What do a refrigerator and a cat have in common?
My favorite activity in this unit is still: How Closely Related Are We? I know this is supposed to be a a warm-up activity but over the years it has turned into a lot more. It's a great way to get students interested in the unit and if done correctly, it allows students to use claim testing to make and justify their decisions. Students are always amazed at how much DNA we actually share with some of these organisms so much so that they sometimes have trouble understanding this so early on. I now ask them the question: What do a refrigerator and a cat have in common? to force them to think creatively to find the similarities between these two things. Once they can do that, they can usually find the similarities between humans and mustard grass. Also, I use this version that I made so that students can use the images to explain their ideas. Thought I'd share.
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