A Genetics Hands-on, Minds-on STEM Activity

Tuesday, April 12th, 2022—Syracuse Academy of Science elementary school students in 3B put their creativity to the test in their recent science lesson about genetics.

In their science class, students learned about genes, DNA, the differences/similarities in traits between species, their offspring, and how characteristics can form. The Atoms took what they learned in their science lesson and applied it to a hands-on, minds-on STEM project, where students were tasked with discussing what an offspring may look like after observing the parents' distinct traits.

For the STEM project, each student received a guide with instructions and symbols for each of the parents. Atoms would then find the symbol for each parent and match it with the trait in their activity book. These traits include body color, eye color, horn size, mouth size, tail size, and overall color. Once completed, the Atoms used this information to construct clay creatures. The students quickly realized that even though their creatures were not identical, they had inherited similarities and differences that matched their creature's parents.