Rough draft.This research track is under review with Dr. Atit's lab. Content and sequence may still change.

Here's an example of what's due today

What Caused Mateo's Cleft?

Disease domain · Lesson 9 of 20 · Shared clinical backbone (the cleft team)

Today's goal: Students will explain that nonsyndromic clefts arise from many small genetic influences combined with environmental factors (multifactorial cause), using real twin and risk-factor data, and apply that model to Mateo without blaming a single cause.

Learn first

What a finished product looks like

This is a model of the work you should turn in. Use it to check your own: match the structure and the level of detail, do not copy it. Your wording should be your own.

Non-blaming counseling response

Completes: A short, honest, specific, and non-blaming parent-counseling response about a multifactorial cause.

To Mateo's mother: 'A cleft like Mateo's is almost never caused by one single thing, and it is not something you did. It comes from many small genetic influences adding up together with ordinary factors during pregnancy, and it only appears when all of those tip past a threshold. We know genes matter, because identical twins are both affected about 60% of the time, far more than the 5 to 10% for siblings, but genes are not the whole story either. Even the strongest known pregnancy factor, smoking, raises the odds only a little (about 1.3 times), and you had none of the major risk factors. Most families in your situation could not have prevented it, and there is no one to blame.'

Also due today: Hold the diagnosis open; this 'many small causes' picture is a breadcrumb, not a named diagnosis.

Learn first

How this was built, step by step

The finished product above did not appear all at once. Here is the path from the question to the turned-in work, so you can follow the same steps.

1Start from today's question: What caused Mateo's : his genes, something in the pregnancy, or both?
2Work the Model and the Explore questions to reason it out before writing anything.
3Pull the specific evidence the product needs from the reading and any database you used.
4Write it up in the required format: Write a 3 to 4 sentence counseling response to Mateo's mother asking 'Was it something I did?' that is (1) honest about cause (multifactorial, genes plus environment, threshold), (2) specific (uses one real number), and (3) non-blaming (reflects that she had none of the major risk factors and most clefts happen without one).
5Check it against the rubric, then submit.

How this is graded (rubric)

For: Write a 3 to 4 sentence counseling response to Mateo's mother asking 'Was it something I did?' that is (1) honest about cause (multifactorial, genes plus environment, threshold), (2) specific (uses one real number), and (3) non-blaming (reflects that she had none of the major risk factors and most clefts happen without one).

Criterion	Proficient	Developing	Beginning
Complete	Every required part of the artifact is present and filled in.	Most parts are present, but one is missing or left blank.	Several parts are missing.
Accurate	The science and data are correct and match the evidence.	Mostly correct, with a small factual slip.	Key science or data is wrong.
Scientific reasoning (CER)	States a claim, backs it with specific evidence, and explains the reasoning.	Has a claim and evidence, but the reasoning is thin or missing.	Gives an answer with no evidence or reasoning.
Professional communication	Clear, organized, and labeled the way a clinician or scientist would write it.	Readable but disorganized or missing labels.	Hard to follow.
Submitted	Turned in the right way (Schoology for routine work) and confirmed.	Turned in, but in the wrong place or unconfirmed.	Not turned in.

How the model answer scores against this rubric

CompleteProficient: Nothing is left blank: the model fills every part of "Write a 3 to 4 sentence counseling response to Mateo's mother asking 'Was it something I did?' that is (1) honest about cause (multifactorial, genes plus environment, threshold), (2) specific (uses one real number), and (3) non-blaming (reflects that she had none of the major risk factors and most clefts happen without one).".
AccurateProficient: Every number and claim matches the case evidence.
Scientific reasoning (CER)Proficient: It names a claim, cites the specific evidence, and explains the reasoning, not just the answer.
Professional communicationProficient: It is organized and labeled like a real chart note.
SubmittedProficient: It would be turned in on Schoology and confirmed.

Check yourself

WebXam problem for today's skill

One exam-style question that uses exactly what you practiced today. Try it before you reveal the answer, then read why each choice is right or wrong.

WebXam-style domain: Genetic and environmental factors in variationSelf-check skill: Interpreting twin concordance and odds ratios to identify a multifactorial cause

For nonsyndromic clefts, identical twins are concordant about 60% of the time while fraternal twins and siblings are concordant about 5 to 10%, and the strongest environmental factor (smoking) has an odds ratio of about 1.3. What do these data together indicate about the cause?

Tap an answer to see the full explanation. Nothing is recorded or graded.

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