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Basic Genetic Concepts & Terms

Genetics: what is it?

• What is genetics?

– “Genetics is the study of heredity, the process in which a

parent passes certain genes onto their children.”

(http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/00204

8.htm)

• What does that mean?

– Children inherit their biological parents’ genes that

express specific traits, such as some physical

characteristics, natural talents, and genetic disorders.

Word Match Activity

Match the genetic terms to

their corresponding parts

of the illustration.

• base pair

• cell

• chromosome

• DNA

(Deoxyribonucleic Acid)

• double helix*

• genes

• nucleus

Illustration Source: Talking Glossary of

Genetic Terms

http://www.genome.gov/glossary.cfm?ke

y=chromosome

Word Match Activity

• base pair

• cell

• chromosome

• DNA

(Deoxyribonucleic Acid)

• double helix*

• genes

• nucleus

Illustration Source: Talking Glossary of

Genetic Terms

http://www.genome.gov/glossary.cfm?k

ey=chromosome

base pair

cell

nucleus chromosome

(double

helix)

DNA

genes

Genetic Concepts

• H describes how some traits are

passed from parents to their children.

• The traits are expressed by g , which are

small sections of DNA that are coded for

specific traits.

• Genes are found on ch ___.

• Humans have two sets of _ (hint: a number)

chromosomes—one set from each parent.

Genetic Concepts

• Heredity describes how some traits are

passed from parents to their children.

• The traits are expressed by genes, which are

small sections of DNA that are coded for

specific traits.

• Genes are found on chromosomes.

• Humans have two sets of 23 chromosomes—

one set from each parent.

Genetic Terms

Use library resources to define the following words and write

their definitions using your own words.

– allele:

– genes:

– dominant :

– recessive:

– homozygous:

– heterozygous:

– genotype:

– phenotype:

– Mendelian Inheritance:

Mendelian Inheritance

1. The inherited traits are determined by genes that

are passed from parents to children.

2. A child inherits two sets of genes—one from each

parent.

3. A trait may not be observable, but its gene can be

passed to the next generation.

Mendelian Inheritance

Each person has 2 copies of every gene—one copy

from mom and a second copy from dad. These copies

may come in different variations, known as alleles,

that express different traits.

For example, 2 alleles in the gene for freckles are

inherited from mom and dad:

– allele from mom = has freckles (F)

– allele from dad = no freckles (f)

– child has the inherited gene pair of alleles, Ff

(F allele from mom and f allele from dad).

Pre‐lessonActivityslidenotesforsuggesteddiscussionguidesforteachers



Slide1: Thissetofslidescanbeusedasarevieworintroductionofbasicgeneticconceptsthat

studentsshouldknowbeforetheLessons1and2.



Slide2: Conductabriefclassdiscussiontoassessstudents’knowledgeandassumptionsabout

genetics,whileprovidingtheinformationtothosestudentswhomaynothaveanyprior

knowledge.



Slice3: HandouttheWordMatchActivity

worksheetandaskstudentstoworkinpairstocomplete

theworksheet.Ifneeded,tellstudentsthat“doublehelix*”ispairedwithanotherterm,

andthatbothtermsshouldbeplacedinoneofthesixareasindi catedontheillustration.



Slide4: Havestudentsvolunteertheanswersandclarifythat“doublehelix”isthestructureofDNA.



Slide5: Usethisoverheadforstudentstocompletethe4sentences.



Slide6: Havestudentsvolunteertheiranswers,andhelpstudentsunderstandthattheinherited

traitsarepassedfromonegenerationtothenextastheparents’chromosomesarecopied

andpassedtotheirchildren.



Slide7: (Optional)Forthistask,pre‐arrangewithaschoollibrarianormediaspecialisttoprovide

studentswiththecomputerswiththewebsites,“TalkingGlossaryofGeneticTerms”

(http://www.genome.gov/10002096

)and/or“DNAfromtheBeginning’sClassicalGenetics”

(http://www.dnaftb.org/dnaftb/

),inadditiontootherreferencematerialsstudentpairscan

usedtocompletethetask.



HandouttheBasicGeneticTerms

worksheetandprovidereferencematerialsforstudents

touseincompletingtheworksheet.



Havestudentpairstaketurnsinsharingtheirdefinitionsandexamplesoftheterms.(See

theBasicGeneticTermsforTeachers

forsampledefinitionsandexamples.)



Slide8: ReviewkeyconceptsofMendelianInheritancewithstudents.For#3, askstudentswhat

situationsmaycallforanunobservabletraittobepassedfromparentstochildr en. Students

maybeabletoapplytheirunderstandingofdominantand recessivetraitswhereparents

withbothdominantand recessivetraitsonlyshowdominanttraitswhilebeingabletopass

theirrecessivetraitstothenextgeneration.



Slide9: Reviewwithstudentstheterm“allele”(avariantformofagene)andhelpstudents

understandthateachgenehasapairortwoalleles—oneallelefrommomandtheother

fromdad.

Genetics in Harry Potter’s World

Lesson 1

• Phenotypes & Genotypes

• Dominant & Recessive Traits

• Punnett Square

Genetics in Harry Potter?

• What types of inherited genetic traits are

described in the Harry Potter series?

Inherited Physical Traits

in Harry Potter

"All the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and

more children than they can afford."

-- Draco Malfoy (Sorcerers Stone, Ch.6)

He was almost twice as tall as a normal

man and at least five times as wide.

(Sorcerer’s Stone, Ch.1)

Harry had a thin face, knobby knees,

black hair, and bright green eyes.

(Sorcerer’s Stone, Ch.1)

A pale boy with a pointed face and white-

blond hair, Draco greatly resembled his

father. His mother was blonde too...

(Goblet of Fire, Ch.8)

Applying Genetics to

the Harry Potter Characters

• What are some phenotypes (observable traits)

described in the four excerpts from the Harry

Potter books?

Applying Genetics to

the Harry Potter Characters

• What are some phenotypes (observable traits)

described in the four excerpts from the Harry

Potter books?

– Freckles

– Hair color

– Eye color

– Height

Applying Genetics to

the Harry Potter Characters

• A genetic trait can be described in two ways:

– Phenotypes are observable traits resulting from

how one’s genes are expressed. Ex., hair color, a

talent, sickle cell disease, etc.

– A Genotype consists of two letters that represent

a gene’s allele pair that results in a phenotype.

Example: Freckles

• Two possible phenotypes for freckles are:

– Has Freckles (observable)

– No freckles (observable)

• A genotype for freckles is indicated by two alleles in

one of the genes that causes freckles. The possible

alleles using the first letter of the trait “f” are:

– F (dominant) = Has Freckles

– f (recessive) = No freckles

Question: Using F and f, what are possible genotypes

of the allele pair for freckles?

Freckles: Genotypes & Phenotypes

Question: Using F and f, what are possible

genotypes of the allele pair for freckles?

Genotype Phenotype

(alleles inherited from parents) (physical appearance)

F F ====== has freckles

F f ====== has freckles

f f ====== no freckles

One dominant allele (F) is sufficient for its trait (has

freckles) to be observable, but both alleles have to be

recessive (f) for the recessive trait (no freckles) to be

observable.

Example: Red Hair

• In one of the genes that determines hair color, red

hair is recessive to brown hair. One way to describe

these hair color alleles are:

– Red hair = r (notes recessive red color)

– Brown hair = R (notes dominant brown color)

Question: Using r (red hair) and R (brown hair) alleles,

what possible genotypes of the allele pair are there?

