Strategy 1 

Lesson Plan

Charlene Bruton

EDTP 639

UMGC

Name: Charlene Bruton                                                                                
Grade: 10th 

Unit: Living Systems, Unit 3: Inheritance and Variation      

Time Allotted: 90 minutes 

Lesson Topic: Mutations 

Reading Strategy Focus: Annotating Text, Graphic organizers, Vocabulary development,

Activating Prior Knowledge.

Digital Literacy Focus: Interactive Video, Digital Notebook 

Type of Lesson: This is a developing lesson on the concepts of inheritance and

variation. Students will learn about how traits are passed from parents to offspring and the

sources of inheritable genetic variation such as, mutations.  

Context for Learning:

In Unit 1, students learned about the process of cellular division (mitosis) in which one

parent cell gives rise to two genetically identical daughter cells. In Unit 3, students were

introduced to the process meiosis, a type of cell division that results in the production of gametes

also referred to as sex cells (sperm and eggs). Meiosis results in four daughter cells, each with

half the number of chromosomes of the parent cell. During meiosis crossing over can occur,

resulting in genetic recombination which increases the genetic diversity of a population. The

teacher should have knowledge about other sources of variation within populations including

errors that occur during replication which result in changes in a gene sequence called mutations.

These concepts are important because viable errors add to the variation of traits within a

population. Mutations can also arise due to environmental factors. Therefore, the variation and

distribution of traits observed in a population depends on both genetic and environmental factors.
 There are twenty students present in the class. Students are seated in groups of four. There are

twelve males and eight females. Fifteen students are African American, three are

Hispanic/Latino, and two are Caucasian. All students have access to internet through use

of BCPS provided laptops. Seven students have special needs. Two students are English

language learners. The teacher has access to a whiteboard and a projector. The classroom layout

is depicted below:

Curriculum Standard Addressed: 

HS-LS3-2: Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may

result from: (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during

replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors.

LS3.B: Variation of Traits: In sexual reproduction, chromosomes can sometimes swap sections

during the process of meiosis (cell division), thereby creating new genetic combinations and thus

more genetic variation. Although DNA replication is tightly regulated and remarkably accurate,

errors do occur and result in mutations, which are also a source of genetic variation.

Environmental factors can also cause mutations in genes, and viable mutations are inherited.
HS-LS3-2: Environmental factors also affect expression of traits, and hence affect the probability

of occurrences of traits in a population. Thus, the variation and distribution of traits observed

depends on both genetic and environmental factors.

Objectives (observable and measurable): 

Students will understand that:

 Errors can occur during DNA replication increasing genetic variation.

 Environmental factors can cause mutations and viable mutations can be inherited.

 Environmental factors affect the expression of traits and the probability of occurrences of

traits in a population.

 Variation and distribution of traits observed depend on both genetic and environmental

factors.

The students, with 80% accuracy, will defend a claim using evidence about the sources of

genetic variation.

The students, with 80% accuracy, will explain how errors in DNA replication and environmental

factors can cause genetic variation.

Materials: 

For the teacher:

 Copies of IVF article.

 Copies of KWL chart.

 Copies of 3 causes of mutation notebook.

 Copies of Cornell notes.

  Whiteboard.

 Projector.

 Access to BrainPOP video.

 Toothpicks.

 Colored markers.

For the student:

 IVF article.

 KWL Chart.

 Chromebook.

 Access to BrainPOP.

 Digital notebook.

 ‘What is a mutation?’ article.

 Causes of mutation notebook handout

Proactive Behavior Management: 

Students will be in assigned groupings created by the teacher. A list of classroom rules and

behavioral expectations are posted on the wall in the classroom to hold students accountable. The

teacher will encourage positive self-talk. By promoting positive self-talk, students will feel

motivated to complete their assignments and will be more likely to respect their peers and their

teacher.

Provisions for Student Grouping: 

The classroom set-up reflects heterogenous grouping. This is done so students can assist one

another in their groups while working together on assignments and so that there is a balance

present in the room regarding student’s abilities. According to Mugabi (2019), below grade level
students can learn from their peers what they could not pick up from the teacher and above level

students are able to take leadership and develop skills such as interdependence. Students are

seated in five groups of four consisting of one to two higher achieving students per group.

Procedures

Warm-Up/Opening: 10 minutes

As students enter the classroom, they will take out their notebooks, write the lesson’s objective

and answer the question “How are traits passed from parents to offspring?” The teacher will give

each student a copy of a KWL graphic organizer. Students will complete the “K” portion of the

diagram with what they already know about genetic variation. After reading the article titled

“Designer babies aren’t futuristic. They’re already here.”, students will complete the “W”

portion of the diagram with questions that they have about genetic variation and the “L” with

what they learned from reading the article.

