Genetic Mutations Lesson Plan: Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Genetic Mutations. It supports the standard of describing why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in varied effects to the structure and function of the organism. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Ask students:

• How do you think traits are passed from a parent to an offspring?
• How might genetic traits affect how a species survives?

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

• Read the description on the Genetic Mutations topic page.
• Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding. 
• Have students read one of the Related Reading articles. Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.
  

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Students take the Genetic Mutations Quiz, applying essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about genetic mutations while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

• Make-a-Movie: Produce a tutorial that explains how genetic mutations can be helpful.
• Make-a-Map: Create a concept map identifying different types of genetic mutations and explaining how they are caused. 
• Creative Coding: Code a learning game challenging players to sort genetic mutations as deleterious (bad), beneficial, or neutral.

More to Explore 

Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of inheritance and variation of traits with these topics: Heredity, Genetics, Natural Selection, and Human Evolution.

Teacher Support Resources:

• Pause Point Overview: Video tutorial showing how Pause Points actively engage students to stop, think, and express ideas. 
• Learning Activities Modifications: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
• Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.