Genotype

(allele pair) Phenotype (appearance)

Example: Red Hair

Question: Using R (brown hair) and r (red hair) alleles,

what possible genotypes of the allele pair are there?

Genotype

(allele pair) Phenotype (appearance)

RR ====== brown hair

Rr ====== brown hair

rr ====== red hair

Punnett Square:

Heredity Prediction Diagram

Punnett Square: Freckles Case 1

Mom has freckles and dad has none. And

each parent has a homozygous genotype

(the two alleles in the gene are the same).

Their genotypes are:

Mom =

Dad =

Punnett Square: Freckles Case 1

The parents’

homozygous

genotypes are:

Mom = F F

Dad = f f

Punnett Square

Punnett Square: Freckles Case 1

The parents’

homozygous

genotypes are:

Mom = F F

Dad = f f

Using the parents’

genotypes, each inner

square is filled with a

possible genotype for

their child.

F F

Punnett Square: Freckles Case 1

The parents’

homozygous

genotypes are:

Mom = F F

Dad = f f

All possible genotypes

of their children have a

freckle-dominant allele,

predicting a 100%

chance of their children

having freckles.

F F

Ff Ff

Punnett Square: Freckles Case 2

What happens if both mom and dad have

freckles, and their genotypes are

heterozygous (the two alleles in the gene

are different)?

Their genotypes are:

Mom =

Dad =

Punnett Square: Freckles Case 2

The parents’

heterozygous

genotypes are:

Mom = F f

Dad = F f

Punnett Square

Punnett Square: Freckles Case 2

The parents’

heterozygous

genotypes are:

Mom = F f

Dad = F f

Using the parents’

genotypes, each inner

square is filled with a

possible genotype for

their child.

F f

Punnett Square: Freckles Case 2

The parents’

heterozygous

genotypes are:

Mom = F f

Dad = F f

There is a 75% probability

that their child will have

freckles, or a 25% chance

of a child with no freckles.

F f

FF Ff

Ff ff

Punnett Square: Weasley Family

All Weasley children have freckles and red hair. Use

a Punnett Square to predict the most likely

genotypes of their parents, Molly and Arthur

Weasley, for the two traits.

Use the following allele possibilities that we

identified previously:

– r (notes recessive red color) = Red hair

– R (notes dominant brown color) = Brown hair

– F (dominant) = Has Freckles

– f (recessive) = No freckles

Punnett Square: Weasley Family

All Weasley children have freckles and red hair—100%

probability. Possible genotypes for their red hair

(recessive trait) and freckles (dominant trait) are: rr

only for red hair and Ff or FF for freckles. The Punnett

Squares show the following genotypes for the children:

Both parents have rr. At least one parent has FF.

rr rr

Ff/FF Ff/FF

Punnett Square: The Potters

Question 1: Harry has dark/brown hair like his

father, but his mom had red hair. Using the

genotypes of rr, Rr, and RR, what possible

genotypes does each of the Potters have?

Questions 2: Harry marries Ginny who has red hair.

What are possible genotypes of their children’s hair

colors?

Use a Punnett Square to demonstrate how you

arrived at your answers.

Punnett Square: The Potters

Question 1: Harry has dark/brown hair like his

father, but his mom had red hair. Using the

genotypes of rr, Rr, and RR, what possible

genotypes does each of the Potters have?

The phenotypes of the Potters are:

James Potter (dad)—dark/brown hair

Lily Potter (mom)—red hair

Harry Potter—dark/brown hair

Punnett Square: The Potters

Using the genotypes of rr, Rr, and RR, what are

possible genotypes for Harry’s parents?

– Mom-Lily (red hair) = rr

– Dad-James (dark hair) = Rr or RR

The parents’ genotypes lead to 2 Punnett squares.

r r

Punnett Square: The Potters

Given Harry’s parents’ possible genotypes, the two

Punnett Squares can be completed as follows:

In this situation, the only possible genotype for Harry’s

dark hair is Rr.

r r

R Rr Rr

r rr rr

r r

R Rr Rr

Punnett Square: The Potters

Questions 2: Harry marries Ginny who has red hair.

What are possible genotypes of their children’s hair

colors?

Punnett Square: Harry & Ginny

Harry marries Ginny who has red hair. What are the

possible genotypes of their children’s hair colors?

First, what are the genotypes for Harry’s and Ginny’s

hair colors?

Harry’s genotype = Rr

Ginny’s genotype = rr

Punnett Square: Harry & Ginny

Harry marries Ginny who has red hair. What are

possible genotypes of their children’s hair colors?

Given Harry and Ginny’s genotypes, Rr and rr, we

can fill in the Punnett Square for their children’s

genotypes.

Their children have a 50%

chance of being either

red- or dark-haired.

r r

R Rr Rr

r rr rr

Human Mendelian Trait Examples

• Achoo Syndrome- People with this sneeze as a reflex

when they see sunlight, after having been in a dark

room. It’s a dominant trait.

• Ear wax (wet/dry)- Wet ear wax, or ear wax that is

brown and sticky, is the dominant trait. Dry ear wax,

or ear wax that is flaky, dry, and grayish-brown, is

recessive.

• Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome- People with this

go to bed and wake up unusually early. It’s a

dominant trait.

Lesson1slidenotesforsuggesteddiscussionguidesforteachers



Slide1: Tellstudentsthattheywillbeapplyingthegenetictermstheyrevi ewedpreviouslytosome

oftheHarryPottercharacters.Ifpossible,displaytheBasicGeneticTermsWorksheetfor

Teachersforstudentstorefertoasneededduringthelesson.



Slide2: Conductabriefdiscussiontohelpstudentsidentifyexamplesofgeneticphysicaltraits

observedindifferentcharactersinHarryPotter.



Slice3: Readaloudtheseexcerptsasexamplesofpossiblegenetictraitsdescribedintheseries.



Slide4: ReviewthedefinitionofphenotypefromtheBasicGeneticTermsforTeachers

sheeton

display,andhavestudentsidentifysomeofthephenotypes,observabletraits,describedin

theexcerptsonslide3.



Slide5: Letstudentsknowthattheywillbeexploringthephenotypes andgenotypesofthesefour

physicaltraits.



Slide6: Remindstudentsaboutthetermsphenotypesandgenotypes,andhelpstudentsunderstand

thatagenotypecontainstheallelepaircontaininggeneticcodesthatresultsinaphenotype.



Slide7: Modelhowtoidentifyphenotypesandgenotypesforagenetictraitusingfrecklesasan

example.Discussandhelp studentsunderstandthatgenotypesareoftenrepresentedbya

letterfromatrait,andthatanupper‐caseletterconnotesadominant traitandalower‐case

forarecessivetrait.



Slide8: Demonstratehowagenotypeconsistsoftwolettersthatrepresentthetwoorpairofalleles

inheritedfromtwoparents.Andapplythedefinitionsoftheterms,dominantandrecessive

fromBasicGeneticTermsforTeachers

,tothegeneresponsibleforfreckles—whenagene

hasanallelepairwithonedominantandtheotherrecessivetraits,thedominanttrait

overridesrecessiveone.Youcanalsoreintroducetheterm,heterozygous whichappli esto

anallelepairwithtwodifferentformsofthegene.



Slide9: Havestudentsthinkaloudaboutwhatthepossibleallelelettersareforredhaircolorthatis

recessivetothebrowncolor.Askstudentshowtheywouldrespondtothequestionin

identifyingpossiblegenotypesandtheircorrespondingphenotypesforthisexample.



