Misconceptions in science are inevitable and addressing them within the classroom is vital for students' understanding of a wide array of science concepts. Often times, information that student's receive comes from outlets such as the traditional media, like The News, as well as social media, such as Facebook. Because of this, there is a lot of inaccurate information that is believed to be true. The following are some misconceptions that students might have with regards to gene regulation in prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
1. Genes only exist in a cell when they are expressed
2. Each cell in a multicellular organism has different DNA, depending on what that cell needs
- Misconceptions 1 & 2 are quite similar and they are both hugely innacurate. For students to really understand the idea of gene regulation, it can often be beneficial for them to do a lab exercise that demonstrates the true science. The following article outlines a lab that can be done (it is meant for first or second year students), however it might be possible to do a demonstration within the high school classroom to debunk these misconceptions. Click on the button to go to the article.
1. Genes only exist in a cell when they are expressed
2. Each cell in a multicellular organism has different DNA, depending on what that cell needs
- Misconceptions 1 & 2 are quite similar and they are both hugely innacurate. For students to really understand the idea of gene regulation, it can often be beneficial for them to do a lab exercise that demonstrates the true science. The following article outlines a lab that can be done (it is meant for first or second year students), however it might be possible to do a demonstration within the high school classroom to debunk these misconceptions. Click on the button to go to the article.
3. Genes are the sole determinant of a trait
- Often times, students think that genes are the be all and end all for determining a specific trait. This is where the importance of epigenetics comes in. There are a lot of factors that influence the phenotype of a gene and learning about epigenetics can help students debunk this misconception. The following is a good interactive that teachers can use with their students to look at epigenetics:
- Often times, students think that genes are the be all and end all for determining a specific trait. This is where the importance of epigenetics comes in. There are a lot of factors that influence the phenotype of a gene and learning about epigenetics can help students debunk this misconception. The following is a good interactive that teachers can use with their students to look at epigenetics: