Appropriate Use of Genetic Information

Indiana State Biology Academic Standards

Standard 1: Cellular Chemistry

• B.1.3 Explain and give examples of how the function and differentiation of cells is influenced by their external environment (e.g., temperature, acidity and the concentration of certain molecules) and changes in these conditions may affect how a cell functions. Cell differentiation not entirely based on genes.

Standard 2: Cellular Structure

• B.2.4 Explain that all cells contain ribosomes (the key sites for protein synthesis), where genetic material is decoded in order to form unique proteins. Transcription and translation reinforced throughout unit.

Standard 5: Molecular Basis of Heredity

• B.5.1 Describe the relationship between chromosomes and DNA along with their basic structure and function. B.5.2 Describe how hereditary information passed from parents to offspring is encoded in the regions of DNA molecules called genes.
• B.5.3 Describe the process by which DNA directs the production of protein within a cell.
• B.5.4 Explain how the unique shape and activity of each protein is determined by the sequence of its amino acids.
• B.5.5 Understand that proteins are responsible for the observable traits of an organism and for most of the functions within an organism.
• B.5.6 Recognize that traits can be structural, physiological or behavioral and can include readily observable characteristics at the organismal level or less recognizable features at the molecular and cellular level.

Standard 7: Genetics

• B.7.1 Distinguish between dominant and recessive alleles and determine the phenotype that would result from the different possible combinations of alleles in an offspring.
• B.7.2 Describe dominant, recessive, codominant, sex-linked, incompletely dominant, multiply allelic and polygenic traits and illustrate their inheritance patterns over multiple generations.
• B.7.3 Determine the likelihood of the appearance of a specific trait in an offspring given the genetic make-up of the parents.
• B.7.4 Explain the process by which a cell copies its DNA and identify factors that can damage DNA and cause changes in its nucleotide sequence.
• B.7.5 Explain and demonstrate how inserting, substituting or deleting segments of a DNA molecule can alter a gene, how that gene is then passed to every cell that develops from it and how the results may be beneficial, harmful or have little or no effect on the organism.

Indiana State Science Literacy Standards

• 9-10.RS.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions.
• 9-10.RS.6 Analyze the author’s purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text, defining the question the author seeks to address.
• 9-10.RS.10 By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend science texts in the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
• 9-10.WS.1 Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content. a. Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
• 9-10.WS.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.
• 9-10.WS.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
• 9-10.WS.8 Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectivity to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
• 9-10.WS.9 Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Next Generation Science Standards(NGSS) Disciplinary Core Ideas

• HS-LS3-1. Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.
• HS-LS3-3. Apply concepts of statistics and probability to explain the variation and distribution of expressed traits in a population. Tobacco seed germination.
• HS-LS1-1. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the structure of DNA determines the structure of proteins which carry out the essential functions of life through systems of specialized cells.
• HS-LS1-4. Use a model to illustrate the role of cellular division (mitosis) and differentiation in producing and maintaining complex organisms. Focus on differentiation.

Next Generation Science Standards(NGSS) Science Practices

• Asking questions (for science)-planning questions for presentation
• Developing and using models-working with paper models of DNA to protein
• Planning and carrying out investigations-genes and environment experiment
• Analyzing and interpreting data-culminating activity, genes and environment experiment
• Using mathematics and computational thinking-Genes and environment experiment
• Constructing explanations (for science)-Genes and environment experiment
• Engaging in argument from evidence-culminating activity
• Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information-personal letter

Next Generation Science Standards(NGSS) Crosscutting Concepts

• Patterns. Students discover patterns in gene expression through experimentation.
• Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanation. The unit explores the connection between genes and traits, which may or not be cause and effect.
• Systems and system models. Genes interacting with the environment.
• Structure and function. Gene structure and function.
• Stability and change. Society change in light of new gene sequencing technologies.