with your shoulder partner for
this activity. Look at the list of
ten traits listed on the left side
of this handout. Read the
description of each one and
determine if you have or do
not have the trait as it is
described. In the first column
on the handout, labeled
“Activity 3A”, write down if
you have the dominant or
recessive form for each trait.
Do not fill in the second
column at this time.”

Explain what Darwin’s ear

point is before starting the
activity, as most students will
be unfamiliar with the term.

“Before we start, I will give

everyone a piece of SBT paper
and a paper towel. To taste it,
get some saliva in your mouth
and place the paper on your
tongue.” (demonstrate this
for the students).

“Dispose of the SBT paper on

the paper towel on your desk
when you are finished.” Working with a shoulder partner,
“Continue down the list on the students will look at each trait
handout. Once you and your listed on the handout and
partner finish the activity, go determine if they are dominant or
to the class chart and put a tic recessive for the trait. This
mark in the proper column for information will be noted on the
each trait. We’ll look at class handout.
results when everyone is Once each pair finishes, they will go
finished. You will have 10 to the class chart and note which
minutes to complete this part form of the trait they have.
of the activity.”

Teacher will walk around the

room and monitor as the
students work, clarifying any
“Can someone tell me what the term [It’s the version of a trait that
questions they may have.
“dominant” means in genetics?” shows.]
“Let’s look at our results. Did
[It’s the strongest form of a trait.]
everyone get their data on the
chart?” [If a person has a dominant gene
for a trait, it’s the form that will
show up.]
Go through the list, clarifying
“What is a recessive trait?” [It’s the weaker form of a trait.]
what each trait looks like and
asking students who have [It will show up if the person has a
these traits to show them to recessive gene.]
the class.
[It will only show up if all of a
person’s genes for that trait are the
recessive form.]

“How many of you tasted something Answers will vary. Since this is a
when you put the SBT paper on your dominant trait, more students
tongue?” (Ask for a show of hands). should be tasters than non-tasters.
“What did it taste like?” The SBT paper tastes bitter to
those can taste it.
 “Why do you think being able to taste [Maybe it has something to do with
or not taste some things is inherited? body chemistry.]
How might this work?”
[Non-tasters are missing a chemical
receptor that would allow them to
taste this compound.]

[Dominant form of trait doesn’t

“Polydactyly is actually a dominant have to be the most common;
trait, yet most of us in the room do not people in a particular area may
have this trait. Why would most exhibit recessive form, i.e. blue-
members of a population exhibit the
eyed Scandinavians.]
recessive form of a trait?”

(Frequency of polydactyly in the U.S. is

1 per 500 to 1000 births. There may
some students in the room who are
dominant for polydactyly. In the
United States, extra digits are
generally removed when a person is
very young.)
“We’ve taken a look at some
common dominant and
recessive traits. The physical
expression of a trait is known
as its phenotype.

Transition Statement
“Let’s take a look at how these traits can be represented.”

EXPLANATION Time: 30 Minutes

Probing/Eliciting Questions and
What the Teacher Will Do What the Students Will Do
Student Responses
The teacher will distribute a Students will put their name on the
copy of two handouts: handout and follow along as the
“Dragon Genetics Worksheet directions are read aloud.
#1: “I’m All Keyed Up” and
“Dragon Genetics Worksheet
#2: “Would Someone Please
Take Charge?’
Instruct students to complete
the questions on “I’m All
Keyed Up” (about 8 minutes). “The Dragon Key gives us a list of
Students will work on this traits that are dominant and recessive
in dragons. How are the dominant [Dominant alleles are represented
individually. by a capital letter.]
genes represented?”

“How are the recessive alleles [Recessive alleles are represented

represented?” by the same letter, but in small-
case.]

[long neck, horn present, green

“What are some of the dominant body, spikes on end of tail, three
traits from this list? toes, black tail spikes, red eye, fire-
breathing, long tail, red wings,
yellow belly, freckles]

[short neck, no horn, gray body, no

“What are some of the recessive traits tail spikes, four toes, red tail spikes,
from the list?” white eyes, non-fire breathing,
short tail, yellow wings, white
belly, no freckles]

“How do we inherit our alleles?” [From our parents].

“For our study of Dragon
Genetics, we are going to look
at traits that are controlled by
only two alleles. This kind of
trait results from a “What does “mono’” mean? [mono- = “one”]
monohybrid cross”.

“Not all traits are as cut-and-dried as

the ones we’re going to look at here.
While some traits are determined by
only two alleles (1 set), others are [Hair color, eye color, skin color].
determined by a number of alleles.
Can you think of any traits that are
probably controlled by many genes
(alleles)?”

