Genetics Project – The Inheritance of Coat Color in Labrador Retrievers

Description

This Genetics Project, The Inheritance of Coat Color in Labrador Retrievers, has been the all-time favorite project of my Biology students for years and I’m sure your students will love it, too!

It’s a real-world scenario about inheritance patterns in one of America’s favorite dog breeds. Students will assume the role of a genetic counselor and use what they’ve learned about patterns of inheritance, Punnett squares, and Mendel’s Law of Independent Assortment to advise two dog breeders who want more chocolate puppies. The concept of epistasis will also be introduced; a topic most students don’t learn until AP Biology.

This download includes 9 files:

1. Read This First includes a project overview, terms of use, and image credits.
2. Teacher’s Guide with a complete explanation of the project and the solution.
3. Genetics Project Handouts for Students include 3 pages of instructions and information needed to solve the breeder’s problem.
4. Project Task 1 introduces the epistatic pattern of inheritance and provides practice in interpreting and determining genotypes and phenotypes.
5. Answer Key to Project Task 1
6. Project Task 2 presents opportunities for students to draw and analyze Punnett Squares using two gene pairs.
7. Answer Key to Project Task 2
8. Adorable Labrador Retriever Pictures your can print for your students or post in your classroom.
9. Editable Project Rubric for grading student projects.

I usually allow 1 ½ – 2 weeks from the time I introduce this performance task to students until the due date of the project. I like to use the last 15 minutes or so of 3 consecutive classes to introduce the project and give daily tasks to get students started. After that, they can usually run with it and put their presentations together. You can decide if you prefer students to work individually or in groups – it works well either way. I hope you enjoy this project as much as I do!

You might also like:

FREE Inheritance Patterns in the Kolo Genetics Activity

Inheritance PowerPoint, Notes, and Videos

Inheritance Task Cards

Inheritance Activities: Terminology and Punnett Squares

Inheritance Review Qubes

Genetics Unit Bundle

Happy Teaching!

Carla Brooks

Science Island