Race vs. Genetics (w/ Murvey Survey)
Materials: computers, world map, scrap paper
Enduring Understanding: Race, the power of an illusion; socially constructed beliefs.
Opener: Tutors complete a 4 question quiz in pairs:
Do not reveal the correct answers until the end of class.
https://www.murvey.com/
1. Which group has the most genetic variation?
A. Humans
B. Chimpanzees
C. Penguins
D. Fruit flies
E. Elephants
2. Humans have approximately 30,000 genes. On average, how many genes separate all members of one race
from all members of another race?
A. None
B. 1
C. 23
D. 142
E. 1008
F. We don't know
3. Which continent has the greatest human genetic diversity?
A. Europe
B. Asia
C. Africa
D. North America
E. South America
4. If a catastrophe wiped out everyone except people in Asia, how much of the total genetic variation in our
species would be left?
A. 50%
B. 38%
C. 94%
D. 21%
E. 74%
Activity: Display photos of Emily Cutting and Alicia Keys
“Here are two American singers, one well known and one not well known, of similar
ages.
Ask tutors “Where might each of their nationalities and family roots be from in the
world?”
Pairs of tutors go tag a world map with possible countries of origin for each one on
scrap paper.
Sharon reveals their backgrounds with the wikipedia entry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alicia_Keys
Activity: “The Difference Between Us” Video
Watch video clip (1:40 - 2:11) (2:28 - 3:45)
http://newsreel.org/video/RACE-THE-POWER-OF-AN-ILLUSION
Ask tutors to look around the room. Ask, “If we extracted DNA samples from each and every
one of you, who do you think you’d be most similar to genetically?” to elicit some common
misconceptions about our appearances.
What did the DNA analysis show us? Black male and white female were most similar
genetically.
Activity: Face Sorting - Power of illusion
http://www.pbs.org/race/000_General/000_00-Home.htm
Students complete the Sorting People Activity.
If time permits: “Is Race Physical?”
Students go to the "Explore Traits" activity where the same 20 people are re-sorted according to
skin color, blood type and fingerprint type. “Is Race Physical?”
Ask after the activity, “Is Race Physical? Can we sort people according to race and nationality
by appearance?”
We sort people everyday, assuming their backgrounds, whether they be students or
someone walking past. We sort and categorize unconsciously. We cannot assume
someone’s identity based on traits that we see.
Activity: Review Quiz answers - show results
Bar graph/pie chart of poll results:
https://www.murvey.com/report?533a1011271ee54b0c000172&key=UqmJk
REVEAL ANSWERS TO QUIZ
1. Which group has the most genetic variation?
ANSWER: Fruit flies. Fruit flies have been around for a very long time, but they also have a short life
span, so lots of genetic mutations have accumulated over many generations. In contrast, modern humans
are one of the most genetically similar of all species. This is because we are a relatively young species,
and we simply haven’t been around long enough to accumulate a lot of genetic variation. Also, humans
have always moved, mixed and mated, so genetically speaking, we're all mongrels. Beneath the skin,
we're all very similar.
2. Humans have approximately 30,000 genes. On average, how many genes separate all members of one race
from all members of another race?
ANSWER: NONE. There are no traits, no characteristics, not even one gene that distinguishes all
members of one so-called race from all members of another. The A, B, O blood groups can be found in all
the world’s peoples (Estonians and Papua New Guineans, for example, have the same frequencies). Skin
color tends to correspond with latitude not race; sub-Saharan Africans, Dravidians and Tamils from
Southern Asia, and Melanesians from the Pacific all have very dark skin. Ancestry is difficult to trace. Go
back 30 generations, less than 1,000 years, and you have a billion ancestors.
3. Which continent has the greatest human genetic diversity?
ANSWER: Africa. All modern humans originated from Africa, and we spent most of our evolution as a
species together there. All the other populations of the world can be seen as a subset of Africans – every
human trait found elsewhere can also be found in Africa, with the exception of a few recent variations
favored by the environment or sexual selection – such as light-complected skin.
4. If a catastrophe wiped out everyone except people in Asia, how much of the total genetic variation in our
species would be left?
ANSWER: 94% This
is because most variation is within, rather than between, races. On average, any local
population contains 85% of all human genetic variation, and any continent contains 94%. This is because
humans have always migrated and mixed their genes. Two random Swedes, for example, are likely to be
as different as a Swede and a Senegalese.
- Present scientific evidence that debunks race as a biological construct.
- Help students examine their preconceptions and assumptions about racial categories and
understand the impossibility of constructing a consistent system of human racial classification.
Why do we assume that traits like skin color are more meaningful than whether or not your
tongue curls or whether or not your earlobes are attached?
Take Away:
Culturally relevant teaching should be present in all subject areas, not just the
humanities. Because I am teaching biology, the idea of race can be examined.
Biologically, there is no such thing as race. It is a concept that is made up, not
scientific.
Socially, there is racism, and that belief of someone being better than another
creates the need to define race as a difference between human beings based on
the skin tone shades. The idea of race comes from prejudice, not from science.
We often mistake race for family backgrounds, nationalities, ethnicities, countries of origin.
There are biological factors (inherited traits) that conflict with preconceived ideas of “race”.
- major paradigm shift > race is biological to race is a social construct