Motivator/Bridge: 20 minutes

The teacher will review prior learning by asking students to describe the structure of a

chromosome and the different functions of DNA in cells. Students will describe the relationship

with DNA, proteins, and the resulting traits of an organism. Students will view the Genetic

mutation BrainPOP (9 minutes). While viewing the video, students are to define 6 vocabulary

terms. Students will complete the BrainPOP Quiz as a formative assessment. The teacher will

review the topic question which is “How are traits passed from parents to offspring?” The

teacher will also introduce the objective for this lesson which will be written on the whiteboard

as follows, Students will understand that errors can occur during DNA replication increasing

genetic variation and variation and distribution of traits observed depend on both genetic and

environmental factors.
Procedural Activities: 50 minutes 

First students will activate prior knowledge. Students will conduct a lab activity entitled

Toothpick Chromosomes in which students will use toothpicks (representing chromosomes) with

dots on them (representing genes) to understand how traits are passed from parents to offspring.

They will understand the relationship between genes, chromosomes, and traits. This activity can

be used to have student explore the connection between DNA, chromosomes, and the passing of

traits from parents to offspring. They will then explore how mutations can cause variation in the

offspring by adding genes (different color marker) and switching toothpicks with a classmate and

discuss how this will affect their resulting offspring. The teacher will then review the “What is a

mutation?” article. Students would make notations of the article for use later using their

electronic notebook using the unique google site link. Lastly, student will explore an interactive

video on their Chromebook entitled the outcome of mutation. This interactive video walks

students through heredity, traits, DNA, genes, proteins, and chromosomes. While completing the

interactive they will work in pairs to answer WebQuest questions.

Adaptations:

Students with special needs will be provided with additional graphic organizers to assist them

with organizing ideas and keeping notes for each of the articles. English language learners will

be provided with definitions to terms from BrainPOP video and instead of having to search for

definitions like the other students, they will be required to familiarize themselves with the

definitions and rewrite each definition in their notebooks.  

Assessment (separate into formative and summative):  

Students will be formatively assessed on their prior knowledge by answering questions provided

at the beginning of the lesson. They will also define BrainPOP terms to determine if they grasped

an understanding of the video before moving on. In addition, the brainpop quiz will serve as a

means of assessing students. While students work in pairs to complete the toothpick activity,

they will be formatively assessed as the teacher visits each group to hear their ideas on how

mutations may arise once they switch toothpicks. The summative assessment would be an exit

ticket where students make a claim about how genetic variation can increase in a population.

Summary/Closure: 10 minutes

Students will review the topic question ‘How are traits passed from parents to offspring?’. Next,

they will revisit their KWL chart and add to the ‘L’ category with new ideas they learned from

the lesson. Students will discuss the role of DNA and proteins in coding for traits. They will

spend the last 5 minutes writing down their ideas to submit to the teacher as they exit the class.

Generalization/Extension Activity: 

The Concord Consortium’s simulation shows the steps of protein synthesis and allows students

to alter the DNA to see if a mutation occurs. Students can look at the final protein and then alter

the DNA to see how the protein may or may not change. This reviews how one base pair

mutation can alter an entire protein.

Review/Reinforcement (Homework): 

Complete the 3 causes of mutation notebook activity. This allows students to review the

BrainPOP activities and make connections between prior knowledge to form hypothesis about

what causes genetic mutation. They will also review key ideas from the video and answer

questions independently.
Reflection:  

 This lesson incorporates a wide range of digital literacy. Students will be able to gain

additional skills by online reading (reading a digital text through the internet) which allows them

to interact with the text instead of simply reading from top to bottom (Loewus, 2016). Students

are becoming digitally literate through a variety of means for example, watching an online video,

completing an interactive simulation, reading articles online, and keeping notes through use of a

digital notebook. This is an added benefit for students who are learning remotely and are not able

to be in the classroom physically. Since they will have to sign on to class with their laptops it is

convenient for them to be able to take digital notes as well. Students are also provided with a

variety of resources to help them organize their ideas. The K-W-L chart is provided to all

students however, it is an added resource to assist students with special needs as well as, English

language learners. By completing the K-W-L, the teacher can determine what students already

know about the topic and what questions they have. At the end of the lesson, the teacher can

determine if those questions were answered or if students still need further assistance.

