Sources
The inspiration for this assessment activity is the book The Cartoon Guide to Genetics by Larry Gonick and Mark Wheelis. It’s a wonderful textbook alternative that teaches genetics in a very entertaining, humorous way.
Standards
Grade 7
Genetics
2. A typical cell of any organism contains genetic instructions that specify its traits. Those traits may be modified by environmental influences. As a basis for understanding this concept:
e. Students know DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the genetic material of living organisms and is located in the chromosomes of each cell.
Grades 9-12
Cell Biology
1. The fundamental life processes of plants and animals depend on a variety of chemical reactions that occur in specialized areas of the organism's cells. As a basis for understanding this concept:
d. Students know the central dogma of molecular biology outlines the flow of information from transcription of ribonucleic acid (RNA) in the nucleus to translation of proteins on ribosomes in the cytoplasm.
Genetics
4. Genes are a set of instructions encoded in the DNA sequence of each organism that specify the sequence of amino acids in proteins characteristic of that organism. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know the general pathway by which ribosomes synthesize proteins, using tRNAs to translate genetic information in mRNA.
b. Students know how to apply the genetic coding rules to predict the sequence of amino acids from a sequence of codons in RNA.
e. Students know proteins can differ from one another in the number and sequence of amino acids.