Inquiry Activity Sequence for 9th Graders

Overarching question or puzzling phenomenon for unit:

Commented [P1]: This overarching question is intended to peak students interest by connecting the content of the class to their personal lives. I have come up with a couple of interesting questions for students to engage with the material.

What do we mean when we say that there is a predisposition for something (a personality trait, physical characteristic, disease, etc.)? If your parents are athletic, does that mean you are more likely to be athletic? What if they are creative? Smart? Funny?
Some additional, more specific questions I am considering using for this unit or presenting to the students: Detroit Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer has one blue eye and one brown eye. Why does he have two different colored eyes? Why did Angelina Jolie have surgery when she doesnt have cancer? What would you do if you were in her situation? What advice would you give her or someone close to you? Trajectory of Inquiry Sequence Focus Objective Objective B4.1c Differentiate between dominant, recessive, codominant, polygenic, and sex-linked traits. Inquiry trajectory (or trajectories) DATA ANALYSIS

Commented [P2]: I used the Michigan state objective and consulted the NGSS standards to guide my planning of this activity sequence.

HS-LS3-2. Make and defend a claim based on evidence that DATA inheritable genetic variations may result from: (1) new genetic ANALYSIS combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors (NGSS standard for demonstrating understanding)

Big Ideas and examples Big Ideas = the general ideas I want my students to use. Punnett squares are a tool that can be used to calculate the genotypic and phenotypic probabilities of an offspring produced by two individuals. Punnett squares can only be used when dealing with genes that are governed by Mendelian genetics, but have their limitations. Dominant and recessive alleles are integral to understanding some of the basics of inheritance and genetics. Pedigrees are a way to examine and analyze the phenotypes of organisms in a family over many generations. Depending on the type of inheritance, characteristic patterns arise from the different types (sexlinked, autosomal dominant/recessive).

Commented [P3]: The big ideas section covers all of the important topics and concepts that are integral to this unit. The big ideas are what I would like students to take away from this unit. Ideally, I would like my students to be able to explain/critically engage with the content.

My goal is for students to analyze and critically think about a pedigree I give them without any formal introduction or explanation of what it is or what information it is showing/displaying. I want them to come up with observations and to note any patterns they may see. Students will be able to construct this explanation based on the following patterns and trends from data we will collect Men and women, along with carriers and those expressing the trait in question, each have their own specific symbol on a pedigree. Since I do not plan on explicitly telling the students what we are going to be looking at, or what the symbols mean, I intend on having them generating the ideas and explanations of what the symbols could mean.

 Sex-linked, autosomal dominant, and autosomal recessive inheritance patterns have different, characteristic, patterns present on pedigrees. Looking at the patterns that arise from individuals (or carriers) of the trait in question leads to this distinction. Activity Sequence Stages
Commented [P4]: In planning for this activity sequence I thought about how I wanted to present the material and in what order. For each part, I came up with an appropriate activity and formative assessment I wanted to use when teaching individual lessons.

Purpose of Activity Establish a Problem / Engage Student Thinking

Brief Description of Activity

Formative Assessment

Scientific practice(s) -Hypothesizing -Modeling -Using personal experiences as data -Abstract Reasoning

Initial class discussion. I will tell the class the puzzling question (ex. Why did Angelina Jolie have surgery when she doesnt have cancer?)

Questions/ Clarifications

I plan on using exit slips to assess and get an idea about what students are thinking. They have been introduced to the idea of What advice would you have given to genes, but they are likely her, or someone you know? Why?). This not familiar with all of the can lead to a class discussion, which will possible phenotypes of get at students initial ideas. eye color etc. I will be breaking the Students questions are really important here. Therefore, I will let them use sticky students up into small groups and I expect each notes to put questions on the whole group to come up with class model. questions that they have We will be generating this model, as a about the guiding class, and modifying it along the way. It is question. Are there ideas something that we will revisit at the end they seem to understand or struggle with (i.e.

-Questioning -Justifying ideas with evidence

of the unit, so students can see how their thinking has changed. Evidence: Data and patterns OR predict/explain This part of the unit has multiple activities in order to provide students with opportunities to collect and analyze data that will help students answer the overall driving question. Students will examine, analyze and work with several different pedigrees that exhibit the different inheritance patterns. They will also answer questions specific to each pedigree. It also includes when you can use a TOOL to make sense of the data. Students will use sticky notes to add/remove/modify aspects of the working class model as we move through the unit. Some activities include: Looking at, analyzing, and asking questions about pedigrees (without being introduced to the tool), coming up with explanations/ideas about the guiding question, answering questions about different pedigrees/types of inheritance patterns.

DNA, protein expression/synthesis)? Students will answer an exit slip question daily, and each question will deal with what was covered during the lesson. As we progress through the unit and from one lesson to the next, every student will have an opportunity to add/change/modify their ideas and explanations of the classrooms working explanation/hypothesis.

-Hypothesizing -Revising models based on evidence -Using personal experiences as data -Predicting -Questioning -Justifying ideas with evidence

Students explanations/ models

At the end of this unit, I want students to answer one of the two guiding questions that I stated at the beginning of this activity sequence.

Scientific theories or models

-Taking a stance using evidence -Communicating Additionally, students will science ideas Revisit the whole class model with write out an -Revising models sticky notes again. As weve done explanation/answer on more activities and talked more, I their own addressing one want students to have another of the specific questions chance to see how their thinking posed at the beginning of has changed. the activity sequence. Students will come up with explanations/hypotheses in group settings. From there, they will share out with the class and we will compile a class list of ideas/explanations and develop a classroom explanation. Students will be able to Communicating Students are familiar with DNA and science ideas protein synthesis, along with the ideas of edit their thinking/ideas genes. They are not familiar with the idea about the phenomena as -Revising models we progress through the of alleles, or any other ideas/terms unit. relevant to hereditary and inheritance. I am introducing Mendelian genetics through inquiry, and after students think Additionally, their exit about and engage with the data I plan on slip questions address our presenting to them I will formally define daily lessons and the the concept and guiding scientific theory. content covered in class.

Revised models/explanations

Commented [P5]: The focus of this inquiry activity, as with all lessons, is student thinking and ideas. I want students to be able to reflect on how their thinking and ideas have changed over the course of the activity sequence.

Communication

Students will write out their own answers (constructed on their own) to one of the questions I stated at the beginning of the activity sequence. Students will also reflect on how their thinking and ideas have changed about inheritance from the beginning of the activity sequence to the end of it.

Students will reflect back on their previous ideas/thinking in their exit slips and talk about how their understanding of these topics have changed/grown over the course of the activity sequence.

Communicating scientific ideas -Revising models