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BodyBlueprints
60MinuteHealthand
LifeScienceLesson
Science-to-Go!Program
Grades: 6 – 8 TEACHERGUIDE
BodyBlueprints:TheBasicsofHeredity
Description
Investigate the basics of heredity and
discover how the genes you inherited from
your parents determine much of who you
are.ReviewthestructureofDNAtoseehow
genetic information is organized. Find out
which students have dominant or recessive
traits by conducting experiments with your
class. Museum specimens from our
Hamann-Todd
Human
Osteological
Collection (the world’s largest documented
collection of modern human skeletal
remains!) are used to illustrate how our
conceptsofhumantaxonomyhavechanged
sincetheadventofDNAtechnology.
Objectives
• Identifycellsasthebasicunitoflife,and
deoxyribonucleicacidasthemolecule
withinacellnucleusthatprovidesthe
instructionsforlifeprocesses.
• Describethecharacteristicsofan
organismintermsofacombinationof
inheritedtraits
• Understandthatinsexualreproduction
aneggandspermcellunite,withsome
traitsbeinginheritedfromeachparent,
sotheoffspringisnotidenticaltoeither
parent.
• Recognizethatsimilaritybetween
parentandoffspringcanbeeither
inheritedorlearned
• UseaPunnettSquaretopredictpossible
inheritedtraitsinoffspring
Ohio’sLearningStandards
Grade6:LifeScience-CellulartoMulticellular
• Cellsarethefundamentalunitoflife.
• Allcellscomefrompre-existingcells.
• Cellscarryonspecificfunctionsthatsustainlife.
Grade8:LifeScience-SpeciesandReproduction
• Thecharacteristicsofanorganismarearesultofinheritedtraitsreceivedfrom
parent(s).
NationalHealthEducationStandards
Grade6-8:Standard1
• Studentswillcomprehendconceptsrelatedtohealthpromotionanddisease
preventiontoenhancehealth.
HowtoSetUpYourRoom
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Pleasehavestudentscleartheirdesksbeforetheprogrambegins.
Printacopyoftheattached“Genes,Traits,Alleles,andInheritance”handoutforeach
student—wewillbeusingitduringourprogramtotestsomestudenttraits.
Pleaseprovideanemptydeskorsmalltableforthemuseumeducatortosetupdisplayitems.
UsethevocabularyandadditionalresourcesprovidedinthisTeacherGuidetopreviewor
reviewprogramcontentwithyourclass
Ifbookingmultipleprograms,transitionswillbeeasierifmuseumstaffsetsupinonlyone
location.
Yourmuseumeducatorwillbebringingapowerpointpresentation,laptopandprojector.
Pleasemakesurethereisanelectricaloutletavailableaswellasablankwalltoprojectthe
images.Alternatively,wearetypicallyabletoconnecttoanexistingprojectorsystemif
available.
Vocabulary
allele-alternativeformofagene.
cell-thebasicstructuralandfunctionalunitofalllivingthings;theymayexistasindependent
unitsoflife,suchasbacteria,ormayformcoloniesortissuesasinhigherplantsandanimals.
chromosome-apacketoftightlywoundDNAfoundwithinacellnucleus.
deoxyribonucleicacid(DNA)-thematerialfoundprimarilyinacell’snucleusthatcarriesthe
instructionsformakingallthestructuresandfunctionsofanorganism.
diploid-cellscontainingtwocopiesofeachchromosome,onefromeachparentorganism.
dominant-anallelethatexpressesitselfevenwhenheterozygous.Alsothetraitcontrolledby
thatallele.
gene-asectionofDNAthatdeterminesaninheritedcharacteristic.
genetics-thefieldofsciencethatlooksathowtraitsarepasseddownfromonegenerationto
another,throughthegenes.
genotype-thegenesthatanorganismpossesses.
heredity-thetransmissionofcharacteristicsfromparenttooffspring,bymeansoftheirgenes.
heterozygous-havingdifferentallelesforaparticulargene.
homozygous-havingsameallelesforaparticulargene.
nucleotide-subunitsthatjointogetherinlongchainstomakeDNA,knownasadenine(A),
cytosine(C),guanine(G),andthymine(T).
nucleus-centralpartofacellthatcontainschromosomes;controlcenterofthecell.
phenotype-observabletraitsofanorganismthatmaybedeterminedbygenes,environmentora
combinationofboth.
Punnettsquare-adiagrammaticrepresentationofcrossbreedingusedtopredicttheprobable
offspringofasetofparents.
recessive-anallelethatisnotexpressedintheheterozygouscondition.Alsothetraitcontrolled
bythatallele.
trait-adistinguishingcharacteristicorfeature.