Slide10: Providetheanswerforthequestion.Reiteratethatthedominanttraitbecomesobservable

orexpressedovertherecessivetrait.Atleastoneallelewithadominanttraitintheallele

pairofageneresultsinthedominanttraitphenotype,whiletherecessivetraitphenotype

requiresthatbothallelesinthegenehavetoberecessive.



Slide11: IntroducethePunnett Squaretostudentsasagraphicwaytoevaluateprobabilityand

possibilityofgenotypesofparentsandchildren.Ifappropriate,provideanintroduction

usingthesuggestedwebsitesintheBackgroundInformation

sectionofthelessonplanweb

site.



Slide12: Reviewtheterms,homozygous andheterozygous,fromBasicGeneticTermsforTeachers

on

display.Askstudentstodeterminetheg enotypes ofparentswithfrecklesusingtheearlier

exampleusedintheclass.Guidestudentstojustifytheiranswers.



Slide13: Clarifytheanswersandjustificationforthem.Modelhowtheword“homozygous”isusedto

solvetheparents’genotypesforfreckles.



Slide14: Demonstratehowbothparents’genotypesareplacedonthesquar ebeforedetermining

theirchildren’spossiblegenotypes.



Slide15: AllowstudentstoexplorehowthePunnettSquarehelpsdeterminethechildren’spossible

genotype(s)andtheirprobability.



Slide16: Conductabriefquestion‐and‐answersessionwiththeslides16‐19.Coachstudentsinusing

theirknowledgetosolvethequestionstepbystep.



Slide17‐18:Assessstudents’understandingofhowtousethePunnettSquareandhowtheyapply

genetictermsandconceptsthroughdiscussion.Andhelpstudentsworkthroughany

misconceptionsalongtheway.



Slide19: AskorhelpstudentsinterpretthePunnettSquareinformationintoaprobability/chancein

percentages.



Slide20: GuidestudentsinusingPunnettSquaretodeterminetheparents’genotypeswhentheir

children’sgenotypesareknown.



Slide21: Thinkaloudabouthowknowngenotypesofchildrencanprovidetheprobablegenotypesof

theirparents.ThePunnettSquareisfilledwiththechildren’spossiblegenotypes(derived

fromallofthemhavingredhairandfreckles)thatareusedtodrawconclusionsonthe

possiblegenotypesoftheirparents.



Slide22: DistributethePotters’HairColor

handouttoeachstudentandhavestudentsworkinpairs

toanswerthetwoquestionsonthehandout.Ifneeded,displayslide10toremindstudents

aboutthegenotypestheyworkedonbetweenredandbrownhaircolors.



Havestudentpairsvolunteertheiranswers,andguidetheirreasoningusingslides23‐25for

Question1,andslides27‐28forQuestion2.



Slide23: AskstudentshowthedescribedhaircolorsofLily,JamesandHarryPottermayhelp

determinetheirgenotypesforthattrait.Ifneeded,clarifythatdifferentphenotypes,

observabletraits,resultfromdifferentallelecombinationsofagenotype.Thismeanstheir

describedhaircolorsprovideinformationaboutthegenotypesthatresultedintheir

respectivehaircolors.



Slide24: Havestudentsvolunteertheiranswerstoeachquestionwhileprovidingdetailsonhowthey

arrivedattheiranswers.Confirmandcorrectbasedonthecorrectorfalsereasoningand

answersthatstudentsprovide.



Slide25: ClarifythatHarrycannothaveRRgenotypewhichalsoresultindark/brownhaircolor.The

onlypossiblegenotypeforhishairisRr.Alsoaskstudentstoconsiderwhatelsethetwo

PunnettSquaresshowaboutthepossiblehaircolorsthatHarry’ssiblingcouldhave.Guide

studentstothinkaboutthetwodifferentPunnettSquaresandhavethemusethe

percentagetoindicatetheprobabilityofeach.Forexample,onePunnettSquareshowsthat

Harry’ssiblinghas50%chanceofhavingbrown/darkorredhair.ButtheotherPunnett

Squareshowsthathissiblingwillhavebrown/darkhairjustlikehim—100%chance.



Slide26‐28:RestateQuestion2andaskstudentstovolunteertheiranswerandexplainhowtheyarrived

attheanswer.



Slide29: DisplaythisHumanMendelianTraitExamples

chartanddistributetheHumanMandelian

Traitsworksheet.Allowstudentstoworkinpairsandhavestudentpairssharetheir

findings.Collectthecompletedworksheettoevaluatestudents’understandingofthe

conceptscoveredduringthelesson.



Genetics in Harry Potter’s World

Lesson 2

• Beyond Mendelian Inheritance

• Genetics of Magical Ability

Rules of Inheritance

• Some traits follow the simple rules of Mendelian

inheritance of dominant and recessive genes.

• Complex traits follow different patterns of

inheritance that may involve multiples genes and

other factors. For example,

– Incomplete or blended dominance

– Codominance

– Multiple alleles

– Regulatory genes

Any guesses on what these terms may mean?

Incomplete Dominance

• Incomplete dominance results in a phenotype that is

a blend

of a heterozygous allele pair.

Ex., Red flower + Blue flower => Purple flower

• If the dragons in Harry Potter have fire-power alleles

F (strong fire) and F’ (no fire) that follow incomplete

dominance, what are the phenotypes for the

following dragon-fire genotypes?

– FF

– FF’

– F’F’

Incomplete Dominance

• Incomplete dominance results in a phenotype that is

a blend

of the two traits in an allele pair.

Ex., Red flower + Blue flower => Purple flower

• If the Dragons in Harry Potter have fire-power alleles

F (strong fire) and F’ (no fire) that follow incomplete

dominance, what are the phenotypes for the

following dragon-fire genotypes:

Genotypes Phenotypes

FF strong fire

FF’ moderate fire (blended trait)

F’F’ no fire

Codominance

• Codominance results in a phenotype that shows

both traits

of an allele pair.

Ex., Red flower + White flower => Red & White

spotted flower

• If merpeople have tail color alleles B (blue) and G

(green) that follow the codominance inheritance

rule, what are possible genotypes and phenotypes?

Genotypes

Phenotypes

Codominance

• Codominance results in a phenotype that shows

both traits

of an allele pair.

Ex., Red flower + White flower => Red & White

spotted flower (both traits)

• If merpeople have tail color alleles B (blue) and G

(green) that follow the codominance inheritance

rule, what are possible genotypes and phenotypes?

Genotypes

Phenotypes

BB blue tail

GG green tail

BG blue & green tail (both traits)

Multiple alleles

• Multiple alleles have more than 2 variations.

Ex., human blood type has 3 different allele variants,

A, B, and O.

Genotypes Phenotypes

AA, AO A blood type

AB AB blood type

BB, BO B blood type

OO O blood type

Multiple Alleles: Human Blood type

If parents have A

(AO) and B (BB)

blood types, what

are the possible

genotypes and

phenotypes of their

children?

Multiple Alleles: Human Blood type

AB BO

If parents have A

(AO) and B (BB)

blood types, what

are possible

genotypes and

phenotypes of their

children?

Genotypes: AB and

Phenotypes: AB and

B blood types

Regulatory Genes

• Regulatory genes regulate the expression of other

genes.