In addition to the use of graphic organizers, other literacy strategies that were highlighted

included vocabulary development and activating prior knowledge. This was done by the

identification of vocabulary terms after views the warm-up video. Also, through the use of

questioning at the start of class. While students discuss their results during the toothpick activity,

they can connect how mutations may occur and share their opinions with group members. This is

an indirect instructional strategy however, a modification that I would make would be

researching direct strategies to replace this with. Research shows that teachers are encouraged to

implement direct vocabulary strategies because of their easy and effective application especially

at the early stages of vocabulary learning (Naemi & Chow Voon Foo, 2015). Weaknesses of the
lesson would include differentiation of learning for students with special needs and how the

teacher would cater to the individual student needs. Overall the lesson addresses the selected

standards and should results in the students meeting the objective goal by the end of the 90

minutes.

 
 References

BrainPOP. (n.d.). Genetics. Genetics Vocabulary.

https://www.brainpop.com/health/geneticsgrowthanddevelopment/genetics/vocabulary/.

Facing History and Ourselves. (n.d.). K-W-L Charts. https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-

library/teaching-strategies/k-w-l-charts.

Hercher, L. (2020, April 2). Designer babies aren't futuristic. They're already here. MIT

Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/10/22/139478/are-we-

designing-inequality-into-our-genes/.

Learn.Genetics. (n.d.). The Outcome of Mutation.

https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/basics/outcomes/.

Loewus, L. (2016, November 8). Digital literacy: An evolving definition. Education

Week. https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/11/09/what-is-digital-literacy.html

Mugabi, T. (2020, November 12). Heterogeneous vs. homogeneous grouping: What's the best

way to group students?. https://www.classcraft.com/blog/heterogeneous-vs-homogeneous-

grouping-whats-the-best-way-to-group-students/.

Naemi, M., & Chow Voon Foo, T. (2015). Vocabulary acquisition through direct and indirect

learning strategies. English Language Teaching, 8(10), 142

151. https://dx.doi.org/10.5539/elt.v8n10p142  
 Appendix

KWL Chart

KWL_Chart_handout

Article 1: Designer babies aren’t futuristic. They’re already here.

 BrainPOP Genetics Vocabulary Handout

Genetics, Growth, and Development | Genetics | Vocabulary - BrainPOP

 BrainPOP Genetics Quiz

Genetics, Growth, and Development - Genetics Quiz

Article 2: What is a mutation?
Digital Notebook

The Outcome of Mutation (utah.edu)

Tour of the Basics Webquest
Lab Interactive: Mutations (concord.org)
 3 Causes of Mutation Notebook Activity

Causes of Mutations

Question:

Answer AFTER all evidence and analysis are finished

1. What causes genetic mutations?

Hypothesis:

1.

Evidence:

Brain pop quiz: Genetic Mutation

Question 3. What types of living organisms have no

genetic material at all?

1. Genetic mutations are permanent 4. Why do most changes to DNA have no

changes in DNA or RNA. What does effect at all?

this mean? 5. Which word describes the majority of

2. Which of the following traits is encoded permanent genetic mutations?

by your DNA? 6. What usually happens to a cell whose

DNA has been damaged?

7. How are cancerous cells different from

normal cells? 5.

8. Which of the following is an example of

a beneficial mutation? 6.

9. What a beneficial mutation spreads

through an entire population of 7.

organisms, that population:

10. When do random, or spontaneous, 8.

mutations happen?

9.

10.

Answer

1.

2.

3.

4.
Brain pop: 3 key ideas from video

1.

2.

3.

Article notes

Article 1-UV Light

Article subject-

The mutation that is caused-

The cause of the mutation-

The effect of the mutation-

An interesting fact you learned-

Article 2- Smoking

Article subject-

The mutation that is caused-

The cause of the mutation-

The effect of the mutation-

An interesting fact you learned-

Article 3- Benzene

Article subject-

The mutation that is caused-

The cause of the mutation-

The effect of the mutation-

An interesting fact you learned-

Article 4- Progeria

Article subject-

The mutation that is caused-

The cause of the mutation-

The effect of the mutation-

An interesting fact you learned-

Article 5- Ectrodactyly

Article subject-

The mutation that is caused-

The cause of the mutation-

The effect of the mutation-

An interesting fact you learned-

Vocabulary:

 Genetic mutation:

 Beneficial mutation:

 Deleterious mutation:

 Neutral mutation:

Analysis:

1. Name three things that can cause mutation.

1)
 2)

3)

2. What common thing occurs in each mutation?

3 causes of mutations answer key

3-causes-of-mutations-notebook-key.pdf