The Beginning of our Science Fair Project - Tree of Genetic Traits

Sometime in the future, Summers-Knoll is going to have a science fair/presentation. DON'T PANIC! This will not be one of those huge headaches done at home - rather, each classroom will work on projects during school time.

The kindergarten and both first/second grade classes will combine forces and present a "Tree of Genetic Traits". The teachers thought this would have an excellent tie-in to our first big theme of identity. My class started the work this morning by engaging in a science lab, and collecting data on a mini-tree sketched on the chalkboard. The final project will have a lot more data, and look a little swankier.

The major ideas presented:

* genetic traits are passed down from parent to child
* an individual will have many traits they share in common with others
* an individual's overall combination of traits makes them unique
* some traits are more common than others

We did three tests this morning. We noted if our earlobes were attached or free, if we could roll our tongue or not, and if we could taste a harmless chemical on PTC paper. Students completed their lab report, then cut out a leaf and documented their findings there.

If you can taste PTC, your face probably looks something like this:

Once their leaf was complete, they had to find the right branch of our tree on which to hang it.

I'm thinking the next step will be to have parents complete the same tests, so more leaves can be hung on the tree, and we can see whether or not our parents share all of our characteristics. More soon on this exciting project!