Case: Did I Inherit My Curly Hair from My Mom…, or from My Ma?

This case points to tensions that arise when an elementary school teacher, Mrs. Biels, implements a life scienceScience lesson designed to introduce the inheritanceInheritance of traits. The Next Generation Science StandardsNext Generation Science Standards (NGSS) (NGSS) suggest that students as early as third grade should be able to recognize patterns of similarities and differences in traits shared between offspring and their parents, or among siblings. Too often, teachers are not aware of the hidden curriculumCurriculum in their instructional practices, and when dealing with lessons on inheritance, do not reflect on the diverse landscape of the family structures of all their students. For instance, in this case, a dilemma emerges when Mrs. Biels begins a new geneticsGenetics unit by engaging students with pictures of puppies and their parents and having students determine which parent the puppies inherited traits from. As the lesson progresses and students begin thinking about who they inherited their own traits from, Mrs. Biels is not prepared for how the lesson would impact one of her students.