IndexIntroduction to the Genetics: Decoding Life module………………….. 1-3

Museum Trip Organizer……………………………………………... 4

Word Knowledge Sheet Blackline Master………………………….. 5

Mutations and Variations Pod…………………………………………. 6-7Blackline Masters…………………………………………….. 8-9

Human Genome Pod……………………………………………….….. 10-12Blackline Masters…………………………………………….. 13-17

Genetic Engineering Pod……………………………………………… 18-19Blackline Master……………………………………………... 20

Cloning Pod…………………………………………………………… 21-22Blackline Master. ………………………………………..…... 23

Development Pod……………………………………………………… 24-25Blackline Master…………………………………………..…. 26

General Post-Visit Activities……………………………………….….. 27

Genetics Reading Passages Blackline Master………………………. 28-30

Acknowledgements……………………………………….…………… 31

Introduction to theGenetics: Decoding Life moduleThis module will prepare your class for a visit to the exhibit Genetics:Decoding Life at the Museum of Science and Industry. As they explorethis exhibit, they’ll learn about the role genetics plays in all of ourlives—and its awesome power to change our future. They will beintroduced to some of today’s most timely issues in genetics, includingcloning, the Human Genome Project, genetic testing, DNAfingerprinting, genetic engineering, and the social and ethical challengesthat accompany these issues. The exhibit is divided into five main areas,or pods: Mutations and Variations, Human Genome, GeneticEngineering, Cloning, and Development.

For each topic, we have provided suggested activities for your class toengage in before and after the visit, as well as the “Museum TripOrganizer” students use to collect information while they are here. Thepre- and post-visit activities include hands-on experiments, blacklinemasters, visits to the Museum’s web site and to other interactive websites, and discussion questions.

A few weeks before your visit, you should decide which topics you willfocus on (we urge you to do all five) and then engage in the pre-visitactivities to prepare your class. For each of the five topics, werecommend that students complete the “Word Knowledge” exercise and,most importantly, brainstorm the questions they want to research.

This module correlates with Illinois State Goals 1, 3, 5, 11, 12 and 13.The Science Goals (11, 12 and 13) are broken down into Chicago AcademicStandards and Framework Statements. Goals 1 (Reading), 3 (Writing) and 5(Research) and the Chicago Reading Initiative are infused within thepedagogy of the module.

Before your visit…• Divide class into groups and let them discuss

some of the following ethical issues. This willlead to a realization that they need to get moreinformation about genetic technology andencourage them to develop questions to researchat the museum.

_ Should genetic technology be limited to preventing orcuring disease?

_ Should there be a universal genetic screening fordiseases such as sickle cell anemia, Tay-Sachs diseaseand Huntington’s disease? What are the pros and cons ofthis screening?

_ Should a wealthy person be able to privately fund his orher clone(s) for the purpose of growing replacement bodyparts such as a heart for transplant, blood for transfusions,or stem cells for therapy?

_ Governments have made laws prohibiting certain kindsof genetics research. Why? Do you believe that scientistsshould be prohibited from researching in these areas?

_ Should parents be able to select the genes that theywould like to see in their children? For example, shouldthey be able to select hair color, eye color, height or skincolor?

• Do the pre-visit activities for each pod in theGenetics exhibit to acquaint the students with thetopic and encourage the development of researchquestions.

Mutations (Pages 6-7)

Human Genome (Pages 10-12)

Genetic Engineering (Pages 16-17)

Cloning (Pages 19-20)

Development (Pages 22-23)

• After the class has brainstormed questions on eachof the five topics, each student will choose onequestion that he or she will research at theMuseum. This question goes at the top of the“Museum Trip Organizer” sheet.

During your visit…

• The students visit each pod to participate ininteractive activities, watch videos and readpanels to learn more about the topic in order tohelp answer their questions. They will collectinformation using the grid on the “Museum TripOrganizer.”

After your visit…

• Once back in the classroom, students willcomplete the “Word Knowledge” sheet on one ofthe words that relates to their topic.

• The class can answer the discussion questionsprovided in this module, and they can exhibit theirknowledge by creating a display or activity toteach another class about genetics.

Topic area (circle one):

Mutations Development Genetic Engineering Human Genome Cloning

What is your big question about this topic?

What do I know about this already?

At the Museum, collect information you think is important to answer your question. Draw pictures or

write notes explaining what you find. You can use this information collection grid so you can see your

information more clearly. If you need more room, use the back of this sheet.

What questions do I still have about this topic?

