Unit Overview
Content Area: Science
Unit Title: Heredity and Reproduction
Target Course/Grade Level: Seventh Grade
Unit: 2
Timeline: 8-10 weeks
Unit Summary
This unit provides students with the knowledge of genetics and the rationale for why humans are the way
they are. What animals are made of and why they look the way they do is all due to genetics and heredity.
They learn that parents pass down certain genetic traits to their offspring and that only certain traits are
evident due to the idea of dominant and recessive genes. Students also learn that DNA is the component
that contains all the genetic information the cell needs to carry out its functions. The part of the cell that
carries out this function is called the chromosome. Finally, students will learn the relationship between
DNA and physical characteristics of humans and other animals by completing a “Paper Pet Project”.
Primary interdisciplinary connections: Language Arts, 21st Century Life and Careers, Technology,
Mathematics, Art, and Social Studies
21st century themes and skills: A. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving B. Creativity and Innovation,
C. Collaboration, Teamwork, and Leadership
Unit Rationale
“Today, more than ever before, science holds the key to our survival as a planet and our security and
prosperity as a nation.” (Obama, 2008)
DNA is the component that controls the genetic make-up of all animals. It is one of the reasons all
animals are composed differently. By learning about DNA and genetics, students are given the ability to
not only understand the past but determine the future of humans and evolution. This is essential for the
continuation of all species due to genetic changes that occur and are passed down through offspring over
time.
Learning Targets
Standards
5.1 Science Practices
All students will understand that science is both a body of knowledge and an evidence-based, modelbuilding enterprise that continually extends, refines, and revises knowledge. The four Science Practices
strands encompass the knowledge and reasoning skills that students must acquire to be proficient in
science.
A. Understand Scientific Explanations: Students understand core concepts and principals of
science and use measurement and observation tools to assist in categorizing, representing, and
interpreting the natural and designed world.
B. Generating Scientific Evidence Through Active Investigations: Students master the
conceptual, mathematical, physical, and computational tools that need to be applied when
constructing and evaluating claims.
C. Reflect on Scientific Knowledge: Scientific knowledge builds on itself over time.
D. Participate Productively in Science: The growth of scientific knowledge involves critique and
communication, which are social practices that are governed by a core set of values and norms.
5.3 Life Science
All students will understand that life science principles are powerful conceptual tools for making sense of
the complexity, diversity, and interconnectedness of life on Earth. Order in natural systems arises in
accordance with rules that govern the physical world, and the order of natural systems can be modeled and
predicted through the use of mathematics.
A. Heredity and Reproduction: Organisms reproduce, develop, and have predictable life cycles.
Organisms contain genetic information that influences their traits, and they pass this on to their
offspring during reproduction.
Standard 9.1 21st-Century Life & Career Skills
All students will demonstrate the creative, critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving skills
needed to function successfully as both global citizens and workers in diverse ethnic and organizational
cultures.
Content Statements:
Related Content Statements for Standard 5.1
 Core scientific concepts and principles represent the conceptual basis for model-building and
facilitate the generation of new and productive questions.
 Predictions and explanations are revised based on systematic observations, accurate
measurements, and structured data/evidence.
 Evidence is generated and evaluated as part of building and refining models and explanations.
 Scientific models and understandings of fundamental concepts and principles are refined as new
evidence is considered.
 Science involves practicing productive social interactions with peers, such as partner talk, wholegroup discussions, and small-group work.
 In order to determine which arguments and explanations are most persuasive, communities of
learners work collaboratively to pose, refine, and evaluate questions, investigations, models, and
theories (e.g., argumentation, representation, visualization, etc.).
 Instruments of measurement can be used to safely gather accurate information for making
scientific comparisons of objects and events.
Related Content Statements for Standard 5.3
 Reproduction is essential to the continuation of every species.
 Variations exist among organisms of the same generation (e.g., siblings) and of different
generations (e.g., parent to offspring).
 Traits such as eye color in human beings or fruit/flower color in plants are inherited.
 Some organisms reproduce asexually. In these organisms, all genetic information comes from a
single parent. Some organisms reproduce sexually, through which half of the genetic information
comes from each parent.
 The unique combination of genetic material from each parent in sexually reproducing organisms
results in the potential for variation.
 Characteristics of organisms are influenced by heredity and/or their environment.
Related Content Statement for Standard 9.1
 The ability to recognize a problem and apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills to solve
the problem is a lifelong skill that develops over time.
 Gathering and evaluating knowledge and information from a variety of sources, including global
perspectives, fosters creativity and innovative thinking.
 Collaboration and teamwork enable individuals or groups to achieve common goals with greater
efficiency.
 Leadership abilities develop over time through participation in groups and/or teams that are
engaged in challenging or competitive activities.
CPI #
Cumulative Progress Indicator (CPI)
5.1.8.A.1
Demonstrate understanding and use interrelationships among central scientific concepts to
revise explanations and to consider alternative explanations.
5.1.8.A.3
Use scientific principles and models to frame and synthesize scientific arguments and pose
theories.
5.1.8.B.1
Design investigations and use scientific instrumentation to collect, analyze, and evaluate
evidence as part of building and revising models and explanations.
5.1.8.C.1
Monitor one’s own thinking as understandings of scientific concepts are refined.
5.1.8.D.1
Engage in multiple forms of discussion in order to process, make sense of, and learn from
others’ ideas, observations, and experiences.
5.1.8.D.2
Engage in productive scientific discussion practices during conversations with peers, both
face-to-face and virtually, in the context of scientific investigations and model-building.
5.1.8.D.3
Demonstrate how to safely use tools, instruments, and supplies.
5.3.6.D.1
Predict the long-term effect of interference with normal patterns of reproduction.
5.3.6.D.2
Explain how knowledge of inherited variations within and between generations is applied
to farming and animal breeding.
5.3.6.D.3
Distinguish between inherited and acquired traits/characteristics.
5.3.8.D.1
Defend the principle that, through reproduction, genetic traits are passed from one
generation to the next, using evidence collected from observations of inherited traits.
5.3.8.D.2
Explain the source of variation among siblings.
5.3.8.D.3
Describe the environmental conditions or factors that may lead to a change in a cell’s
genetic information or to an organism’s development, and how these changes are passed
on.
9.1.8.A.1
Develop strategies to reinforce positive attitudes and productive behaviors that impact
critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
9.1.8.B.1
Use multiple points of view to create alternative solutions.
9.1.8.C.1
Determine an individual’s responsibility for personal actions and contributions to group
activities.
9.1.8.C.2
Demonstrate the use of compromise, consensus, and community building strategies for
carrying out different tasks, assignments, and projects.
9.1.8.C.3
Model leadership skills during classroom and extra-curricular activities.
Unit Enduring Understandings
Unit Essential Questions
 How are traits passed from parents to offspring?  Due to Gregor Mendel’s discovery of genes and
alleles it was found that an organisms traits are
 What controls the inheritance of traits in
controlled by the alleles it inherited from its
organisms?
parents. Some alleles may be recessive while
 What is probability and how does it help explain
others are dominant. Dominant alleles are a trait
the results of genetic crosses?
that always shows up when the allele is present.
 What role do chromosomes play in inheritance?
On the other hand, a recessive allele, is hidden
 What is the relationship between genes and the
whenever a dominant allele is present.
environment?
 Probability is a number that describes how likely it
 How do we build and refine models that describe
is that an event will occur; however the predicted
and explain the natural and designed world?
event my not necessarily take place. The use of
Punnett Squares aid in showing all the possibly
 What constitutes useful scientific evidence?
combinations of alleles that result from a genetic
cross. In a genetic cross, the allele that each parent
will pass on to its offspring is based on probability.
