Introduction
Most biology classes have a genetics unit. To begin teaching the concept of genetics, teachers typically use Gregor Mendel's experiments with pea pods to exemplify the nature of genetic inheritance. After teaching how this dominant/recessive inheritance works in pea pods, further examples are given in humans traits. A fun way that teachers use to demonstrate this same autosomal inheritance is to have students look for the same traits on themselves in a take-home activity.
Students can easily collect data on themselves and their parents. Attached/Detached earlobes, hitchhiker's thumbs, cleft chins, and tongue rolling... these are all easily identifiable phenotypes that help prove the point of basic genetics. But do they really? Unfortunately, there is reason to believe that what is said about these human traits is mostly wrong. Could what teachers have been teaching students for decades be wrong? |
An image from a Pearson Education textbook published in 2005.
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Should classrooms change the way they teach basic Mendelian genetics?
This study will look into four human traits used in a majority of Mendelian human trait activities (Attached Earlobes, Cleft Chin, Hitchhiker's Thumb, Tongue Rolling) and conclude whether or not the teaching methods in biology classes needs to be changed.