Get It - Collect Important Information Make It Clear - Give an example or draw a picture

Blackline Master

Word: _________________________

Use it in a sentence:

Words with similar meanings:

Words with opposite meanings:

Group that it belongs to:

Example:

Comparison:

Picture or symbol:

How would you teach this to a friend?

* From the Chicago Reading Initiative

Blackline Master

Mutations & Variations

Mutations and variations can mean changes in our DNA. Whilemutations always involve genes, some variations do not. A mutation isa change in the order of the chemical letters (A, T, C and G) of DNA.Some mutations lead to disease, while some have no obvious effectat all. Some mutations lead to variation.

Preparing for your visit…• Complete one or more of the following activities:

q Using the “Sickle Cell Anemia” blackline master,discuss with the class what causes sickle cell (asubstitution mutation); how sickle cell anemia isinherited (use punnet squares); and what happens tothose who have sickle cell anemia (damages to thebody).

q Visit the Museum’s web site atwww.msichicago.org/exhibit/genetics/mutations.htmland participate in the interactive activity “HowMutations Work.” This will familiarize the studentswith the terms deletions, substitutions, insertions, andnonsense mutations.

q Mutate the following sentence: MARY JANE ISVERY SMART by altering it with 1) insertion; 2)substitution; 3) deletion; and 4) a nonsense mutation.

• As a class, read the Mutations reading passage (page 26)and brainstorm questions you can investigate aboutmutations and variations while at the Museum.(Suggestions for questions: What are some of the diseasescaused by genetic mutations? How do mutations causedisease? Why do some mutations have no effect on anorganism?) Students should share their questions with theclass before the trip.

• Focus words should be chosen on the day the questionsare formed. As the questions are formed, list words on theboard, and then groups choose words that are related to aquestion they want to research.

• Have each student choose a question to research andwrite it at the top of his or her “Museum Trip Organizer.”

• In groups, begin to fill out the Word Knowledge sheet fora word related to the topic “mutations and variations.”Suggestions: variation, disease, mutation)

During your visit…• Engage in the interactive kiosks in the mutations pod of

the Genetics: Decoding Life exhibit: “DNAFingerprinting” and “Lincoln’s Hair.” Watch the “FruitFly” videos.

• Look for variations in the developing chicks at the ChickHatchery exhibit, such as size, feather color, shape ofbeak.

• Visit the Sickle Cell exhibit (on the Balcony level nearthe red stairs).

• Using the “Museum Trip Organizer,” have studentscollect information that will help answer their question.

After your visit…• Complete the “Word Knowledge” sheet.

• Create class displays about mutations (some students maywant to focus on sickle cell anemia or another geneticcondition that is frequently found in certain ethnicgroups, such as Thalassemia and Tay-Sachs Disease).

• Create an interactive activity to teach other classes aboutthe four kinds of mutations: insertion, deletion,substitution and nonsense mutations.

Breakdown of red blood cells (anemia)

• Fatigue

• Paleness

• Shortness of breath

• Delayed growth in childhood

• Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes)

Red blood cells clump together, clogging small vessels

• Stroke

• Pain episodes

• Organ damage such as kidney failure

and eye problems

Accumulation of abnormal red blood cells in spleen,

which filters germs from the blood and makes antibodies

• Spleen damage

• Frequent infections such as pneumonia

Normal Cells Sickle Cells

Normal Cell Cross-section

Sickle Cell Cross-section

* Visit the Mutations pod of Genetics: Decoding Life and the Sickle Cell Anemia exhibit

Blackline Master

A single amino acid substitution in the hemoglobin molecule can cause a form

of sickle cell anemia. This is caused by a genetic defect in the individual’s DNA.

hemoglobin—the iron-containing respiratory pigment in red blood cells

If two carriers of the sickle cell trait have a baby, there is a 25% chance that their

child will have sickle cell anemia.

S = Normal

s = Sickle Cell

25% Normal (SS)

50% Sickle Cell Trait (Ss)

25% Sickle Cell Anemia (ss)

SS Ss

Ssss

sS

S

s

* Visit the Mutations pod of Genetics: Decoding Life and the Sickle Cell Anemia exhibit

Blackline Master

ThreonineLeucineHistidineValine Proline GlutamicAcid

GlutamicAcid Lysine

ThreonineLeucineHistidineValine Proline GlutamicAcid Lysine

Normal Hemoglobin

Sickle Cell Hemoglobin

Valine

Human Genome

A genome is all of the genetic information encoded in the DNA withineach cell of an organism. Begun formally in 1990, the U.S. HumanGenome Project is a 13-year effort coordinated by the U.S. Departmentof Energy and the National Institutes of Health. The project originallywas planned to last 15 years, but rapid technological advances haveaccelerated the completion date to 2003. Project goals are to:

• identify all the approximate 30,000 genes inhuman DNA,

• determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemicalbase pairs that make up human DNA,

• store this information in databases,• improve tools for data analysis,• transfer related technologies to the private sector,

and• address the ethical, legal and social issues that

may arise from the project.

