Week 8 Blog Post

    

    In class this week, we first looked at our fast plants. It was interesting to see how they have changed over the past week and how they need to die/dry out before the seeds can drop out. 

    After looking at our plants, we reviewed the differences between genotypes and phenotypes. Genotype is a person's genetic makeup, whereas phenotype is a person's observable characteristics like hair color, height, etc. We then learned about mutations and what causes them. Mutations are defined as changes in DNA sequences. These changes can be deletion, insertion, substitution, or rearrangement. For example, in class, we talked about stop codons being a mutation. We were able to see how mutations and DNA codes work through two simulations. Lastly, we completed a worksheet that helped us learn what kinds of mutations have an effect on a person, and what mutations do not affect a person. We also learned from the worksheet that mutations are essential for natural selection and evolution. 

    I was able to relate this information to what I already knew because I took a few biology courses in high school and college, so this was a great way to refresh my memory. I definitely did not remember everything that I had learned before this lab. I did find it easier to follow along and understand DNA and mutations from this week's lab because it was broken down and explained in more depth than in my previous courses. 

    This lab can apply to my future teaching because I would love to use the simulations in my classroom to demonstrate how DNA and mutations work. Since it is a more complex topic to learn/teach, I think that the simulations can help better explain and show what is happening. I think it would only be good in upper-elementary science class because it is a more complex topic. I would love to learn about other resources that would be beneficial for teaching younger elementary students this topic.


        

Comments

  1. Kendra KalkwarfMarch 12, 2025 at 11:05 AM

    Hi Audrey! I could also connect what we learned today with previous knowledge because of past biology classes I took. I thought that was really helpful to make the learning easier to understand. I also agree that it was a good refresher because I did not remember everything that we talked about. The stimulations would be a good thing to include in a future classroom because this topic is kind of complex and there is a lot involved.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carly BorthMarch 12, 2025 at 12:14 PM

    Hi Audrey! I enjoyed reading your blog this week and hearing your thoughts on lab. I found it interesting learning more about genotypes, phenotypes, and genetic mutations. Similar to you, I could connect much of this information to previous science classes I have took, but I appreciated refreshing my memory so I can better teach it in the future. Furthermore, I thought the stimulations and activities were especially helpful as they provided us a way to visualize these processes. I also plan to use these in my future classroom to help my students stay engaged and develop a deeper understanding of genetics and genetic mutations. Great post!

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  3. TaylorApril 1, 2025 at 7:07 AM

    Hi Audrey! I also connected much of the information about genotypes, phenotypes, and genetic mutations to what I have previously learned. I agree this could be very helpful in our future classrooms, Great post!

    ReplyDelete

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