“Why do you think hair and eye color

inheritance might be more complex?”
 [Because there are many different
eye colors and hair colors, not just
“If inheritance as the result of only
light and dark.]
two alleles (1 set of genes) is called a
monohybrid cross, what would a trait
that is controlled by many pairs of
alleles be called?” [multihybrid]

[polygenic]

“Look at the last trait on the list. In

the case of ear frills, the sex of the
dragon determines whether it will
have ear frills or not. If the dragon is
male, what will its phenotype for ear
[Males will all have ear frills.]
frills be?”

“What about the females? What will

their phenotype for ear frills be?”

[All of the females will not have ear

frills.]

“Take a look at the handout

entitled “#2: Would Someone
Please Take Charge?”
Students will put their names on
Call on a student to read the Dragon Genetics Worksheet #2:
instructions aloud. “Would Someone Please Take
“If having a long neck is dominant,
“Let’s look at the alleles that what allele must be present in order Charge?”
determine neck size. for a dragon to have a long neck?”
[At least one dominant gene must
be present for a dragon to have a
long neck.]
“How is a dominant allele
represented?”

“What if a dragon has one dominant [With a capital letter.]

allele and one recessive allele for a
trait? What will it look like?”
 [If a dragon has one dominant and
one recessive allele, it will show
the dominant form of the trait.]
“What is the genetics term for the
appearance of an organism?”

“So, we know that a long-necked

dragon can have two dominant alleles [Phenotype]
(NN) or one dominant allele and one
recessive allele (Nn). What term is
used for the actual alleles that [Genotype]
determine the trait, like NN or Nn.”

“There are two other

vocabulary terms that you
need to be familiar with as we
talk about inheritance. If an
individual has two alleles that
are identical, like NN or nn,
that gene pair is described as
homozygous. If an individual
has a pair of alleles with one
dominant trait and one
recessive trait, they are
described as heterozygous. If
the organism has two
“If the individual has two recessive
dominant alleles, they are
alleles, they are described as _____.”
homozygous dominant

[homozygous recessive]
“With your shoulder partner,
take 5 minutes to complete
the table. “

At the end of 5 minutes, have

students share their answers.

“To wrap up this part of the

lesson, let’s go back to
Handout #3A: “Do Your Ears
Hang Low? Look at the last
column.”
Put a copy of Worksheet #4:
“Enter the Dragon” on the
document camera and
complete the second column
together as a large group. Ask
individual students to share
out answers.

“Traits are encoded on cell

“If humans have 46 autosomal (body)
structures called
chromosomes, how many of those are
chromosomes. Half of your
contributed from the mother? How
chromosomes come from your
many from the father?”
mother’s egg and half come
from your father’s sperm.”

“Why do egg and sperm cells have [Mom = 23, Dad = 23}
only half as many chromosomes as
body cells?”

[Because humans can only have 46

chromosomes under normal
conditions. 23 from Mom and 23
“What kind of cell division allows for from Dad allow the offspring to
inherit traits from both parents and
the creation of body (autosomal)
cells? have a total chromosome number
of 46.]

“What kind of cell division allows for

the creation of sex cells (= allosomes [mitosis- creates daughter cell just
or gametes)? like the original]

“Which parent determines the sex of a [meiosis- creates sex cells with a
baby?’ haploid (half) complement of
“So, we’ve said that humans chromosomes.]
have a chromosome number “Does anyone know why?”
of 46. They also have a pair of
sex chromosomes that [The father.]
determine gender.

[Because the father has two

different types of sperm. Half carry
 “What is the genotype of a female?” a female gamete [X} and the other
half carry a male gamete [Y].
“What is the genotype of a male?”

[XX]
“So if each parent contributes one of
their sex chromosomes, which parent [XY]
determines the sex of the offspring?”
[The father, because he can
contribute either an X or a Y
chromosome. Mom can only
contribute X chromosomes.]
“To correctly write the
genotype of a human, one
would write the female “How would we write the genotype of
genotype as “46XX”, because a human male?”
humans have 46 [46XY]
chromosomes and the XX says
that this individual is female.”

“So, we know that Dad determines

the sex of the baby. What is the
Show the students a basic
Punnett Square showing the probability of having a male or female
child?” [50/50]
probability of having a male or
female child. “If we put the genotypes of Mom and
Dad in a Punnett Square, you can see
that there is a 50/50 chance of having
a boy or a girl.” X X

X XX XX

Y XY XY

“Let’s look at a pair of dragon

chromosomes. Look at the
handout entitled “Dragon
Genetics Worksheet #4: Trait Genotype Phenotype
“Enter the Dragon”.’
Fire Fire
Ff
“You’ll notice that each dragon breathing breathing
chromosome carries alleles for
three traits. Let’s look at the
 alleles that the baby dragon Body color Gg
Green
from these two parents will body

possess.” (Complete the table Spikes

Spikes
together). present or Ss
present
not

Transition Statement
“Now let’s take this information a step further. Yyou and your partner get to be the proud parents of a
bouncing baby dragon!

