Genotypes Phenotypes Genetic Diversity Punnett Squares

PUNNETT SQUARE FUN Students will choose a “mom” card and a “dad” card from this project and use Punnett squares to determine the genotype and phenotype of their child. (There are 25 mom cards for students to choose from, and 25 dad cards for students to choose from.) Each mom and dad card has 12 genotypes on the card. Students will draw what the mom looks like (mom’s phenotype), and they will draw what the dad looks like (dad’s phenotype). After each parent has a picture profile, students will create Punnett squares to discover what the offspring could look like using the parents' genotypes. Students will then roll dice to determine which of the four boxes in the Punnett square the offspring will have. If the students roll a 1 on the die, they will have to choose the first box in their Punnett square. If they roll a 2 on the die, they will have to choose the second box on their Punnett square and so forth. If they roll a 5 or a 6, they will roll again. Using the genotypes that were chosen by random by the dice, they will have the genotypes of the new offspring. Using those new genotypes, students will draw what their new offspring looks like.

This project infuses both math (probability) and science (genetics) concepts. To complete, it will take students an estimated time of 2 hours. My classes are 50 minutes each, and it took the majority of my students two class periods to complete. This project also addresses the NGSS below.

MS – LS3 – 2 Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.

Materials Needed:
Dice
Drawing Materials

My students were highly engaged in this project; I hope yours find it just as fun as well!