Florida SC.7.L.16.1
The Standard
Understand and explain that every organism requires a set of instructions that specifies its traits, that this hereditary information (DNA) contains genes located in the chromosomes of each cell, and that heredity is the passage of these instructions from one generation to another.
Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Science
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students connect cells, chromosomes, DNA, genes, and traits. They explain how genetic instructions pass from parents to offspring during reproduction.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students correctly label a diagram showing a gene as part of DNA packaged into a chromosome inside a cell. They can explain why offspring may share traits with their parents.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think genes, DNA, and chromosomes are separate substances. They may also think every trait comes from one gene or that offspring receive traits from only one parent.
How to Assess It
- Give students an unlabeled cell diagram and ask them to place chromosome, DNA, and gene labels. Then ask how the information reaches an offspring.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Build a chromosome with yarn, mark gene sections using colored tape, and place it inside a paper cell model.
Write a three-sentence explanation of how instructions for fur color could pass from parent rabbits to their offspring.
Sort cards labeled cell, chromosome, DNA, gene, and trait into a nested order, then justify each placement.
Compare parent and offspring corn plants, then identify visible traits that may have been passed through inherited instructions.
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Printable SC.7.L.16.1 Worksheet
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