Why Do Some People with the Sickle Cell Genotype Not Have Symptoms?

Topic

Resource Type

Level

High School — General High School — AP/IB College

Saved By

6 Users

Description

In this inquiry-based activity, students engage in science practices to figure out why some people with a genetic condition that usually leads to sickle cell disease do not have disease symptoms.

This activity is based on content covered in the Scientists at Work video A Genetic Treatment for Sickle Cell Disease. Instead of frontloading information from the film, the activity guides students through “figuring out” the key concepts first. As they investigate and make sense of the phenomenon, students engage in practices such as observing, questioning, and using and developing models.

The “Card Images” ZIP file contains individual image files for the cards used in this activity that can be used in the classroom, particularly in online courses. A document within the ZIP file contains suggestions for their use. These card images are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license. We would ask that you attribute these to BioInteractive and not use them for commercial purposes.

The “Resource Google Folder” link directs to a Google Drive folder of resource documents in the Google Docs format. Not all downloadable documents for the resource may be available in this format. The Google Drive folder is set as “View Only”; to save a copy of a document in this folder to your Google Drive, open that document, then select File → “Make a copy.” These documents can be copied, modified, and distributed online following the Terms of Use listed in the “Details” section below, including crediting BioInteractive.

Student Learning Targets

Develop and use models to figure out how genes are transcribed and translated.
Construct an evidence-based explanation of how genotype leads to phenotype.
Analyze and interpret data to identify patterns that determine cause-and-effect relationships.

Estimated Time

Four 50-minute class periods.

Key Terms

amino acid, codon, hemoglobin, messenger RNA (mRNA), mutation, protein, red blood cell, transcription, translation

Terms of Use

The resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. No rights are granted to use HHMI’s or BioInteractive’s names or logos independent from this Resource or in any derivative works.