Although unrecognized for his scientific achievements during his life, Gregor Mendel pioneered our modern understanding of the gene, work that shaped the field of genetics and advances in biology and medicine. The field that he set in motion 200 years ago lies at the center of current ethical debates about the future of humanity, the limits of science, and how best to employ our knowledge for betterment of the human condition. Mendel's personal life also offers lessons, especially for those of us engaged in teaching future generations.

In 1900, three botanists claimed they had found regularities in inheritance, which soon would be known as Mendel's Laws, without knowing the work of Gregor Mendel or of each other. Their claims of independent (re)discovery have been thoroughly studied during the past decades, with various outcomes. The case is still of interest today as it offers an interesting example of how science is done.

Human evolution is a sensitive and controversial topic, which might explain why it is not included in science curricula or textbooks in many countries. We prepared an online student-centered human evolution activity dealing with lactose tolerance. In constructing the activity, we considered the following design principles: a medical issue connected to students' lives, a noncontentious topic of human evolution, and a one-step genetic example that can be demonstrated by basic bioinformatics tools. The activity consists of four units dealing with the activity of the enzyme lactase in our small intestine, the differences in lactose tolerance in people from different origins, the genetic foundation of lactose tolerance, and an extension unit dealing with the control of lactase gene expression. The activity was experienced by a pilot group of approximately 100 students, preservice and in-service teachers who showed great interest in the genetics of a trait that has undergone evolutionary changes. We noted the need for a teacher as mediator while students perform the activity. We suggest using the activity in the context of evolution, genetics, or when teaching about systems of the human body, either all units in succession or as a modular activity.

Educators usually teach the Mendelian inheritance model using Punnett squares to determine the probability of an offspring having a particular genotype and phenotype. To find the probability of an outcome of a particular cross, students need to understand the underlying biological concepts of these visual representations. However, this approach becomes more complex for cases with three or more characters and shies away from the authentic integration of mathematical and biological concepts. Therefore it is crucial for students to use mathematical algorithms that Mendel used to understand and solve inheritance problems. In this paper, we propose relating two simple probability rules to the laws of inheritance and using a probability tree diagram to predict the combined frequency of traits in the offspring of crosses. We validate the proposed probability rules for various examples.

How genetic variation influences phenotypic variation is of importance to many biological disciplines, including evolutionary biology, biomedicine, and agriculture. Nevertheless, students frequently struggle to make connections across levels of biological organization, which can make it challenging to facilitate understanding of how nucleotide variation gives rise to organismal variation. At the same time, biology students are now expected to gain early experience with cornerstone techniques from molecular biology, so that these skills can be reinforced and expanded upon. Here we describe a five-to-seven-week sequencing project that examines genetic and phenotypic variation in wild-type and yellow-bodied fruit flies and, in the process, exposes students to several foundational techniques in molecular biology. In addition, students analyze partial yellow gene sequences from PCR products using the freely available bioinformatics suite UGENE and in doing so are introduced to core bioinformatics skills. The entire project is framed around the axiom that if the yellow gene controls phenotypic differences in body color between wild-type and yellow-bodied flies, it should be possible to identify causal variation in yellow sequences from wild-type versus yellow-bodied flies. This project relies on guided inquiry and can be used in 1000- or 2000-level molecular biology courses and advanced high school laboratories.

The Central Dogma is a crucial concept needed to understand biotechnology and molecular biology. High school students often struggle with a meaningful understanding of this abstract concept. This paper presents an inquiry-based approach to increase critical thinking and understanding of the Central Dogma. Commonly used in high school classrooms is Bio-Rad pGLO plasmid containing green fluorescent protein (GFP), because of its accessibility and the fluorescence it emits when exposed to ultraviolet light. We use the expression of GFP in a high school hands-on class project so that students can visualize and understand the abstract concepts of the Central Dogma. Students will also explore protein structure and its importance for a functional protein. During the entire project, students will be guided by the instructor to build hypotheses and design experiments to test those hypotheses, exercising the scientific method.

In 2019 the Biology 100 class of Wenatchee Valley College at Omak (WVCO) worked on a DNA barcoding project with Tabitha Graves's huckleberry research project for bear habitat in Glacier National Park, Montana. Students isolated DNA from huckleberry leaf samples from the National Park. They then ran a PCR with an rbcL primer pair to target the rubisco gene in plant chloroplasts. The PCR product was sequenced by a private company, Genewiz, and the DNA sequence was analyzed through DNA Subway. Twelve student groups, one or two students per group, isolated DNA from huckleberry leaf samples that was sequenced and analyzed. Twelve samples were determined to be of the genus Vaccinium. One of the twelve samples distinguished between the five species of huckleberry, identified the sample as Vaccinium membranaceum, and was published in GenBank. They showed that DNA barcoding can be used successfully to aid in the identification of this species of huckleberry. There were many student outcomes, including hands-on skills with the tools of DNA technology, contributing to a real-world project, and analyzing data for DNA sequence matches. This is a great lab exercise to use for AP biology classes, two-year community college biology classes, and four-year college biology classes at the 100 to 200 level.

The Eighth Day of Creation is a narrative history of molecular biology by science journalist Horace Freeland Judson. It uses first-person interviews to tell the story of how scientists in the mid-20th century discovered the basic rules of life that we now call the Central Dogma. The book presents both an in-depth analysis of the foundational research and a look into the lives of the scientists involved. We used this book as the primary text for an advanced undergraduate seminar course at the University of Washington in winter 2020, a class designed to help students critically think about approaches to science, the role of social factors in scientific progress, and the conceptual development of paradigm shifts. In this piece we reflect on our approach designing the course and our experience teaching it and share our syllabus (annotated with some reflections on the course) as inspiration for others