Learning Progression in Genetics

Abstract

Abstract. This learning progression describes progressive levels of understanding for core concepts in modern genetics. The progression extends from 5th to 10th grade. We have organized the core ideas in this learning progression around two questions in the discipline: (a) how do genes influence how we, and other organisms, look and function? And (b) Why do we vary in how we, and other organisms, look and function? We identified eight big ideas that are needed to successfully reason about these questions. The target performances of this progression thus involve generating several types of mechanistic explanations: explanations that link our genotype to our phenotype; explanations of the processes by which our genes are passed on from generation to generation and how they contribute to genetic variation; and explanations of the sources of variation in phenotype (including environmental interactions with our genes). The learning progression describes three levels of understandings that allow the progressive construction of the explanations described above. Associated with the big ideas are learning performances that range in their complexity and can help determine a student’s level of understanding.