Unit Plan 20 (Grade 7 Science): Genes, Proteins & Traits
Grade 7 unit modeling how gene structure guides proteins and traits, showing how mutations can cause harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects.
Focus: Explain how gene structure affects proteins and trait expression, and use models to show how changes in genes can lead to harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects.
Grade Level: 7
Subject Area: Science (Life Science — Inheritance & Variation; Molecular Models)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
In this unit, students zoom in from genes and chromosomes to the molecules they code for: proteins. They use simple models (strings of symbols, “beads,” or codes) to represent how the structure of a gene provides instructions for building a protein, and how that protein can influence a trait. Then they model how structural changes to genes (like substitutions, insertions, or deletions in the code) may change the resulting protein or leave it mostly the same. By analyzing short case studies, students classify changes as harmful, beneficial, or neutral, aligned with MS-LS3-1.
Essential Questions
- How do genes provide instructions for building proteins, and how do proteins influence traits?
- What happens when the structure of a gene changes (a mutation)?
- Why can some gene changes be harmful, others beneficial, and many neutral for the organism?
- How can models help us describe relationships among genes, proteins, and traits without seeing the molecules directly?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Describe genes as stretches of DNA that carry information for building proteins, which help determine traits.
- Use a model (e.g., colored bead/string sequence or letter code) to represent how a specific gene sequence corresponds to a particular protein structure.
- Modify gene models to simulate structural changes (substitutions, insertions, deletions) and predict how these might change the resulting protein.
- Analyze simple scenarios where a changed protein leads to a harmful, beneficial, or neutral effect on an organism’s traits or survival.
- Create a final Genes → Proteins → Traits Model & Explanation that clearly explains why structural changes to genes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects, aligned with MS-LS3-1.
Standards Alignment — 7th Grade (NGSS-based custom)
- MS-LS3-1 — Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism.
- Students use abstract gene→protein models and case studies, not personal medical information.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can explain that genes carry instructions for making proteins, and proteins help control traits.
- I can build and use a model where a gene is represented by a sequence (letters, colors, or beads) that corresponds to a protein pattern.
- I can show how changing the gene sequence in my model can change the protein pattern—or sometimes leave it mostly the same.
- I can classify gene changes as harmful, beneficial, or neutral based on how they affect protein function and traits in a scenario.
- I can create a diagram and explanation that clearly connects gene structure, protein changes, and trait effects using correct vocabulary.