Description
Middle schoolers explore and learn about mutations in this 8 station activity that requires minimal prep from teachers – just print and go!
Includes a 5 page student handout and 8 stations about mutations that guides students through what mutations are and how they affect organisms.
Station 1: What are mutagens? Student handout includes a 6 question vocab matching activity.
Station 2: What are mutations? Learn about insertion, deletion, and substitution. Student handout asks students to compare original DNA with mutated DNA to identify the type of mutation.
Station 3: Good, Bad, or Neutral? Station includes a 3 paragraph prompt to read about how mutations may harm or benefit an organism and includes 2 sets of cards. One set of cards has various ecosystems (Beach, Arctic….) and the second set has various mutations (extra gills, longer legs….). Students are asked to pick a card from each deck and decide if the mutation will benefit the organism in that environment, harm the organism, or be a neutral mutation. [Leads students to the conclusion that the environment “selects” what is beneficial.]
Station 4: Albinism, Red Hair, and Polydactyly. Students read about these 3 mutations and create a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting any 2 of them.
Station 5: Cystic Fibrosis. Students read about cystic fibrosis and answer questions about how cystic fibrosis affects the body and how it is inherited.
Station 6: Sickle Cell Anemia. Students read about the disease and how it is inherited including an explanation about how carriers are benefited in certain environments.
Station 7: Curious Mutations. Students read about heterochromia, Marfan syndrome, the HOX mutation, the short sleep mutation, the sports gene, the unbreakable bones gene, and lactose tolerance mutation and then write an persuasive argument about which mutation they would choose to have.
Station 8: Color blindness. Students take a Ishihara color test and read about the inheritance of color blindness. Then, they play a game in which they pull cards from two piles – one from the mother and one from the father – to determine if the offspring has inherited color blindness or not.
Resource includes full teacher’s guide and answer key!
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