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    Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Performance Expectations

  1. Apply concepts of statistics and probability to explain the variation and distribution of expressed traits in a population. HS-LS3-3

    Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary

A Peformance Expectation (PE) is what a student should be able to do to show mastery of a concept. Some PEs include a Clarification Statement and/or an Assessment Boundary. These can be found by clicking the PE for "More Info." By hovering over a PE, its corresponding pieces from the Science and Engineering Practices, Disciplinary Core Ideas, and Crosscutting Concepts will be highlighted.

Science and Engineering Practices

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Analyzing data in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to introducing more detailed statistical analysis, the comparison of data sets for consistency, and the use of models to generate and analyze data.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts

By clicking on a specific Science and Engineering Practice, Disciplinary Core Idea, or Crosscutting Concept, you can find out more information on it. By hovering over one you can find its corresponding elements in the PEs.

Planning Curriculum

Common Core State Standards Connections

Mathematics

  • MP.2 - Reason abstractly and quantitatively. (HS-LS3-3)

Model Course Mapping

First Time Visitors

Resources & Lesson Plans

  • More resources added each week!
    A team of teacher curators is working to find, review, and vet online resources that support the standards. Check back often, as NSTA continues to add more targeted resources.
  • Do you have a great resource to share with the community? Click here.
  •  Presentation Slides

    These are the Slide for "Beyond Earlobes and Tongue Rolling"

  •  Inheritance and Variation of Traits.pdf

  •  A Fossil Thermometer

    In this activity, students calculate temperatures during a time in the geologic record when rapid warming occurred using a well known method called 'leaf-margin analysis.' Students determine the percentage of the species that have leaves with smooth ...

  •  Climate Change and Human Health

    In this interactive, students explore, at their own pace, how global climate change may affect health issues. Issues include airborne diseases, developmental disorders, mental health disorders, vector-borne diseases and waterborne diseases.

  •  The Methane Circus


    In this activity from NOAA's Okeanos Explorer Education Materials Collection, learners investigate how methane hydrates might have been involved with the Cambrian explosion.

  •  Testing Independent Assortment.docx

    Students use simulations (https://www.biologysimulations.com/heredity) to test is two genes assort independently.

  •  xlinked traits.docx

    Students use a heredity simulation (https://www.biologysimulations.com/heredity-ii) to test predictions for an x-linked gene.

  •  Summary of Natural Selection

    The Natural Selection virtual lab allows students the opportunity to investigate into how natural selection leads to the predominance of certain traits in a population, and the suppression of others. Therefore, through this virtual lab, students will...

  •  Summary of Diversity of Traits

    The goal of the Diversity of Traits virtual lab is to allow students the opportunity to investigate how variations of traits can occur because of mutations. This virtual lab complements the Natural Selection virtual lab by addressing a common misconc...

Planning Curriculum gives connections to other areas of study for easier curriculum creation.