Sickle Cell Disease and Malaria: Testing a Hypothesis

Description
This activity supports concepts covered in the film Natural Selection in Humans by having students answer question about the discovery of the link between malaria resistance and sickle cell disease.
The video tells the story of how Tony Allison investigated the prevalence of the sickle cell allele and malaria in East Africa. As they watch the film, students complete a chart with questions about sickle cell disease, malaria, and the process of science. They then synthesize the information by explaining how the link between sickle cell disease and malaria is an example of human evolution.
Student Learning Targets
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Explain how natural selection increases the frequency of certain traits.
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Explain how a harmful trait, such as sickle cell disease, can be maintained in a population through natural selection.
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Describe the scientific process of asking questions, formulating hypotheses, doing experiments, and drawing conclusions based on evidence.
Details
alleles, anemia, hemoglobin, heterozygote, homozygote, malaria, mutation, sickle cell character
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Curriculum Connections
HS-LS3-3, HS-LS4-3, HS-LS4-4; SEP6
EVO-1.C, EVO-1.E, IST-2.E, IST-4.A, IST-4.B, SYI-3.D; SP1, SP6
3.1, 5.2
II.C
3.2
CC1, CC5; DP1