To help achieve these goals, researchers also are studying the geneticmakeup of several nonhuman organisms. These include the fruit fly, thelaboratory mouse and the common human intestine bacterium E. coli.

(excerpted from www.ornl.gov/hgmis, a web site sponsored by the U.S.Department of Energy Office of Science, Office of Biological and EnvironmentalResearch, Human Genome Program)

Preparing for your visit…

• Complete one or more of the following activities:

q Examine actual DNA in the activity “How to ExtractDNA from Any Living Thing.”

q Learn the structure of DNA in the hands-on activity“The DNA Puzzle.”

q Take a “Journey into DNA” on the PBS websitewww.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/genome/dna.html

• As a class, read the “Human Genome: What is DNAFingerprinting?” reading passage (page 26) andbrainstorm questions you can investigate about theHuman Genome while at the Museum. (Suggestions for

questions: How similar are humans to other animals?What is DNA, what does it look like, and what is it madeup of? How do scientists identify and sequence the humangenome? What is DNA fingerprinting?) Students shouldshare their questions with the class before the trip.

• Focus words should be chosen on the day the questionsare formed. As the questions are formed, list words on theboard, and then groups choose words that are related to aquestion they want to research.

• Have each student choose a question to research andwrite it at the top of his or her “Museum Trip Organizer.”

• In groups, begin to fill out the Word Knowledge sheet fora word related to the topic “human genome”(suggestions: DNA, genome, chromosome).

• Review the survey “You Decide” to get an idea of someof the issues surrounding the technologies used toinvestigate DNA. After your visit, students will add twoof their own issues to the Museum’s survey.

During your visit…

• Engage in the interactive voting panel “You Decide.”Ask students to think of two issues of their own to add tothe survey. You may collect data on the results that theMuseum presents.

• Using their “Museum trip Organizer,” have studentscollect information that will help answer their pre-determined questions.

After your visit…• Complete the “Word Knowledge Sheet.”

• Add two issues to the survey “You Decide.”

• Create class displays or interactive activities to teachanother class about the human genome or the HumanGenome Project.

• Ask 10 people outside of school what is most importantto them on the list of “You Decide” issues aboutresearching the human genome. Report your findings in agraphic display. (Comparing student results to theMuseum’s results could lead to an interesting discussionon the effects of sample size.)

Materialsdried green split peas

salt

blender

water

detergent(Dawn or Palmolive work well)

meat tenderizer

glass rods

wooden stick

test tubes or small glasses

cold 70-95% isopropyl alcohol (available at any drug store)

In a blender, blend a handful of green split peas with about

200 milliliters of cold water and a pinch of salt on a high

speed for about five seconds (an adult should do this part).

Pour the mixture through a strainer and into a beaker.

Add 2 tablespoons of liquid detergent to the mix and let it

sit for 5-10 minutes.

Pour the mixture into test tubes or small glasses.

Add a pinch of meat tenderizer to each test tube and stir

gently with a glass rod. Stir carefully so that you do not

break up the DNA.

Tilt the test tube and slowly pour cold rubbing alcohol

down the side of the test tube so that it forms a layer on top

of the pea mixture. Keep pouring until both layers are

about the same height.

The DNA will rise into the alcohol layer. Use a wooden

stick to draw the DNA out of the alcohol. It will look like a

blob of mucus.

* Visit the Human Genome pod of Genetics: Decoding Life

Blackline Master

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a very complex

molecule that is found in the nucleus of every cell,

except red blood cells, of every single organism. Red

blood cells do not have DNA because they do not

have a nucleus. In this activity, we will take a look at

DNA and its component parts.

You will:

• learn the names of the molecules that make

up DNA

• make a model of DNA

You will need:

• scissors

• paper models (2 copies per student)

Two important molecules that make up DNA are

deoxyribose (a five carbon sugar) and phosphoric

acid (phosphate for short). Their models and

chemical structures are shown at the right.

In addition, DNA is made up of four different

molecules called bases. These are adenine, guanine,

cytosine and thymine.

Cut out all of the molecular models on the

next pages.

First, observe that a nucleotide consists of one

phosphate (phosphate for short), one deoxyribose

and one base. These are the essential units of

DNA—phosphate, sugar and nucleotides.

* Visit the Human Genome pod of Genetics: Decoding Life

Blackline Master