Mississippi Science GEN.4.4

ScienceGrades 9–12Genetics

The Standard

GEN.4: Students will analyze and interpret data collected from probability calculations to explain the inheritance of traits within a population.

Construct pedigrees from observed phenotypes. Analyze and interpret data to determine patterns of inheritance and disease risk.

2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Classic Mendelian Genetics

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students turn family trait records into pedigrees using standard symbols and shading. They look for patterns across generations and estimate a child's chance of being affected.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student draws an accurate pedigree and marks possible carriers without shading them as affected. They explain which inheritance pattern best fits the family and calculate risk from the likely parent genotypes.
Common Misconceptions: Students may treat an unaffected person as someone who cannot carry an allele. They may assume a trait that skips a generation is always X-linked, or that a 25% risk means exactly one in four children will be affected.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Two unaffected parents have an affected daughter and an unaffected son. Draw their pedigree, name the likely inheritance pattern, and give the next child's affected risk, assuming complete penetrance and no new mutations.

Lesson moves

Give groups index cards with a three-generation family's traits; have them arrange the cards into a pedigree and mark possible carriers.
Show an affected daughter with two unaffected parents; ask which inheritance pattern fits best and what other family data would help.
Hand out four small pedigrees; students sort them by likely inheritance pattern and defend one choice using a parent-child clue.
Give students a fictional genetic counseling intake form; have them estimate a child's risk and explain what the estimate cannot predict.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to GEN.4.4, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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