• For example, a regulatory gene may ‘silence’ another

gene from expressing its dominant trait. The Manx

cat has no tail because it has a regulatory gene that

silences the gene that expresses the tail. This tail-

silencing gene is dominant and has possible alleles:

S = silences tail gene = no tail (Manx cat)

s = doesn’t silence tail gene = has tail (non-Manx cat)

Question: Can 2 Manx cats without tails have a kitten

with a tail? Show your answer using a Punnett square.

Regulatory Genes: Manx Cat

Question: Can 2 Manx cats without tails have a kitten

with a tail? Show your answer using a Punnett square.

The possible alleles for the tail-silencing gene are:

S = no tail (dominant)

s = has tail (recessive)

Only if both parent cats have the

heterozygous genotype, Ss. Then,

there is a 25% chance for

their having a kitten with a tail.

S s

S SS Ss

s Ss ss

Complex Traits in Harry Potter

• What kind of gene inheritance may be

responsible for Hagrid’s height, which is

about 12 feet?

• What is the genotype for Harry’s eye

color? If he had any siblings, what colors

would their eyes be?

Complex Trait: Hagrid’s Height

• Hagrid’s father was a wizard and his mother was a

giantess. The normal heights for giants and wizards

are: Giants = about 20 ft. & Wizard = 5-6 ft.

• Given that Hagrid is described to be about 12 ft.,

what type of genetic inheritance may be at work for

Hagrid’s height?

Complex Trait: Hagrid’s Height

• Hagrid’s father was a wizard and his mother was a

giantess. The normal heights for giants and wizards

are: Giants = 20-25 ft. & Wizard = 5-6 ft.

• Given that Ha

grid is described to about 12 ft., what

type of genetic inheritance may be at work for

Hagrid’s height?

Hagrid’s height is close to the average of the heights of

a wizard and a giantess, (5+20)/2=12.5 ft, which shows

incomplete dominance.

Complex Trait: Hippogriff Coats

• Hippogriff coats come in many colors, like horse coats; coat

color has multiple alleles:

– C = chestnut (codominant with other colors)

– W = white (codominant with other colors)

– B = black (codominant with other colors)

• Draw a Punnett square for the parents of a red roan (CW)

hippogriff. (“Red roan” means it’s covered in both white hairs

and chestnut hairs.)

One parent has a chestnut

coat (CC). The other has a

white coat (WW).

Complex Traits: Hippogriff Coats

• Hippogriff coats come in many colors, like horse coats; coat

color has multiple alleles:

– C = chestnut (codominant with other colors)

– W = white (codominant with other colors)

– B = black (codominant with other colors)

• Draw a Punnett square for the parents of a red roan (CW)

hippogriff. (“Red roan” means it’s covered in both white hairs

and chestnut hairs.) W W

CW CW

One parent has a chestnut

coat (CC). The other has a

white coat (WW). 100% of

their offspring will have

red roan coats (CW).

Complex-Trait Activity: Magical Ability

(independent group activity)

In the Harry Potter series, characters are born with

or without magical ability. Those with magical ability

also show very strong, normal or weak ability.

Assuming that magical ability is inherited, identify

the possible phenotypes and genotypes of the

following characters: Harry, Hermione, Ron,

Dumbledore, Aunt Petunia, and Mr. Filch

Hints: Start by identifying phenotypes which will provide possible

genotypes. Also consider whether simple Mendelian or complex traits

apply to the magical ability traits.

Complex-Trait Activity: Magical Ability

(guided activity)

In the Harry Potter series, characters are born with

or without magical ability. Those with magical ability

also show very strong, normal or weak ability.

Assuming that magical ability is a genetic trait, what

are possible phenotypes and genotypes of the

following characters?

Harry, Hermione, Ron, Dumbledore, Aunt Petunia,

and Mr. Filch

Magical Ability: Possible Phenotypes

How would you describe the following characters’

magical ability?

– Harry

– Hermione

– Ron

– Dumbledore

– Aunt Petunia

– Mr. Filch

Magical Ability: Possible Phenotypes

How would you describe the following characters’

magical ability?

– Harry has strong magical ability

– Hermione has strong magical ability

– Ron has average magical ability

– Dumbledore has strong magical ability

– Aunt Petunia has no magical ability

– Mr. Filch has weak magical ability

The descriptions divide into two different categories of

observable traits—1) expression and 2) strength of magical

ability, which may indicate two genes responsible for the ability.

Magical Ability: Possible Phenotypes

How would you describe the following characters’

magical ability?

– Harry has strong magical ability

– Hermione has strong magical ability

– Ron has average magical ability

– Dumbledore has strong magical ability

– Aunt Petunia has no magical ability

– Mr. Filch has weak magical ability

Each category of magical ability description represents a gene

responsible for certain observable traits:

Expression—has the ability or doesn’t have the ability

Strength—has strong, average, or weak magical ability

Magical Ability: Possible Genotypes

What are the possible genotypes that may

correspond to the 2 genes (expression and strength

of magical ability) below?

Gene 1: expression of magical ability

Expressed (witches & wizards)

Not expressed (Muggles do not have magical ability)

Gene 2: strength of magical ability

Strong

Average

Weak (i.e., squibs)

Hint: Are the two phenotypes complex traits and not simple Mendelian

traits? If so, what type of complex trait are they?

Magical Ability: Possible Genotypes

What are possible genotypes for the phenotypes of

expressed and not expressed magical ability?

– Two Muggle parents can have a child with magical ability, like

Hermione Muggles must have a gene for magic that is not

expressed or silenced by another regulatory gene.

– The possible alleles for the silencing gene are: S (dominant) or

s (recessive). The genotypes of the allele pair for expressed or

not expressed phenotypes are:

Expressed (witches & wizards) —ss

Not expressed (Muggles) —SS, Ss

Magical Ability: Possible Genotypes

What are possible genotypes for the phenotypes of

the strength of magical ability?

– There are three phenotypes described for the strength of

magical ability: strong, average, or weak.

– Given “strong + weak=average”, the magical strength gene

with M (strong ability) and M’ (weak ability) alleles affected

by incomplete dominance can produce the genotypes

corresponding to the three different phenotypes:

Strong ability —MM

Average ability—MM’ (incomplete dominance)

Weak ability (i.e., squibs) —M’M’

Magical Ability: Possible Genotypes

Summary of phenotypes and genotypes

for magical ability

There are two genes related to magical ability.

Possible genotypes of the two genes (two pairs of

alleles) are:

Expressed (witches & wizards) —ss

Not expressed (muggles) —Ss, SS (silencing gene)

Strong —MM

Good/normal—MM’ (incomplete dominance)

Weak (i.e., squibs) —M’M’

Magical Genes: Summary of 2 Genes

• Must be ss to have magical ability:

– MMss = very powerful wizard

– MM’ss = average wizard

– M’M’ss = very weak wizard (or squib)

• If you have at least one S you are a Muggle:

– MMSs, MM’Ss, M’M’Ss = a Muggle who could have

children with magical ability with a spouse with at least

one s

– MMSS, MM’SS, M’M’SS = a Muggle who would never have

children with magical ability

Magical Ability: Characters’ Genotypes

Using the genotype summary, what are possible

genotypes of each character?

– Harry: strong magical ability (MMss)

– Hermione: average magical ability (MMss)

– Ron: average magical ability (MM’ss)

– Dumbledore: strong magical ability (MMss)

– Aunt Petunia: no magical ability (MMSs, MM’Ss, M’M’Ss,

MMSS, MM’SS, M’M’SS)

– Mr. Filch: weak magical ability (M’M’ss)

Magic Runs in Families

Answer the following questions and provide

reasoning for your answers:

– Hermione’s possible genotype is MMss, indicating her

strong magical ability. What are possible genotypes of

Hermione’s parents who are Muggles without the ability?

