Inheritance review, pedigree logic, SNPs, genetic counseling, and the MP1 data inflection.
Your PLTW coursework: Medical Interventions ▸ Unit 2: How to Screen What is In Your Genes ▸ Lesson 2.1 Genetic Testing and Screening ▸ "Activity 2.1.1 Chronicles of a Genetic Counselor"
What to do if absent- CER:
- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning: make a claim, back it with evidence, explain your reasoning.
- SOP:
- Standard Operating Procedure, the exact steps to follow (especially in a lab).
- Tracker:
- Your PLTW progress log where you record completed evidence.
- myPLTW:
- The PLTW course site where you do the online activities. Find it in Clever with your Microsoft sign-in, right next to Schoology.
Week overview - Reading the Family Tree: Genetic Testing Launch
Use pedigree symbols and SNP evidence to predict whether a person is a and explain when a family would seek .
- 1Open the teacher dataset linked in the PLTW course shell and skim the first family before you write anything.
- 2Draw the three core pedigree symbols (square, circle, line) and label one affected, one unaffected, and one individual.
- 3For two people in the dataset, write their next to their phenotype and circle whether each is homozygous or heterozygous.
- 4Find one SNP column in the dataset and decide, in one sentence, whether that tracks with the trait or not.
- 5Predict whether a labeled person is a and write a one-line reason using the words and pedigree.
- 6Draft one question you would ask a about privacy of these results, ready for the Monday debate.
- • You'll be able to read a pedigree and tell carriers from affected individuals.
- • You'll be able to connect a to its phenotype using language.
- • You'll be able to explain why a SNP can hint at status without proving disease.
Daily lessons this week
Open any day for its full lesson, the work due that day, and guided notes.
One CER (claim, two evidences, reasoning) on genetic privacy access plus a short reflection naming one counterargument.
Completed three-generation pedigree with carriers circled, mode of inheritance stated, and one sentence of evidence.
-to-phenotype table for three individuals (homozygous/heterozygous labeled) and a written prediction.
Counseling memo: finding in plain language, list of what the result does and does not mean, one , and a sentence on the role of .
Revised counseling memo plus MP1 tracker audit: list of complete benchmarks, any gaps with completion dates.
Quick intro to the week
- Today launches Unit 2: every disease story starts with someone's DNA, and you are the detective reading the clues.
- Goal for today: turn a pedigree and a few SNPs into a smart, careful prediction about who might carry a trait.
- Monday is our bioethics debate. Genetic privacy is the question: who should be allowed to see your , and why?
- Remember, all graded work, including the dataset and your debate prep, lives in the PLTW course shell, not on paper.
Your PLTW coursework this week
Do this: Advance the Unit 2 genetic-testing benchmark by submitting your pedigree-plus-SNP prediction on the class site.
- • An is one version of a gene, and combines two alleles while phenotype is the visible result.
- • A SNP is a single-letter DNA difference that can serve as a marker linked to a trait.
- • helps families interpret and risk results before they make decisions.
- • Interpret standard pedigree symbols to identify carriers.
- • Match a to its phenotype using a simple dataset.
📋 Tracker evidence due this week: your completed pedigree-plus-SNP prediction uploaded to the class site.
All PLTW activities are completed inside the PLTW course environment: this page only gives direction.
This week's PLTW tracker
Your week at a glance. Check off each deliverable as you finish it, then submit so Mr. Mendoza can see how the class is pacing.
Use the code Mr. Mendoza gave you, not your name. Saved on this device.
| Day | Date | Focus | Key deliverable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Mon, Oct 12 | Genetic privacy debate | One CER (claim, two evidences, reasoning) on genetic privacy access plus a short reflection naming one counterargument. |
| Tuesday | Tue, Oct 13 | Pedigree logic | Completed three-generation pedigree with carriers circled, mode of inheritance stated, and one sentence of evidence. |
| Wednesday | Wed, Oct 14 | SNP and PTC case | Genotype-to-phenotype table for three individuals (homozygous/heterozygous labeled) and a written carrier prediction. |
| Thursday | Thu, Oct 15 | Genetic counseling memo | Counseling memo: carrier finding in plain language, list of what the result does and does not mean, one next step, and a sentence on the role of genetic counseling. |
| Friday | - | MP1 tracker audit | Revised counseling memo plus MP1 tracker audit: list of complete benchmarks, any gaps with completion dates. |
- M: genetic privacy debate
- T: pedigree notes
- W: SNP dataset
- Th: counseling memo
- F: MP1 tracker audit
Due by week's end: Genetic counseling case memo and tracker audit.
5 panels from the illustrated semester.
Fiction. There is no such student. The lessons, labs and dates are the real planned course; the student, the classmates and the conversations are invented.
What to do when absent
Most days, this class is your PLTW coursework: and PLTW is online and individual. So being out usually just means doing exactly what we did in class, from home.
Open Clever, then myPLTWHow to get there: open Clever and sign in with your Microsoft (district) account. Both myPLTW and Schoology are in Clever. Do the activity in myPLTW. Turn the work in on this site or hand it to Mr. Mendoza, because that is the step that counts as submitted. Schoology only shows your report-card grade later.
You can't do those from home: do this instead: Teacher dataset.
Class still runs. A substitute will post today's plan: complete the online activity above; it's built to be self-guided. Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
MedlinePlus: What is genetic testing?Vocabulary
Teacher-posted resources
Classroom documents for this lesson are posted in Schoology. Open Clever, then Schoology, and find each one by the name shown on its card.
Use this after the required lesson work when you are ready for a harder application or a deeper connection.
Placement rationale
Matched Genetic testing, PTC, pedigree, SNPs by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-2_How-to-Screen-Your-Genes/2.1_Genetic-Testing-and-Screening; keywords:genetic testing, screening, ptc. Score 150. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Use this as the classroom resource for Genetic testing, PTC, pedigree, SNPs.
Placement rationale
Matched Genetic testing, PTC, pedigree, SNPs by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-2_How-to-Screen-Your-Genes/2.1_Genetic-Testing-and-Screening; keywords:genetic testing, screening, snp. Score 146. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Use this if you were absent, got stuck, or need another pass before you submit the lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Genetic testing, PTC, pedigree, SNPs by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-2_How-to-Screen-Your-Genes/2.1_Genetic-Testing-and-Screening; keywords:genetic testing, screening. Score 142. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
How to get there: open Clever and sign in with your Microsoft (district) account. Both myPLTW and Schoology are in Clever. Do the activity in myPLTW. Turn the work in on this site or hand it to Mr. Mendoza, because that is the step that counts as submitted. Schoology only shows your report-card grade later.