 Within each chromosome is an organisms DNA
(DNA holds all the information a cell needs to
carry out its functions), chromosomes are
important in the inheritance of traits. One
chromosome in the pair came from the female
parent while the other chromosome came from the
male parent. Walter Sutton, an American
geneticist, studied the movement of chromosomes
in grasshoppers. Using this information he came
up with the chromosome theory of inheritance. The
theory states that genes are carried from parents to
their offspring on chromosomes.
 Chromosomes are made up of genes; human body
cells have 23 pairs or 46 chromosomes. Each body
cell can contain between 20,000 and 25,000 genes,
and each gene controls a trait. The effects of genes
are regularly influenced by the environment. Diet,
lacking in protein, minerals, or vitamins can affect
the height of an individual no matter what
information is in their genes. Genes and the
environment interact to determine a person’s
characteristics.
 Measurement and observation tools are used to
categorize, represent and interpret the natural
world.
 Evidence is used for building, refining, and/or
critiquing scientific explanations.
Unit Learning Targets
Students will ...
 Describe the results of Mendel’s experiments.
 Identify what controls the inheritance of traits in organisms.
 Utilize probability and describe how it helps explain the results of genetic crosses.
 Compare and contract genotype vs. phenotype.
 Explain what co-dominance is.
 Explain who Walter Sutton is and what his contributions to science are.
 Describe the role chromosomes play in inheritance.
 Identify the events that occur during meiosis.
 Explain the relationship between genes and chromosomes.
 Explain what forms the genetic code.
 Describe how a cell produces protein.
 Identify how mutations can affect an organism.
 Identify some patterns of inheritance in humans.
 Describe the functions of sex chromosomes.
 Explain the relationship between genes and the environment.
 State the goal of the Human Genome Project.
Evidence of Learning
Summative Assessment
After learning about the basis of genetics and its function in heredity students will create a “Paper Pet
Project”; this will help the students to explore how traits are passed from parent to offspring. The pet will
be crossed with another classmates pet and the students will determine what traits the offspring will have.
All “Paper Pet Projects” need to be unique and have five different traits. The projects will include one pet
crossing with another pet, production of six offspring, in conclusion students determining what traits the
offspring will have and explain how those traits came to be. A rubric will be used to assess neatness,
creativity, accuracy in identifying phenotypes and genotypes (of pet and offspring), effectiveness of
students design, display, and class presentation.
Equipment needed: construction paper, drawing utensils, glue, tape, poster board, optional: glitter,
beads, feathers, sequins, stickers, yarn, buttons
Teacher Instructional Resources: Discovery Education, Science Explorer: Life Science Textbook,
library books, Internet: various websites, All-In-One Teaching Resources Workbooks
Formative Assessments
 Life Science Guided Reading and Study
Worksheets
 Mendel’s Experiment: crossing of Pea Plants
 Mendel’s Work Quiz
 Punnett Square Formation and Utilization of
Family Traits
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Probability and Heredity Quiz
Meiosis Poster Creation
Genetic Code (messenger RNA)
Dominant vs. Recessive (using flies)
Unit Test: Genetics: The Science of Heredity
Integration of Technology:
Students will use Microsoft Office programs, the SMARTBoard and ELMO for project construction and
presentations. They will also use various websites to help engineer their research projects.
Technology Resources:
Click the links below to access additional resources used to design this unit:
Discovery Education: http://www.discoveryeducation.com/
National Geographic: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/
Opportunities for Differentiation:
This unit caters to students of all learning styles (i.e., kinesthetic, visual, tactile and auditory instruction).
The students work individually, in partners, and within groups.
The groups are composed of those that are at a variety of learning levels. Groups change consistently
throughout the unit. Students will also work in pairs and individually during different activities in the unit.
The students are given the opportunity to use skills such as inference while conducting labs and reading
comprehension to answer questions in the text and on worksheets. They will also conduct hands-on labs
and projects to aid in the further understanding of certain scientific concepts being taught.
Teacher Notes: If computer or Internet access is not available to students they can use non-fictional texts
to perform research for the summative assessment. For the “Paper Pet Project”, students will be allowed
the option to choose their own pet traits or the teacher can assign the traits to guarantee various
experimental results.