Model of Inheritance: Which Model of Inheritance Best Explains How a Specific Trait is Inherited in Fruit Flies?

Contributor
Victor Sampson, Patric Enderle, Leeanne Gleim, Jonathon Grooms, Melanie Hester, Sherry Southerland, and Kristin Wilson
Type Category
Instructional Materials
Types
Lesson/Lesson Plan , Activity
Note
This resource, vetted by NSTA curators, is provided to teachers along with suggested modifications to make it more in line with the vision of the NGSS. While not considered to be “fully aligned,” the resources and expert recommendations provide teachers with concrete examples and expert guidance using the EQuIP rubric to adapted existing resources. Read more here.

Reviews

Description

 

In this activity, students apply their knowledge of  models  of inheritance (dominant-recessive, co-dominance, incomplete dominance, multiple alleles, and sex-linked) to determine how fruit flies inherit a specific trait. The guiding question for the investigation is: Which model of inheritance best explains how a specific trait is inherited in fruit flies?  Students use an online simulation called Drosophila(http://www.sciencecourseware.org/vcise/drosophila/)  to conduct their investigation.  Students select two fly traits (eye color, body color, wing shape) from a menu provided in the simulation, decide on how many times they will breed them over several generations, collect data, and determine which model of inheritance is the best explanation for a particular trait. After completing the investigation, students prepare a whiteboard presentation that includes the guiding question, claim, evidence, and justification of explanatory model of inheritance evidence  and present it to the whole-class using a round-robin format. A round-robin format means that one member of the group will stay at the lab station to share the group’s argument while the other members of the group rotate to other lab stations one at a time to listen to and evaluate the arguments of other groups. After collecting feedback, students revise the initial claim before writing a final report.  Also, students answer the checkout questions at the end of the activity. The book includes an option to extend the lesson by asking students to complete a double-blind peer review of the argument using a rubric provided in the appendix. To provide additional support, four appendixes are included: standards alignment matrixes, options for implementing argument-driven inquiry lab investigations, investigation proposal options, and peer-review guide and instructor scoring rubric. A detailed step-by-step guide that explains the argument-driven inquiry is included for teachers not familiar with the model.  This activity can be completed in 180-250 minutes.

 

Intended Audience

Educator and learner
Educational Level
  • Grade 12
  • Grade 11
  • Grade 10
  • Grade 9
Language
English
Access Restrictions

Free access - The right to view and/or download material without financial, registration, or excessive advertising barriers.

Performance Expectations

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

Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the use of mathematics to describe the probability of traits as it relates to genetic and environmental factors in the expression of traits.

Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include Hardy-Weinberg calculations.

This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this performance expectation.

Comments about Including the Performance Expectation
Students need prior knowledge of the different models of inheritance before doing this activity. Teachers need to make sure students know how to perform a test cross and how to set up and interpret Punnett squares data. Teachers can require students to perform a chi-square test to see how their fruit fly data correspond to statistical hypothesis testing. Students use collected data to justify their claims on model of inheritance for specific traits. Teachers need to learn how the online simulation works before assigning activity to students. Students can log on as guests or teachers can create an account and provide access codes to students.

Science and Engineering Practices

This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this science and engineering practice.

Comments about Including the Science and Engineering Practice
.Prior to starting the online simulation, students need to determine what type of data they will collect and how they will collect the data. Students should be reminded to use charts and tables to collect detailed data. They should know how to calculate ratios and probability. In analyzing the empirical data generated from virtual experiments, students apply what they observed to develop a model of inheritance for a specific trait in fruit flies. The simulation includes a notebook where students can collect and record their results and observations.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this disciplinary core idea.

Comments about Including the Disciplinary Core Idea
Teachers need to provide independent practice problems on dominant-recessive, incomplete dominance, codominance, multiple alleles, and sex-linked models of inheritance. Teachers need to help students make the connection that the models are based on two fundamental ideas: the gene is the fundamental unit of inheritance; organisms inherit two alleles for each trait.

Crosscutting Concepts

This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this crosscutting concept.

Comments about Including the Crosscutting Concept
Students use various models of inheritance to provide justification of data collected in a virtual fruit fly lab activity. The simulation can be used before using an actual hands-on fruit fly lab activity.

Resource Quality

  • Alignment to the Dimensions of the NGSS: The Teacher Notes includes a table that shows alignment to the standards for each of the 27 lab investigations in this book.To support lesson planning, each investigation has been aligned with A Framework for K-12 Science Education; Common Core State Standards English Language Arts, and Common Core State Standards Mathematics. The tables also outline specific concepts, which are described as supporting ideas, that are addressed in each activity. The book provides extensive instructional strategies to support the implementation process, but the teachers need to model and provide instructional activities on various models of inheritance.

  • Instructional Supports: The Teacher Notes for each investigation include information about the purpose of the lab, background and new content, the time needed to implement each state of the model for the lab, the materials needed, and hints for implementation. The book provides suggestions on how to engage students to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of their investigations and ways to improve the way they design future investigations to solve problems.

  • Monitoring Student Progress: Each lab investigation includes a set of checkout questions. The questions target the key ideas, crosscutting concepts, and the nature of science concepts for each of the 27 lab activities. Teachers must act as facilitators and resources for the students. They should rotate among the groups asking probing questions and listen to students’ questions and answers. Students should be encouraged to answer their own questions and should be allowed to fail in order to develop new solutions. Teachers can use the students’ responses, whiteboard presentations, and scientific reports to determine if students learned what they needed during the lab or if remediation is required. The simulation also offers ways to monitor student work.

  • Quality of Technological Interactivity: Each lab investigation includes a set of checkout questions. The questions target the key ideas, crosscutting concepts, and the nature of science concepts for each of the 27 lab activities. Teachers must act as facilitators and resources for the students. They should rotate among the groups asking probing questions and listen to students’ questions and answers. Students should be encouraged to answer their own questions and should be allowed to fail in order to develop new solutions. Teachers can use the students’ responses, whiteboard presentations, and scientific reports to determine if students learned what they needed during the lab or if remediation is required. The simulation also offers ways to monitor student work. .