Identical Cousins?

In science we just finished a unit on DNA and genetics. I had some background knowledge on this topic because we briefly learned about this last year but I had forgotten most of it. To start off the unit everyone had to make a Mind Map about everything we knew on genetics and DNA.  After the mind map was complete, we started the unit.

The first thing we did was watch a crash course video on the basics of DNA. It had almost all of the information we learned last year and some new information to help us get started on this unit.

After the video we went onto a website the had all of our assignments for this unit and read about the driving question and the project. The driving question was “If two sets of identical twins got married and each couple has a child, could the resulting children be identical?” Well, two sets of identical twins did get married and we had to read an Article about them. The article talked about how the twins got together and about their children. One of the couples had identical twin boys which is extremely unlikely but the two couples children do not look identical to each other.

The first assignment was to go on a Website that has information on all of the basics for this unit, and fill out a chart on it.

We did lots of other research on the topic of this unit including learning about meiosis and mitosis, learning about Karotypes, and many more. We wrote everything we learned in a table.

We also did some fun activities such as using punnet squares to make a paper family, and doing an activity where we had to find out if being addicted to smoking was genetic. These activities helped make this unit more interesting and made me excited to learn more. After we had enough information we got to start the project.

The project was to make a podcast in partners that answers the driving question “If two sets of identical twins got married and each couple has a child, could the resulting children be identical?” In the project we had to include all of the information we learned, personalize the podcast, and make it entertaining. I worked with my friend Izzy and we had lots of fun making the podcast. The first thing we did was write the script, and when it was done we had some of our peers critique it. After we revised our script we recorded it in a quiet room then put it together in iMovie. We added sound affects and breaks to make it sound as professional as possible. Once we were done we got to share it in front of the class.

This was a really interesting unit and I learned a ton about DNA and genetics. The project was really fun and the driving question was very ingesting and kept me excited to find out the answer. I am ready to start the next unit and excited to learn more.

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