– Harry Potter married Ginny Weasley. Will all of their

children have magical ability?

– Could Dudley Dursley potentially have children with

magical ability?

Hermione’s Parents

Question: What are possible genotypes of Hermione’s

parents who are Muggles (no magical ability)?

• Hermione’s genotype is MMss.

– For Hermione’s inherited ss, both of her Muggle parents

must have Ss.

– For Hermione’s inherited MM, both parents may have MM

or MM’, but neither parents can have M’M’ allele pair.

• Hermione’s parents’ possible genotypes are:

– MMSs, or MM’Ss

Harry and Ginny’s Children

Question: Will all of Harry and Ginny’s children have

magical ability?

• Parents’ magical genes:

– Harry’s genotype is MMss.

– Ginny’s genotype may be MMss or MM’ss.

• Harry’s and Ginny’s children’s genotypes:

– Since Harry and Ginny each has an ss allele pair, they can

only pass s alleles to their children. Therefore, all of their

children having inherited ss allele pair, have magical ability.

Dudley’s Children

Question: Could Dudley Dursley potentially have

children with magical ability?

• Dudley’s parents’ genotypes:

– Vernon Dursley is about as magic-less as one can get. So

let’s assume Vernon’s genotype is M’M’SS.

– Petunia’s sister Lily Potter had magical ability. So, Petunia

can have a genotype of SS or Ss allele pair.

• Dudley’s genotypes:

– If Dudley inherited S allele from both parents, he cannot

have kids with magical ability.

– If Dudley inherited an s allele from Petunia, he can have

kids with magical ability with a Muggle with an Ss allele

pair, or a witch possessing an ss allele pair.

Lesson 2 slide notes for teachers

Slide 1: Return students’ completed Human Mendelian Traits worksheets and review the

Mendelian inheritance concept along with genetic terms covered in previous

lesson.

Slide 2: Have students guess how these examples of genetic rules may work. Encourage

students to guess a definition or provide an example for each term

Slide 3: Define and provide an example for incomplete dominance, and help students

understand and apply the concept to the dragon’s fire power. Students may ask

about using F and F’ instead of lower and upper-case letters. Provide clarification

that lower and upper-case letters are used to indicate alleles with dominant or

recessive traits. And explain that incomplete dominance is indicated with

apostrophe (’) on an upper case letter.

Slide 4: Provide the answers for the phenotypes related to the three different genotypes

for the dragon-fire trait.

Slide 5:

Define and provide an example for codominance, and help students understand

and apply the concept to merpeople's tail colors. Clarify the important

distinction between codominance and incomplete dominance--the former

resulting in a blended or averaged phenotype, the latter showing a mixture of

two traits, each trait being observable.

Slide 6: Provide the answers for both genotypes and phenotypes for merpeople’s tail

colors.

Slide 7: Explain the multiple alleles—more than 2 variant forms of a gene—related to

human blood types. Students may observe additional relationship among the

blood types: O is

recessive to A and B; A and B are codominant. However they

may also notice that the recessive O blood type does not use lower case letter as

all blood types are indicated with upper case letters.

Slide 8: Guide and review with students how to use the Punnett square to determine

possible blood types of children with known genotypes of parents’ blood-types.

Slide 9:

Compare students’ answers and provide further explanation as needed.

Slide 10: Define and provide the example of a silencing regulatory gene in Manx cats. Have

students work in pairs to answer whether two Manx cats without tails can have a

kitten with a tail.

Slide 11: Have student pairs volunteer their answers and review the answer using a

Punnett square.

Slide 12: Pose these two questions and help students think about the types of information

that they should consider to answer the questions.

Slide 13: Demonstrate how Hagrid’s height might be a phenotype of an

incomplete/blended trait. Concerning estimated average heights for wizards and

giants, wizards are humans whose average height may be about 5-6 ft., and

giants’ height is approximated at 20 ft. by Hermione at the beginning of the

chapter 24 in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Slide 14: If necessary, remind students of the examples of incomplete dominance using

previous slide 4.

Slide 15: Inform students about the multiple alleles related to hippogriff coat colors. Have

students use the Punnett square to determine possible genotypes for different

hippogriffs.

Slide 16: Have students provide their findings and use this slide to guide and clarify

reasoning behind the answers.

Slide 17: If appropriate, have students work in groups of 3 or 4 to find the genotypes of

several characters in Harry Potter. Support those students with little knowledge

of Harry Potter, by provide background information on each character. Brief

descriptions of these characters are available in the Vocabulary section of the

lesson plan web site.

Have groups present their answers, along with how they arrived at their

answers. When reviewing student groups’ work, use the slides 19-27 to guide

students in applying the concepts that they have learned in identifying the

characters’ possible genotypes of their magical ability.

Slide 18: Present the guided activity. Have students work in groups of 3 so that the

activity is conducted as question-and-answer sessions that alternate between

group work and class discussion.

Slide 19: Have students describe the characters’ magical ability. If groups differ in their

descriptions, you can determine the description by majority vote.

Guide students to think about how to define different kinds/categories of

magical ability that apply to all characters, such as Hermione (a powerful witch

whose parents do not have any magical ability), Mr. Filch (a squib with very weak

magical power, although he is of a wizarding family), and aunt Petunia (a Muggle

who has no magical power and whose parents were also Muggles, but has a

sister, Harry’s mom, with magical power).

Slides 20-22, walk through identifying two categories (i.e., genes) of magical

traits demonstrated by the characters, which is one way to be inclusive of

different observable magical traits in the characters in Harry Potter.

Slide 20: List the characters’ magical ability that is represented in two categories of the

descriptions of magical ability observed among the characters. This includes

Harry’s aunt, Petunia who has no magical ability that is defined as a Muggle in

the Harry Potter novels.

Have students review all different observable traits related to magical ability—

different strengths of magical ability (strong, average, or weak) as well as the

presence or expression of the ability.

Help students build a connection from the two categories of observable magical

traits to the corresponding two genes that are responsible for the two categories

of observable magical traits: 1) expression of magical ability, and 2) strength of

the ability.

Slide 21: Help students distinguish the two different categories/genes that affect magical

ability and identify the possible observable traits from the characters’

descriptions above.

Slide 22: Have students work in their groups to identify possible genotypes for the two

genes’ phenotypes—expressed or unexpressed magical ability; and strong,

average or week ability—that the characters demonstrate.

State the hint and help students apply their understanding of the complex traits

they learned about previously. If appropriate, provide additional hints by

reminding students about the previous examples of different complex traits—

Manx cats’ regulatory gene that silences the ‘expression’ of a tail; and dragon

fire power under incomplete dominance creating an ‘average’ trait between

strong and no fire power.

Slide 23: Have student groups share the possible genotypes for the expression of magical

ability.

Ask what types of inheritance rule(s) they applied to create genotypes that

account for all possibilities of how magical ability is expressed or not expressed

in the characters—i.e., does it include Muggles, who show no magical ability but

can have a child with magical ability?

Guide students in expressing their reasons behind how they determined the

possible genotypes for the phenotypes of the characters’ magical ability. Work

through misconceptions through discussion, and clarify that Muggles with no

magical ability seem to have a gene for magic as they are able to produce

children with the ability, such as Hermione and Lily. And this doesn’t allow

magical ability to be simply dominant or recessive, in which case the Muggles

will not be able to have children with magical ability. One possible way for

magical ability not to express but for its gene to be passed down to the next

generation is if there is another gene that regulates (silences or expresses) the

gene for magic.

