“Cootie Genetics” is a hands-on, inquiry-based activity that enables students to learn the Mendelian laws of inheritance and gain an understanding of genetics principles and terminology. The activity begins with two true-breeding Cooties of the same species that exhibit five observable trait differences. Students observe the retention or loss of traits among first-generation heterozygotes, hypothesize what happened to these traits, and design an experiment to test their hypotheses by mating the first-generation Cooties. With the second generation, Mendel’s principles of segregation and independent assortment of alleles are observed; dominant and recessive traits and tools students need to construct Punnett squares are apparent.

Keywords:
Genetics, inheritance, scientific method, hands-on, Punnett squares, Mendel, laws of genetics
© 2014 by National Association of Biology Teachers. All rights reserved. Request permission to photocopy or reproduce article content at the University of California Press’s Rights and Permissions Web site at http://www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintinfo.asp.
2014
You do not currently have access to this content.