Middle School

A murder has occurred and DNA samples from various suspects have been collected. Challenge your class to solve the mystery using simulated DNA fingerprinting techniques.With this completely reusable kit, students match “pop bead” DNA fingerprints of ...

Why do some children look so much like their parents and others do not? Students randomly select a sperm cell and an egg for a potential child. When the simulated fertilization occurs, the resulting baby is compared to its parents. A second child is ...

Put life into the genetic code. This lively bingo game will add some fun to the difficult concepts of transcription and translation. Students will get very involved in the gaming part of this activity and will start incorporating new words such as ur...

A fun kinesthetic way to teach DNA structure and restriction enzymes. Every student in your class becomes a coded nucleotide and together the entire class will form a giant DNA molecule. Students will personally experience the antiparallel and coding...

You have described it as a “twisted ladder” or a “double helix”. These descriptions are very difficult for students to understand and visualize. Now your students can build their own DNA model and twist it themselves! After building the basic structu...

Learn how to isolate DNA from human cells-yours! DNA can be isolated from many types of tissue. In this activity, students extract DNA from their own cheek cells. The procedure for securing student cheek cells is safe and requires only a rinsing of t...

An introductory activity for students about to begin the study of biotechnology and electrophoresis. Students become medical forensic investigators as they read a case in which a woman has been attacked or a case where an elderly man has been murdere...

Students are intrigued to learn exactly why they often exhibit traits similar to their parents. By performing this straightforward mathematical and visual example, students are able to thoroughly grasp complex genetic concepts. This activity simulate...

An entire genetics unit in a single kit! Students work at their own pace through this guided-inquiry activity to discover the principles of Mendelian genetics. Introductory exercises help students become familiar with the basic vocabulary of genetics...

Want to perform a fruit fly genetics lab without setting up and maintaining live Drosophila cultures? This kit is for you! Students use hands-on card activity to investigate all of the key genetics concepts, including genotypes versus phenotypes, dom...

Don't have students just read or listen to you talk about DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis. Get them up out of their chairs and involved in transcription and translation! The coded messages on the DNA and tRNA code cards in this kit will add fun to le...

Whether you are teaching a genetics course or a short unit on genetics, you will want this laboratory manual. The author has carefully written the labs used in her high school genetics course in an easy-to-follow format. An introduction is provided e...

Why are some people very sensitive to the taste of spicy food while others are not? Is this taste sensitivity inherited? This laboratory activity will explore whether the ability to taste various substances is genetic. Students will be involved in co...

This straightforward and intriguing activity enables students to grasp basic Mendelian genetics and to appreciate the predictive power of its principles. Random selection probabilities are determined by drawing different-colored pop beads from a simu...

Large simulated chromosome smears make this kit one of a kind. Your students can now realistically cut out chromosomes and use key characteristics to match them into pairs. The concept of chromosome pairing (homologous pairs) will have new meaning as...

Looking for a fresh and exciting way to teach genetics? In this unique activity, students create chromosomal maps using idealized diagrams of human chromosomes. The process is similar to that used by geneticists-students match homologous chromosomes ...

Arouse curiosity and stimulate interest in genetics with this creative activity. What role do inherited characteristics play in the development of an organism's physical appearance? Students select a random set of gene cards (the genotype) and then u...

Having trouble explaining the difference between mitosis and meiosis? Stop working so hard. Let your students model the two processes with these hands-on chromosome simulation materials. The unique chromosome models with magnetic centromeres and pop ...

Teach students to identify and classify chromosome smears according to the Denver System using large magnetic demonstration models of chromosomes! Begin by building a karyotype of a normal male and a normal female on your magnetic classroom board. In...

Students will be excited to learn about heredity, genetics, and the human genome as they examine traits on their favorite test subject—themselves! Common dominant and recessive human traits are explored, some more obvious than others. Widow's peak vs...

Supplied in stoppered vials containing 100 strips per vial. Used to test for the genetic ability to experience a bitter taste from PTC. Occurs in 70% of the population. Popular in the study of human genetics, Mendelian genetics, and family pedigrees....

Supplied in stoppered vials containing 100 strips per vial. Used to test for the genetic ability to experience a bitter taste from thiourea. Some individuals can taste either PTC or thiourea, but not both.

Supplied in stoppered vials containing 100 strips per vial. Thiourea Taste Test. Used to test for genetic ability to experience a bitter taste from thiourea.

Supplied in stoppered vials containing 100 strips per vial. Used as an untreated control for taste tests with PTC, sodium benzoate, and thiourea.

As students help construct and then analyze a pedigree chart of England’s Queen Victoria, they learn about sex-linked traits and the genetic patterns associated with sex-linked inheritance. This 5’ x 2 1/2’ large-scale magnetic chart is easily assemb...

Discover the power of DNA profiling (fingerprinting) using this creative simulation. No expensive equipment or chemicals needed! This activity only requires paper and scissors. Students solve a paternity case as they re-create each step of the DNA fi...