Slide 24: Have student groups share the possible genotypes for the strength of magical

ability. Clarify that this gene may be silenced or expressed by the other

regulatory gene, but also is responsible for how powerful the magical ability is—

strong, average, or weak.

Ask student groups to demonstrate how their possible genotypes account for all

possibilities of magical strength demonstrated by the characters. Discuss that

one way to account for the three different magical strengths is to apply

incomplete/blended dominance to the gene for the strength of magical ability. If

needed, review slide 4 where examples were presented earlier in the lesson.

Slide 25: Summarize all possible genotypes for the two genes—a gene for expression of

magical ability and another gene for strength of magical ability.

Slide 26: Apply the possible genotypes of the two genes to the phenotypes of witches,

wizards, and Muggles, and the strength of magical ability they demonstrate.

If needed, explain that the letters represent the two allele pairs in the two

genes—one regulatory and the other magic strength genes—that affect magical

ability.

Slide 27: Have student groups assign possible genotypes for the magical ability of the

characters. As groups volunteer their answers, use the Summary slide 26 to

clarify as needed.

Slide 28: Distribute the handout to all students and have students work in their groups to

answer these three questions.

If appropriate, display slides 25 and 26 for students to refer to as they work to

answer the questions on the handout.

Slide 29: Have student groups volunteer their answers and how they arrived at their

answers. Clarify and correct answers as needed.

Slide 30: Have student groups volunteer their answers and how they arrived at their

answers. Clarify and correct answers as needed.

Slide 31: Have student groups volunteer their answers and how they arrived at their

answers. Clarify and correct answers as needed.

HARRY POTTER’S WORLD

Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Word Match Activity

Instructions: Match the following genetic terms to their corresponding parts of the illustration: base pair, cell, chromosome, DNA

(Deoxyribonucleic Acid), double helix*, genes, nucleus

Illustration Source: Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms http://www.genome.gov/glossary.cfm?key=chromosome

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/harrypottersworld

HARRY POTTER’S WORLD

Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Teacher’s Word Match Activity

Instructions: Match the following genetic terms to their corresponding parts of the illustration: base pair, cell, chromosome, DNA

(Deoxyribonucleic Acid), double helix*, genes, nucleus

Nucleus Chromosome

Cell

Base Pair

(double helix)

DNA

Genes

Illustration Source: Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms http://www.genome.gov/glossary.cfm?key=chromosome

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/harrypottersworld

HARRY POTTER’S WORLD

Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Basic Genetic Terms

Instructions: Use the available reference resources to complete the table below. After ﬁnding out the deﬁnition of each word,

rewrite the deﬁnition using your own words (middle column), and provide an example of how you may use the word (right

column).

Genetic Terms Deﬁnitions in Your Own Words An Example

Allele

Genes

Dominant

Recessive

Homozygous

Heterozygous

Genotype

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Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Basic Genetic Terms

Genetic Terms Deﬁnitions in Your Own Words An Example

Phenotype

Mendelian

Inheritance

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Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Teacher’s Basic Genetic Terms

Instructions: Use the available reference resources to complete the table below. After ﬁnding out the deﬁnition of each word,

rewrite the deﬁnition using your own words (middle column), and provide an example of how you may use the word (right

column).

Genetic Terms Deﬁnitions in Your Own Words An Example

Allele Diﬀerent forms of a gene, which produce

variations in a genetically inherited trait.

Diﬀerent alleles produce diﬀerent hair colors—

brown, blond, red, black, etc.

Genes Genes are parts of DNA and carry hereditary

information passed from parents to children.

Genes contain blue‐print for each individual for her

or his speciﬁc traits.

Dominant Dominant version (allele) of a gene shows its

speciﬁc trait even if only one parent passed the

gene to the child.

When a child inherits dominant brown‐hair gene

form (allele) from dad, the child will have brown

hair.

Recessive Recessive gene shows its speciﬁc trait when both

parents pass the gene to the child.

When a child inherits recessive blue‐eye gene form

(allele) from both mom and dad, the child will have

blue eyes.

Homozygous Two of the same form of a gene—one from mom

and the other from dad.

Inheriting the same blue eye gene form from both

parents result in a homozygous gene.

Heterozygous Two diﬀerent forms of a gene—one from mom

and the other from dad are diﬀerent.

Inheriting diﬀerent eye color gene forms from mom

and dad result in a heterozygous gene.

Genotype Internal heredity information that contain genetic

code.

Blue eye and brown eye have diﬀerent genotypes—

one is coded for blue and the other for brown.

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Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Teacher’s Basic Genetic Terms

Genetic Terms Deﬁnitions in Your Own Words An Example

Phenotype Outwardly expressed traits or characteristics. Both having or not having a widow’s peak are

phenotypes.

Mendelian

Inheritance

A simple genetic rule where a gene only comes in

dominant or recessive forms.

Some genetic traits follow Mendelian Inheritance,

while other genetic traits follow diﬀerent

inheritance patterns or rules.

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Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Harry Potter Terms and Characters

The following characters and terms from the Harry Potter series are found in this lesson plan.

• Muggles in the Harry Potter series refer to those who show no magical ability. For example, people who live

unaware of the magical world are called Muggles by witches and wizards with magical ability.

• Harry, a wizard, is the son of Lily and James Potter. Lily Potter had two parents without any magical ability—i.e.,

Muggles. Lily’s sister, Petunia, does not have the ability either.

• Hermione is one of Harry’s best friends and is a powerful witch. She has parents who are Muggles, meaning they do

not possess magical ability.

• Ron Weasley, another wizard, is one of Harry’s best friends and is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and Ginny

Weasley’s brother. He has other siblings, all of whom have red hair and freckles.

• Dumbledore is a powerful wizard who is the headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

• Mr. Filch is the caretaker of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Both of his parents have magical ability,

but he has very weak magical ability, himself. Witches and wizards with weak magical ability are called squibs in the

Harry Potter series.

• Dudley Dursley is Harry’s cousin, the only son of his maternal aunt, Petunia, who is married to Vernon Dursley.

• Hagrid is the Keeper of the Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and teaches the class,

Care of Magical Creatures. His father was a human wizard, while his mother was a giantess.

• A hippogriﬀ is a creature with the head, wings, and forelimbs of a giant eagle, and the body of a horse. Their coat

colors come in the same varieties as horses’ coats (e.g., chestnut, black, gray, roan, white, etc.)

*For information on more characters and lineages from the Harry Potter series, refer to The Harry Potter Lexicon at www.hp-

lexicon.org.

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Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Hair Colors

Instructions: Solve the two questions below and use a Punnett square to demonstrate how you arrived at your answers.

Question 1: Harry has dark hair like his father, but his mom had red hair. Using the genotypes of rr (red hair), Rr (dark/brown hair),

RR (dark/brown hair), what possible genotypes does each of the Potters have?

Question 2: Harry marries Ginny who has red hair. What are possible genotypes of their children’s hair colors?

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Solve the two questions below and use a Punnett square to demonstrate how you arrived at your answers.

HARRY POTTER’S WORLD

Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Teacher’s Hair Colors

Instructions:

Question 1: Harry has dark hair like his father, but his mom had red hair. Using the genotypes of rr (red hair), Rr (dark/brown hair),

RR (dark/brown hair), what possible genotypes does each of the Potters have?

