It’s in Your Genes: Tree Diagrams, Probability, & Inheritance

Source: capl@washjeff.edu

Our latest post over at Biology by Numbers on Talking Science teaches a lesson in genetics. Poker chips are used not for gambling but to represent genes. In this lesson, borrowed with permission from Biology in a Box, students draw tree diagrams to illustrate the chance for inheritance of multiple traits.  In this hands-on activity, students use the chips to simulate the inheritance of multiple traits by an offspring produced by a cross between parents of randomly determined genotypes. The lesson is geared toward 9th-12th grade levels and covers the subjects of genetics, probability and mathematics. More Biology by Numbers posts can be found at the Talking Science website. Talking Science is a project of the radio program NPR’s Science Friday.

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