Model-development sequenceS: Puppy Genetics and STARLOGOä

PART II

Margret Hjalmarson

Purdue University

mhjalma@purdue.edu

Edith Gummer

Oregon State University

egummer@purdue.edu

This poster presentation is the second of a four-part sequence describing model-eliciting and exploration activities. The Puppy Genetics Model-Eliciting Activity introduces basic genetic inheritence concepts. In the subsequent exploration activity, the students explore the probability concepts underlying the genetic behaviors.

A Model-Eliciting Activity asks students to develop a mathematical model that describes, explains, manipulates, or predicts the behavior of a real-world system. Students are given a problem statement that presents a real-world problem that needs to be solved for an identified client. Typically, the client asks the students to describe how the students’ solutions can be used in the future to solve similar problems. A Model-Exploration Activity is a follow-up activity for the Model-Eliciting Activity. The Exploration Activity allows the students to explore patterns, regularities, traditional mathematical notations, and different representational systems that further develop the models that they constructed in the Model-Eliciting Activity.

In the Puppy Genetics Model-Eliciting Activity, a dog owner wants to know why her two black Labrador Retrievers had a litter with a brown puppy. Students are asked to develop a representation system that illustrates the mechanism of the inheritance pattern.

The Exploration Activity to follow Puppy Genetics presents a StarLogoä environment that shows the result of multiple possible matings. The students explore the probability of different colored puppies occurring in different parent matchings.