The phenotypes of the Potters are:

James Potter (dad)—dark/brown hairgRr or RR

Lily Potter (mom)—red hairgrr

Harry Potter—dark/brown hairgRr

• In this situation, the only possible genotype for Harry’s dark hair is Rr.

Question 2: Harry marries Ginny who has red hair. What are possible genotypes of their children’s hair colors?

Given Harry and Ginny’s genotypes, Rr and rr, we can ﬁll in the Punnett Square for their children’s genotypes.

• Their children have a 50% chance of being either red-or dark-haired.

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Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Human Mendelian Traits

Mendelian Traits are those traits which follow Mendel’s rules of only 2 possible versions of a gene (1 dominant, 1 recessive). There

are only a few examples of this in humans.

1. Use the chart below to determine your phenotype (observable characteristic) and possible genotype(s) (a pair or pairs

of alleles). Since you cannot do a genetic test right now, if you have the dominant phenotype, you should include both the

homozygous and heterozygous genotypes—see the example for Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome in the ﬁrst row.

Trait Possible Alleles Your Phenotype Your Genotype(s)

Advanced Sleep

Phase Syndrome

Wakes up very early (E)

Wakes up at normal time (e)

Ex., wakes up very early EE (homozygous) or Ee

(heterozygous)

Achoo Syndrome Sneezes in the sun (A)

Doesn’t sneeze in the sun (a)

Ear wax (wet/dry) Wet (W)

Dry (w)

2. Did you have mostly dominant or recessive traits?

3. Compare your ﬁndings with other students.

a. For which trait were most students dominant?

b. For which trait were most students recessive?

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Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

4. First complete the Punnett Squares below using your own genotype for each trait. If you have a dominant trait, choose to

use either the heterozygous or homozygous genotype. The other person’s genotype is provided. After completing the Punnett

Square, identify possible phenotypes of oﬀspring and the probability of each phenotype in percentage.

a) Achoo Syndrome genotypes: Yours & the other person’s Aa.

List Possible Phenotypes % (Probability of Inheritance)

b) Ear wax genotypes: Yours & the other person’s ww.

List Possible Phenotypes % (Probability of Inheritance)

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HARRY POTTER’S WORLD

Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Teacher’s Human Mendelian Traits

Mendelian Traits are those traits which follow Mendel’s rules of only 2 possible versions of a gene (1 dominant, 1 recessive). There

are only a few examples of this in humans.

Use the chart below to determine your phenotype (observable characteristic) and possible genotype(s) (a pair or pairs

of alleles). Since you cannot do a genetic test right now, if you have the dominant phenotype, you should include both the

homozygous and heterozygous genotypes—see the example for Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome in the ﬁrst row.

[Note: Review each trait to ensure that students know what to look for.]

Trait Possible Alleles Your Phenotype Your Genotype(s)

Advanced Sleep

Phase Syndrome

Wakes up very early (E)

Wakes up at normal time (e)

Ex., wakes up very early EE (homozygous) or Ee

(heterozygous)

Achoo Syndrome Sneezes in the sun (A)

Doesn’t sneeze in the sun (a)

Ear wax (wet/dry) Wet (W)

Dry (w)

2. Did you have mostly dominant or recessive traits?

[Note: Discuss with students what may aﬀect the balance between the number of dominant and recessive traits. Use the class

data to point out that a dominant gene isn’t always the most common trait observed. For examples, your students’ data may

show that there are fewer people with Achoo Syndrome, even though it is a dominant trait.]

3. Compare your ﬁndings with other students.

[Note: This is to help students practice applying the terms

“dominant” and “recessive.” Clarify so that students understand that the dominance and recessiveness of these traits do not

indicate that one is better than the other. If needed, have students consider how a recessive gene, although not expressed

phenotypically in a parent, can be passed to oﬀspring, keeping the recessive gene in the gene pool.]

a. For which trait were most students dominant?

b. For which trait were most students recessive?

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HARRY POTTER’S WORLD

Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

4. First complete the Punnett Squares below using your own genotype for each trait. If you have a dominant trait, choose to

use either the heterozygous or homozygous genotype. The other person’s genotype is provided. After completing the Punnett

Square, identify possible phenotypes of oﬀspring and the probability of each phenotype in percentage.

[Note: Use the following exercises to assess students’ proﬁciency and provide additional instructions as needed, so that they

become comfortable using the Punnett square.]

a) Achoo Syndrome genotypes: Yours & the other person’s Aa.

List Possible Phenotypes % (Probability of Inheritance)

b) Ear wax genotypes: Yours & the other person’s ww.

List Possible Phenotypes % (Probability of Inheritance)

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HARRY POTTER’S WORLD

Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Complex Traits

1) Incomplete dominance

Let’s assume that dragons show incomplete dominance for ﬁre breathing. The Fallele provides lots of ﬁre and the F’ allele gives

no ﬁre. (a) If a dragon that has very strong ﬁre is crossed with a dragon that has moderate ﬁre, what will their oﬀspring be like? (b)

Under what conditions can a baby dragon be born that never has ﬁre? Justify your answer with Punnett Squares.

2) Codominance

Let’s say that the color of merpeople’s tail is controlled by a codominant gene and the alleles are blue (B) and green (G). Show a

cross between two merpeople who have bluish-green tails (BG). Give the oﬀspring phenotypes with percentages.

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Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Teacher’s Complex Traits

1) Incomplete dominance

Let’s assume that dragons show incomplete dominance for ﬁre breathing. The Fallele provides lots of ﬁre and the F’ allele gives

no ﬁre. (a) If a dragon that has very strong ﬁre is crossed with a dragon that has moderate ﬁre, what will their oﬀspring be like? (b)

Under what conditions can a baby dragon be born that never has ﬁre? Justify your answer with Punnett Squares.

[Note:

a) Parent dragons with FF (strong) and FF’ (moderate) have a 50% chance of having a baby dragon with strong fire (FF)

or with moderate fire (FF’).

b) A baby dragon with no fire (F’F’) can be produced by two dragons with no fire (F’F’ X F’F’), both with moderate fire (FF’ X

FF’), or one with no fire and the other with moderate fire (F’F’ X FF’).]

2) Codominance

Let’s say that the color of merpeople’s tail is controlled by a codominant gene and the alleles are blue (B) and green (G). Show a

cross between two merpeople who have bluish-green tails (BG). Give the oﬀspring phenotypes with percentages.

[Note: Between parents with BG and BG tail color genotype, their children have 50% chance having blue-green tails and 25%

chance having blue or green tails.]

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HARRY POTTER’S WORLD

Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Magic Runs in Families

Instructions: Use the genetic concepts and terms you have learned to ﬁnd answers and explain your answers to the following

three questions.

Question 1: Hermione’s possible genotypes are MMss or MM’ss. What are possible genotypes of Hermione’s parents who are

Muggles?

Question 2: Harry Potter married Ginny Weasley. Will all of their children have magical ability?

Question 3: Could Dudley Dursley potentially have children with magical ability?

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HARRY POTTER’S WORLD

Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Teacher’s Magic Runs in Families

Instructions: Use the genetic concepts and terms you have learned to ﬁnd answers and explain your answers to the following

three questions.

Question 1: Hermione’s possible genotypes are MMss or MM’ss. What are possible genotypes of Hermione’s parents who are

Muggles?

• Hermione’s genotype is MMss.

• For Hermione’s inherited ss, both of her Muggle parents must have Ss.

• For Hermione’s inherited MM, both parents may have MM or MM’, but neither parents can have M’M’ allele pair.

