Classroom Resources

This activity builds on information presented in the short film Genes as Medicine. Students interpret actual pedigrees to determine the inheritance pattern of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), an inherited form of blindness. They also examine protein sequence data to explore mutations that can cause LCA.

In this hands-on activity, students review the steps of eukaryotic gene expression and learn how this knowledge can be used to treat different genetic conditions. The activity reinforces concepts covered in the Click & Learn “Central Dogma and Genetic Medicine.”

This activity guides the analysis of a published scientific figure from a study on how social status affects the expression of genes involved in immune system processes.

This activity explores the content and research presented in the short film Genes as Medicine, which tells the story of how scientists succeeded in developing a gene therapy for a type of congenital blindness.

This activity complements the video Virus Hunter: Monitoring Nipah Virus in Bat Populations. Students explore cases of Nipah virus infection, analyze evidence, and make calculations and predictions based on data.

This activity guides the analysis of a published scientific figure from a study that monitored the microbial community before, during, and after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

This activity analyzes a published scientific figure from a study that investigated the biological importance of sleep. In this study, scientists tested whether sleep plays a role in removing harmful substances from the brain.

This multipart activity is designed to give students a firm understanding of genetic profiling using short tandem repeats (STRs), which is a process used by forensics labs around the world.

This hands-on activity allows students to analyze DNA sequences of Ebola viruses. Students use these sequences to track the virus’s spread during the 2013–2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

In this activity, students explore how experimental work in zebrafish led to a better understanding of the role of the gene SLC24A5 in human skin color. The activity complements the film The Biology of Skin Color.

In this activity, students extend the concepts covered in the short film The Biology of Skin Color through the application of models and mathematical thinking to explain how genomic variation and human ancestry can explain differences in skin color, a polygenic trait.

In this activity, students explore single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are associated with different traits in dogs to identify genes associated with those traits.