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Human Genetic Traits Investigation

Kit #7
$54.00

Genetics involves the inheritance of specific traits. Some of these traits can be tested fairly easily and their occurrence traced among family relatives. In this activity, students investigate traits for four human characteristics, including the ability to taste the chemical PTC. They graph their data to help better visualize human variation patterns. They learn that traits can be inherited, environmentally acquired, or created by a combination of hereditary and environmental factors.

Details at a Glance

  • 1-2 Days | 1-2 ~50 minute class periods
  • 1 Activity
  • Accommodates 1 class, with 1 group of 32 students
  • Consumables service 32 students
  • Includes digital resources

Scientific Concepts

•Students use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.
•Students construct graphs to reveal patterns that are not immediately apparent in data tables.
•Every organism has a set of instructions for specifying its traits.
•Genes contain hereditary information.
•The characteristics of an organism can be described in terms of a combination of traits.
KEY VOCABULARY: characteristic, heredity, trait, gene/genetics, inherited

Guides & Student Sheets

Our kits and modules provide you with everything you need so you can open, review, and teach the material confidently the next day.

  • Full downloadable Teacher Guide with background information, detailed instruction, example data and answers
  • Downloadable Student Sheets with age appropriate background information, full procedure(s), and analysis questions
  • All materials necessary to carry out the investigation
  • Safety Data Sheets

Kit Components

  • 1 Teacher’s Guide with MSDS
  • 50 PTC test paper, Strips
  • 50 Control test paper, Strips
  • 50 Genealogy and Data Charts
  • Not included and needed for instruction: Projector, graph paper.