ELABORATION Time: 40 Minutes

Probing/Eliciting Questions and
What the Teacher Will Do What the Students Will Do
Student Responses
Pass out the following
materials per pair of students:
Students will put their name on
 Dragon Genetics Worksheet #5.
Worksheet #5
 One set of Dragon eggs
containing the
chromosomes for each
parent.
 One Dragon Blackline
Master
 1 piece of card stock
 Supply box containing
map pencils, glue sticks,
scissors, Sharpies and
tape.

“One member of each group “What is another name for sex cells?”
will be a Dragon Daddy and the [Allosomes] [gametes]
other member will be a Dragon
Mama. Your eggs are marked
as being male or female. Take
a moment to sort out your
“sex cells” into male and
female sets.
[Two alleles that are identical for a
trait, such as AA or aa.]
“As dragon parents, you will “What does it mean if an organism is
contribute alleles for several homozygous for a trait?”
traits to your baby, as well as [The offspring has one dominant and
an X or a Y chromosome to “What does it mean if an organism is one recessive allele for the trait.]
determine the baby’s sex.” heterozygous for a trait?”

[The baby will display the dominant

form of the trait.]

“What will the phenotype be for an

individual who has a heterozygous
genotype?”

“Each egg or sperm will

contain alleles for several
traits. Open the containers to
determine what alleles your
baby will inherit. Use the data
table on “Dragon Genetics
Worksheet #5” to record the
genotype for each trait. You
will tell if your offspring is
homozygous or heterozygous
for each trait and then write
down the baby’s phenotype
for each pair of alleles.”

“Once you’ve determined the

genotype of your baby for
each trait, use the dragon
parts on the “Dragon Blackline
Master” to build your baby.
Cut out the parts that fit the
phenotype of your dragon and
build your dragon on the piece
of cardstock that has been
provided. You may use either
a glue stick or tape. Color your
dragon the appropriate colors
and label your dragon to
identify which traits it has
inherited and the genotype for
that trait.”
Students will build their dragons.
(Have a work sample available
to model how students should
label their dragon.)

“You will have 35 minutes to

work.”

(The teacher will walk around

the classroom and monitor the Students will share their baby dragon
students as they work.) with the class.

Once the students have

completed the assignment,
have them share their dragons
with the class.

“With these activities, we’ve

taken a look at one type of
dominance. This type of
dominance, in which one gene
completely masks another
gene, is called complete
dominance. There are two
other types that we’ll look at
briefly.”

“The second type of

dominance is called R R
incomplete dominance. With
this pattern of inheritance, r Rr Rr
there is a dominant
r Rr Rr
phenotype, a recessive
phenotype and a third RR = red flowers
phenotype that is between the
dominant and recessive forms. rr = white flowers
An example of this is shown
Rr = pink flowers
with a flower called a 4-
o’clock.”

“With hair texture, an individual with

a genotype of CC has curly hair. An C c
This same pattern holds true individual with a genotype of cc has C CC Cc
for human hair texture. straight hair and a heterozygous
individual (Cc)has wavy hair. Is it c Cc cc
possible for two wavy-haired
individuals to have a child with
straight hair? Draw the Punnett
Square to demonstrate your answer.”

“The third type of dominance

is called codominance. In this
type of dominance, two types
of genes can act as dominants
and both be expressed.”

“There are four human blood

types, A, B, O and AB.

A is dominant over O.

B is dominant over O.

A and B are codominants. “Look at this Punnett Square. An

individual who is heterozygous for
A O Type A has a child with an individual
who is heterozygous for Type B. What
B AB BO
is the probability that these two [25%]
O AO OO heterozygous parents will have a child
with Type O blood?”
A B
The O allele will always be
“Draw a Punnett Square for a parent B AB BB
overshadowed by either A or
B. A type O individual has the who has Type AB blood and a parent
O AO BO
recessive form of this trait. who is heterozygous for Type B.”

[25%]
What is the probability of these
parents having a baby with Type A
blood?
[50%]
A baby with Type B blood?
[0%]
A baby with Type O blood?

Transition Statement
“Thank you, dragon parents, for sharing your babies with us today. “

Closure Statement
“During the course of this lesson (Dragon Genetics), we’ve looked at dominant and recessive traits, the three
types of dominance and discussed how offspring inherit half of their genetic information from their mother and
half from their father, with the offspring ‘s genotype being different from that of either parent.

EVALUATION Time: 10 Minutes

What the Teacher Will Do Probing/Eliciting Questions What the Students Will Do

Students will clear their desks for

The teacher will allow 5 minutes the final evaluation.
for the post-test.

The students will complete a post-

The teacher will monitor the test.
room as the students complete
the post-test, answering
questions as necessary.

Go over the answers when

everyone is finished. Collect the
post-test documents.