Internet Tools for K-12 Teachers: Teaching Genetics Using
the Dog Genome Database
During the week of August 4-8, 1997 a group of K-12 teachers, molecular
biologists and computer scientists met and exchanged experiences and technical
knowledge. At the end of the week a number of web pages had been authored
by this group. These pages were designed to be used at different and specific
levels of K-12 education to teach genetics in conjunction with more traditional
curriculum tools. The scientific content of the pages was developed based
on the teachers' expertise and the guidelines recommended in the national
Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996).
The following links lead to the web pages authored by workshop participants: |
 |
- Useful URLs lists web sites that are kid-friendly and teacher-useful. These
links contain information on general genetics and/or dogs.
- Dogs and Us
demonstrates the diversity of form, specialized structures and related
functions in dogs as an example of a biological system. There are numerous
pictures, some reading ability is required (K-4 students).
- Why use dogs to study genes? explains the Dog Genome Initiative relating phenotypic traits
and molecular genetics (6-12 grade level).
- Aye Chihuahua
discusses evolution, introduces genetics vocabulary and describes some
biotechnology careers (6-8 grade level).
- Modeling Natural Selection Using
Populations of Dog Breeds demonstrates natural
selection in three different hypothetical environments. It also introduces
some concepts in population genetics (9-12 grade level/post-secondary).
Workshop Participants
The members of the workshop group and authors of these
pages are: Jose'-Salvador Briones, Sherri Clark, Niu Dong, Mike Fajardo,
Joe Horton, Tara Kuehn, Mary Lessman, Ravi Mathur, Patrick McDougle, Joe
Meier, Marcus Mendoza, Mary O'Connell, Mendell Rimer, Toby Rodriguez, Jason
Rosenburg, Jim Stefon, Hu Wei, and Liansheng Zheng.
Schedule of Teaching Genetics Using the Dog Genome Database
Workshop
Schedule
|
Morning
|
Afternoon
|
Evening
|
Monday
8/4
|
· Overview of workshop
· Genetics--From Mendel to Today |
· Build teams, select topics
· AOL Press training
· Various software tools |
Open lab: develop web pages |
Tuesday
8/5
|
· Genetics--Molecular Aspects
· Tour of automated DNA sequencing lab |
· Develop web pages |
Open lab: develop web pages |
Wednesday
8/6
|
· What is the Dog Genome Project? |
· Develop web pages |
Open lab: develop web pages |
Thursday
8/7
|
· Cloning: Plants, Sheep
· Tour of plant tissue culture facility |
· Demonstrate web pages |
|
Friday
8/8
|
· Revise web pages |
· depart |
|
|Outreach and Education
Resources | | Molecular
Biology|
This work was supported in part by US Army Research Office
under grant number DAAH04-96-1-0415, NIH grant S06 GM 08136 and the NM Agricultural
Experiment Station.
Last updated: July 10, 1998
For more information, comments, or corrections contact:
moconnel@nmsu.edu