Genetics Unit
For this project, we analyzed many different pieces of evidence linked to a crime scene. We used ink chromatography to tell who's pen matched the crime scene. We dusted for fingerprints and looked at Chromosomal diseases, as well as matched various DNA samples to different suspects. We also We then compiled our findings to figure out which of our suspects was the murderer. We finalized the project by creating a slideshow and educating our classmates about our findings.
KEY CONCEPTS
1st Degree Murder - unlawful killing that is both willful and premeditated
Phenotype - set of observable characteristics of an individual resulting from the interaction of its genotype with the environment
Gene - the genes are the sequences of DNA that codes protein, and this gives organisms their traits
Genotype - the genetic constitution of an individual organism
Dominant - when an allele is dominant it is expressed in the phenotype over a recessive allele
Recessive - when an allele is recessive it isn't expressed in the phenotype over a dominant allele
Karyotype - image of what your chromosomes look like
Family Pedigree - chart of shapes that stand for diseases, males/females, alive/dead, etc.
Ink Chromatography - ink is exposed to a solvent which causes it to separate the colors
REFLECTION
Overall, I thought this project was super interesting and enjoyable. This was one of the projects that I looked forward to work on and enjoyed. One peak was I learned that I take initiative when it comes to researching things we don't know, such as the symptoms of diseases. Another peak was that I realized forensic analysis is very fun (such as ink chromatography), and I think I might consider it as a career path. One pit was the attitude in general in the classroom. Most people react negatively to what we are assigned instead of just doing the assignment. Another pit was that we didn't get a great job on the slide show because we lacked pictures and specific evidence as well as key concepts that were critical to the audience understanding what we were talking about. This caused our slide show to be semi-low quality and not really make a lot of sense if you didn't have prior knowledge.