Last week went according to the plan. Please review the last post if you have questions :)
This upcoming week is going to be interesting. I am going to try something new where the students are going to be able to work at their own pace. Every year when we cover punnett squares we find that some students get the idea of them right away and other students need more practice. This year I am going to try to tailor this part of the unit to each type of kid. The students have to learn 5 different types of genetic crosses. I am going to give them three different ways to learn about them - watching online videos of me teaching them and walking through a practice problem, going to an interactive website, or reading a how to handout. Then the students will also have the opportunity to prove their knowledge in two ways. They can complete a practice problem packet (approximately 10 crosses) that must be completed in class but they can help each other use notes and ask questions. Students can work on these at their own pace but they will be due by the end of the day on Friday. The other option is that they can complete a mini Quiz (I will schedule one for each day of the week) that must be completed on the scheduled day but only contains 2 crosses. Each day the students will have time in class to work on practice problem, the quiz or learning about the different types of crosses. I will be available for questions the entire time and can hopefully work more one on one with the students who struggle. If the students do not get all of the questions on the practice packet correct, they can make necessary corrections. If the students are not satisfied with their grade on the quiz they chose to take, they make complete the practice packet to make up additional points.
Early next week, we will complete a cumulative review packet and then we will have a cumulative quiz over all of the information. Hopefully by working at their own pace, the students will be able to get a better handle on the information that we are working with.
The video lectures are found on this website. Go to Bio 137, Unit, Genetics and then you should see the videos for each genetic cross.
Below I have included the different interactive websites that can help the students learn about these types of crosses:
Genetics Practice Problems: http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio105/geneprob.htm
This website has practice problems for all of the types of crosses we will complete in class. You have to scroll down to find them and you will notice they discuss other crosses that we will not cover – do not let these other types of crosses confuse you.
University of Arizona Monohybrid Cross Tutorial: http://www.biology.arizona.edu/mendelian_genetics/problem_sets/monohybrid_cross/01t.html
This website focuses on explaining how to do a monohybrid cross and then has some practice multiple choice questions that follow the tutorial.
Incomplete & Codominance: http://www.hobart.k12.in.us/jkousen/Biology/inccodom.htm
This website discusses how to do an incomplete dominance cross and then has some practice problems where the answers are shown.
Sex-Linked Genes: http://www.ksu.edu/biology/pob/genetics/xlinked.htm
This website from Kansas State University provides practice problems for x-linked traits. As you complete the practice problems, you can click on hints and it will show how the punnett squares should be set up and explain why.
Multiple Alleles: http://www.hobart.k12.in.us/jkousen/Biology/multalle.htm
This website first details what a multiple allele problem is and what it is not. Then it has some sample questions with the answers and explanations listed. You just have to click on the link “answers” in order to see the explanations.
Dihybrid Cross Virtual Activity: http://www.dnaftb.org/5/problem.html
This website is a short tutorial on how to complete a dihybrid cross. It is interactive and explains the different steps to you as you go through the process.
This website has practice problems for all of the types of crosses we will complete in class. You have to scroll down to find them and you will notice they discuss other crosses that we will not cover – do not let these other types of crosses confuse you.
University of Arizona Monohybrid Cross Tutorial: http://www.biology.arizona.edu/mendelian_genetics/problem_sets/monohybrid_cross/01t.html
This website focuses on explaining how to do a monohybrid cross and then has some practice multiple choice questions that follow the tutorial.
Incomplete & Codominance: http://www.hobart.k12.in.us/jkousen/Biology/inccodom.htm
This website discusses how to do an incomplete dominance cross and then has some practice problems where the answers are shown.
Sex-Linked Genes: http://www.ksu.edu/biology/pob/genetics/xlinked.htm
This website from Kansas State University provides practice problems for x-linked traits. As you complete the practice problems, you can click on hints and it will show how the punnett squares should be set up and explain why.
Multiple Alleles: http://www.hobart.k12.in.us/jkousen/Biology/multalle.htm
This website first details what a multiple allele problem is and what it is not. Then it has some sample questions with the answers and explanations listed. You just have to click on the link “answers” in order to see the explanations.
Dihybrid Cross Virtual Activity: http://www.dnaftb.org/5/problem.html
This website is a short tutorial on how to complete a dihybrid cross. It is interactive and explains the different steps to you as you go through the process.
Hopefully you find these helpful