This activity is inquiry based where students mimic chromosome mutations by cutting and pasting paper chromosomes.  Students then use this activity to defend a claim that inheritable variations can be caused by mutations.

Students randomly select jelly beans (or other candy) that represent genes for several human traits such as tongue-rolling ability and eye color. Then, working in pairs (preferably of mixed gender), students randomly choose new pairs of jelly beans from those corresponding to their own genotypes. The new pairs are placed on toothpicks to represent the chromosomes of the couple's offspring. Finally, students compare genotypes and phenotypes of parents and offspring for all the "couples" in the class. In particular, they look to see if there are cases where parents and offspring share the exact same genotype and/or phenotype, and consider how the results would differ if they repeated the simulation using more than four traits.

How can we Design Cattle to Better Meet Human Needs?

In this high school Storyline unit on genetics and heredity, students are introduced to ‘SuperCows’. As they explore the vast variety of cattle breeds, students discover that cattle are specialized for different purposes and while similar, the ‘SuperCows’ are clearly unique. Students wonder what caused this diversity and specificity which leads to investigations about the role of inheritance, DNA and proteins.

This online interactive website chalk full of games and simulations cover all of the following topics:

Crossing Over, Independent Assortment, Random Fertilization, Dihybrid Crosses, Diversity, Reproduction, Meiosis, and Genetics. 

This is a perfect tutorial/game based/simulation driven online resource for teaching, re-teaching, or reviewing the basics behind the meiosis, independent assortment, crossing over and dihybrid crosses.

Students learn about mutations to both DNA and chromosomes, and uncontrolled changes to the genetic code. They are introduced to small-scale mutations (substitutions, deletions and insertions) and large-scale mutations (deletion duplications, inversions, insertions, translocations and nondisjunctions). The effects of different mutations are studied as well as environmental factors that may increase the likelihood of mutations. A PowerPoint® presentation and pre/post-assessments are provided.

Using three-dimensional scaffolds, these materials address the following topics:  - Relationships between DNA, proteins, and traits.- How mitosis enables each cell to receive a copy of DNA.- How gametes like sperm and eggs are formed and transmit parents' genes to offspring.  - Predicting traits based on parents' genotypes and phenotypes using Punnett squares.  Each packet is broken into five parts - data dive, core ideas, investigations, asssessments, and life connections. Formative assessments and checkpoints are embedded throughout each packet. The final packet prepares students for a summative assessment, with a provided practice assessment.Implementation instructions are embedded for each component of each packet. PDFs are included as attachments (in case the file formats are altered by this system). 

In a class discussion format, the teacher presents background information about basic human genetics. The number of chromosomes in both body cells and egg and sperm cells is covered, as well as the concept of dominant and recessive alleles. Students determine whether or not they possess the dominant allele for the tongue-rolling gene as an example.