• Hermione’s parents’ possible genotypes are:

• MMSs, or MM’Ss

Question 2: Harry Potter married Ginny Weasley. Will all of their children have magical ability?

• Parents’ magical genes:

• Harry’s genotype is MMss.

• Ginny’s genotype may be MMss or MM’ss.

• Harry’s and Ginny’s children’s genotypes:

• Since Harry and Ginny each has an ss allele pair, they can only pass s alleles to their children. Therefore, all of their

children having inherited ss allele pair, have magical ability.

Question 3: Could Dudley Dursley potentially have children with magical ability?

• Dudley’s parents’ genotypes:

• Vernon Dursley is about as magic‐less as one can get. So let’s assume Vernon’s genotype is M’M’SS.

• Petunia’s sister Lily Potter had magical ability. So, Petunia can have a genotype of SS or Ss allele pair.

• Dudley’s genotypes:

• If Dudley inherited S allele from both parents, he cannot have kids with magical ability.

• If Dudley inherited an s allele from Petunia, he can have kids with magical ability with a Muggle with an Ss allele

pair, or a witch possessing an ss allele pair.

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HARRY POTTER’S WORLD

Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Monster Genetics Lab

You have learned about many diﬀerent patterns of inheritance. Some are simple dominant or recessive, as in Mendelian traits.

Some are more complex, such as incomplete dominant or codominant traits. In this lab you will investigate how a combination of

these genes works to create an organism.

Part 1 Procedure:

1. Flip a coin twice to determine the genotype for each trait and record it in the data table.

Heads = allele 1, Tails = allele 2 (Example: if you ﬂipped heads twice, your monster will have two copies of allele 1 for

his genotype.)

2. Determine the phenotype resulting from the allele pair for each trait.

3. Repeat steps 1-2 for each trait and complete the female monster’s Table 1.

Table 1: Genotypes & Phenotypes for Female Monster

Trait Allele 1 Allele 1 Genotype Phenotype

Eye Two small eyes (E) One large eye (e)

Eye Color

(incomplete)

Red (R) White (R’)

Skin Color

(codominant)

Green (G) Blue (B)

Tail Shape Curly (C) Straight (c)

Tail Color Purple (P) Orange (p)

Tail

(regulatory gene)

Have tail (T) No tail (t)

Teeth Sharp (S) Round (s)

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Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Monster Genetics Lab

Trait Allele 1 Allele 1 Genotype Phenotype

Feet

(incomplete)

Four toes (F) Two toes (F’)

Horn Color Purple (W) White (w)

Ear shape Pointy (Y) Round (y)

Ears

(regulatory)

No ears (N) Two ears (n)

Claws Long (L) Short (l)

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HARRY POTTER’S WORLD

Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Monster Genetics Lab

Part 2 Procedure:

The female monster (described in Table 1) and a male monster (see Table 2 below) plan to have baby monsters. They are

interested in ﬁnding out for each trait the probability that their oﬀspring will have that trait.

1. Fill in the missing genetic information in the table for the male.

Table 1: Genotypes & Phenotypes for Female Monster

Trait Genotype Phenotype

Eyes ee

Eye Color

(incomplete)

White

Skin Color

(codominant)

Green

Tail Shape Straight

Tail Color Pp

Tail

(regulatory gene)

No Tail

Teeth Round

Feet

(incomplete)

FF’

Horn Color ww

Ear shape yy

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HARRY POTTER’S WORLD

Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Monster Genetics Lab

Trait Genotype Phenotype

Ears

(regulatory)

Have 2 ears

Claws Short

2. Create Punnett squares (attach your work to this handout) to predict what traits would result from a cross between the two

monsters for each trait, and answer the following questions:

a. Eyes – What percent of oﬀspring will have only one eye?

b. Eye Color – What percent of oﬀspring will have red eyes?

c. Skin Color – What percent of oﬀspring will have green skin?

d. Tail – What percent of oﬀspring will have a tail?

e. Feet – What percent of oﬀspring will have three toes?

f. Horn Color – What percent of oﬀspring will have purple horns?

g. Ears – What percent of oﬀspring will have ears?

h. Claws – What percent of oﬀspring will have long claws?

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HARRY POTTER’S WORLD

Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Teacher’s Monster Genetics Lab

[Note: The two lab activities allow students to apply their knowledge of simple and complex genetic traits. Students

demonstrate how they are able to apply and synthesize what they have learned in a fun activity. If possible, allow students to

illustrate both parent and child monsters based on the genetic information identiﬁed for all three monsters during the lab.]

You have learned about many diﬀerent patterns of inheritance. Some are simple dominant or recessive, as in Mendelian traits.

Some are more complex, such as incomplete dominant or codominant traits. In this lab you will investigate how a combination of

these genes works to create an organism.

Part 1 Procedure:

1. Flip a coin twice to determine the genotype for each trait and record it in the data table.

Heads = allele 1, Tails = allele 2 (Example: if you ﬂipped heads twice, your monster will have two copies of allele 1 for

his genotype.)

2. Determine the phenotype resulting from the allele pair for each trait.

3. Repeat steps 1-2 for each trait and complete the female monster’s Table 1.

Table 1: Genotypes & Phenotypes for Female Monster

Trait Allele 1 Allele 1 Genotype Phenotype

Eye Two small eyes (E) One large eye (e)

Eye Color

(incomplete)

Red (R) White (R’)

Skin Color

(codominant)

Green (G) Blue (B)

Tail Shape Curly (C) Straight (c)

Tail Color Purple (P) Orange (p)

Tail

(regulatory gene)

Have tail (T) No tail (t)

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HARRY POTTER’S WORLD

Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Teacher’s Monster Genetics Lab

Trait Allele 1 Allele 1 Genotype Phenotype

Teeth Sharp (S) Round (s)

Feet

(incomplete)

Four toes (F) Two toes (F’)

Horn Color Purple (W) White (w)

Ear shape Pointy (Y) Round (y)

Ears

(regulatory)

No ears (N) Two ears (n)

Claws Long (L) Short (l)

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HARRY POTTER’S WORLD

Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Teacher’s Monster Genetics Lab

Part 2 Procedure:

The female monster (described in Table 1) and a male monster (see Table 2 below) plan to have baby monsters. They are

interested in ﬁnding out for each trait the probability that their oﬀspring will have that trait.

1. Fill in the missing genetic information in the table for the male.

Table 1: Genotypes & Phenotypes for Female Monster

Trait Genotype Phenotype

Eyes ee

Eye Color

(incomplete)

White

Skin Color

(codominant)

Green

Tail Shape Straight

Tail Color Pp

Tail

(regulatory gene)

No Tail

Teeth Round

Feet

(incomplete)

FF’

Horn Color ww

Ear shape yy

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HARRY POTTER’S WORLD

Science-Genetics

Student Name

Date

Class Period

Teacher’s Monster Genetics Lab

Trait Genotype Phenotype

Ears

(regulatory)

Have 2 ears

Claws Short

2. Create Punnett squares (attach your work to this handout) to predict what traits would result from a cross between the two

monsters for each trait, and answer the following questions:

a. Eyes – What percent of oﬀspring will have only one eye?

b. Eye Color – What percent of oﬀspring will have red eyes?

c. Skin Color – What percent of oﬀspring will have green skin?

d. Tail – What percent of oﬀspring will have a tail?

e. Feet – What percent of oﬀspring will have three toes?

f. Horn Color – What percent of oﬀspring will have purple horns?

g. Ears – What percent of oﬀspring will have ears?

h. Claws – What percent of oﬀspring will have long claws?

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