ExtensionActivities
1) After our program, you can use the “Genes, Traits, Alleles, and Inheritance” handout to
continueadiscussiononthevisibletraitsoftheclass.
2) “Make-A-Baby”PunnettSquareActivity.
a. Eachstudentneedstwopennies,apieceofpaper,andapencil.
i. Havetheclassbrainstormalistoftraitsforhumans.Youcanusesomefrom
ourprovidedworksheets,orhavefuninventingsillyones.Writethismaster
list on the board. An example could be “free ear lobes vs. attached ear
lobes”.
ii. Determine which of your traits are dominant or recessive. Mark each one
on the board so all the students are using the same rules of genetic
inheritancefortheir‘babies’.
b. Have the students now draw their ‘baby’ by going down the list of traits and
determining which one their baby inherits by flipping their pennies. Heads =
dominant, Tails = recessive. Remind them that the only way their babies can
expressapurerecessivetraitisbyhavingbothpennieslandtails-up.
OnlineResourcesforTeachersandStudents
Clickthelinkbelowtofindadditionalonlineresourcesforteachersandstudents.Thesewebsites
are recommended by our Museum Educators and provide additional content information and
somefun,interactiveactivitiestosharewithyourclass.
CMNHEducatorsregularlyreviewtheselinksforquality.Webaddressesoftenchangesoplease
notifyusifanylinkshaveissues.
ClevelandMuseumofNaturalHistoryhttps://cmnh.org/edlinks
EducatorResourceCenter(ERC)
MaterialsforLoan
TheEducatorResourceCenteroffers
educatorworkshops,thematicteaching
kits,animaldioramas,andmoreforloanto
areateachers.
ContacttheERCat216-231-2075for
informationonindividualorschool
membership.
VisittheMuseum’sERCwebsiteformore
informationonworkshops
https://www.cmnh.org/ERC
Ifyou’reinterestedinadditionalresources
besuretocheckoutthefollowingERC
materialsorbrowseERCmaterialsonlineat
http://cmnh.hosting.l4u.com
RelatedERCkitsrelatedtothistopicinclude:
Dive into the gene pool: Explore DNA and
reproduction with experiments on genetics,
the gene pool, and asexual reproduction.
This kit also includes a 3D DNA model and
severalresourcesonevolution.
Hours
o MondaythroughFriday,1to5PM
o Wednesday,1to6PM
o Saturday,9AMto2PM
Body Blueprints
Genes, Traits, Alleles and Inheritance Genes are sections of DNA that code for proteins. Proteins then combine to make traits
that we can observe. Like many organisms, humans have two copies of DNA molecules
in their cells. One copy comes from the male parent, and one copy comes from the
female parent.
There can be many different versions, or alleles, of the same gene, but only one of these
versions in any given pair of genes will turn on to signal production of the protein for that
trait. The process that determines which allele gets expressed is called dominance.
Dominant alleles are commonly denoted using capital letters, such as “H” for curly hair,
while a matching lower case letters represents recessive alleles, e.g. “h” for straight hair.
Alleles that are dominant will be expressed whenever they are present in a pair, so “HH”
and “Hh” gives curly hair, while recessive versions of genes signal protein production
only when paired with a matching recessive allele for that trait, or “hh” for straight hair.
Geneticists use knowledge of dominance and gene variation to study how traits are
passed on from parents to offspring. This is called inheritance.
Our Favorite Genes
This table lists several human traits that have dominant and recessive alleles.
Use this information to find out who has dominant and/or recessive traits.
Trait
Hair curl
Hair whorl on crown of
head direction
Roll tongue
Hairline
Dominant
Curly
Recessive
Straight
Clockwise
Counter-clockwise
Can roll tongue
Widow's peak
Can't roll tongue
No widow's peak
Facial dimples
Ability to taste PTC
Earlobe shape
Hair on mid-digit of
fingers
Bent end of thumb when
extended
Little finger bends to
middle when extended
Shape of chin
Eyebrow size
Eyebrow shape
Facial dimples
Able to taste PTC
Earlobe hangs, free lobe
No facial dimples
Unable to taste PTC
Earlobe attaches at base
Have mid-digital hair
No mid-digital hair
No bend when extended
Bends when extended,
“Hitchhiker's thumb”
Bent tip of little finger
Straight tip of little finger
Cleft chin
Broad brows
Separated eyebrows
No cleft chin
Slender eyebrows
Joined eyebrows
Shape of eyes
Freckles
Position of thumb when
interlocking fingers
Almond eyes
Freckles
Left thumb on top of
interlocking fingers
Round eyes
No freckles
Right thumb on top of
interlocking fingers
Produced and published by the Education Division, Cleveland Museum of Natural History
1 Wade Oval Drive, University Circle, Cleveland, OH 44106-1767. Revised 4/21/16.