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In this best practice lesson, students explore how DNA fits into chromosomes and how chromosomes relate to the human body. They learn about DNA replication and protein synthesis and model these two processes in Web activities.
In this best practice lesson, students explore how DNA fits into chromosomes and how chromosomes relate to the human body. They learn about DNA replication and protein synthesis and model these two processes in Web activities. Then students read about molecular genetics and discuss the significance of proteins in the human body. Finally, they learn how mutations may affect protein synthesis and cause genetic disorders. (author/cb)
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| Science Academic Content Standards |
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| Life Sciences |  |
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| Benchmarks (9 - 10) |
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| B. | Explain the characteristics of life as indicated by cellular processes and describe the process of cell division and development. |
| C. | Explain the genetic mechanisms and molecular basis of inheritance. |
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| Benchmarks (11 - 12) |
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| A. | Explain how processes at the cellular level affect the functions and characteristics of an organism. |
| C. | Explain how the molecular basis of life and the principles of genetics determine inheritance. |
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| Grade Level Indicators (Grade 10) |
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| 3. | Explain the characteristics of life as indicated by cellular processes including
a. homeostasis
b. energy transfers and transformation
c. transportation of molecules
d. disposal of wastes
e. synthesis of new molecules |
| 4. | Summarize the general processes of cell division and differentiation, and explain why specialized cells are useful to organisms and explain that complex multicellular organisms are formed as highly organized arrangements of differentiated cells. |
| 5. | Illustrate the relationship of the structure and function of DNA to protein synthesis and the characteristics of an organism. |
| 7. | Describe that spontaneous changes in DNA are mutations, which are a source of genetic variation. When mutations occur in sex cells, they may be passed on to future generations; mutations that occur in body cells may affect the functioning of that cell or the organism in which that cell is found. |
| 8. | Use the concepts of Mendelian and non-Mendelian genetics (e.g., segregation, independent assortment, dominant and recessive traits, sex-linked traits, jumping genes) to explain inheritance. |
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| Grade Level Indicators (Grade 12) |
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| 1. | Recognize that information stored in DNA provides the instructions for assembling protein molecules used by the cells that determine the characteristics of the organism. |
| 5. | Examine the inheritance of traits through one or more genes and how a single gene can influence more than one trait. |
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| National Science Education Standards |
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| Life Science | |
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| Reproduction and heredity (Grades 5 - 8) |
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| Every organism requires a set of instructions for specifying its traits. Heredity is the passage of these instructions from one generation to another. |
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| Hereditary information is contained in genes, located in the chromosomes of each cell. Each gene carries a single unit of information. An inherited trait of an individual can be determined by one or by many genes, and a single gene can influence more than one trait. A human cell contains many thousands of different genes. |
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| The characteristics of an organism can be described in terms of a combination of traits. Some traits are inherited and others result from interactions with the environment. |
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| The cell (Grades 9 - 12) |
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| Cells store and use information to guide their functions. The genetic information stored in DNA is used to direct the synthesis of the thousands of proteins that each cell requires. |
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| Cell functions are regulated. Regulation occurs both through changes in the activity of the functions performed by proteins and through the selective expression of individual genes. This regulation allows cells to respond to their environment and to control and coordinate cell growth and division. |
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| Cells can differentiate, and complex multicellular organisms are formed as a highly organized arrangement of differentiated cells. In the development of these multicellular organisms, the progeny from a single cell form an embryo in which the cells multiply and differentiate to form the many specialized cells, tissues and organs that comprise the final organism. This differentiation is regulated through the expression of different genes. |
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| Molecular basis of heredity (Grades 9 - 12) |
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| In all organisms, the instructions for specifying the characteristics of the organism are carried in DNA, a large polymer formed from subunits of four kinds (A, G, C, and T). The chemical and structural properties of DNA explain how the genetic information that underlies heredity is both encoded in genes (as a string of molecular "letters") and replicated (by a templating mechanism). Each DNA molecule in a cell forms a single chromosome. |
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| Changes in DNA (mutations) occur spontaneously at low rates. Some of these changes make no difference to the organism, whereas others can change cells and organisms. Only mutations in germ cells can create the variation that changes an organism's offspring. |
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| RESOURCE TYPE |
| Instructional Resource |
| PRACTICE LEVEL |
| Best Practice |
| STANDARDS ALIGNMENT |
| Grades 9 - 12 |
| TOPICS |
Science --
Life Science;
Characteristics and Structures of Life;
Cells;
Diversity and Interdependence of Life;
Genetics and Heredity |
| KEYWORDS |
DNA;
chromosomes;
protein;
protein synthesis;
cells;
DNA replication;
genetics;
molecular genetics;
genetic disorders;
genetic mutations;
mutations |
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Author: Teachers Domain
Publisher: WGBH Educational Foundation
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