Are Africans, Europeans, and Asians different "races"? A guided-inquiry lab for introducing undergraduate students to genetic diversity and preparing them to study natural selection.

ABSTRACT: Many students do not recognize that individual organisms within populations vary, and this may make it difficult for them to recognize the essential role variation plays in natural selection. Also, many students have weak scientific reasoning skills, and this makes it difficult for them to recognize misconceptions they might have. This paper describes a 2-h laboratory for college students that introduces them to genetic diversity and gives them practice using hypothetico-deductive reasoning. In brief, the lab presents students with DNA sequences from Africans, Europeans, and Asians, and asks students to determine whether people from each continent qualify as distinct "races." Comparison of the DNA sequences shows that people on each continent are not more similar to one another than to peo

SUBMITTER: Kalinowski ST 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3366900 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature