Kit Includes
- Student instructions
- 1 strip of PTC taste paper
- 1 strip of control taste paper
- Taste and the Nervous System diagrams
- 1 simulated electrophoresis gel
- 1 tube of “DNA Stain”
- 1 plastic plate
- 1 small measuring cup
- 1 stirrer
Taste Blind
$13.95 – $89.95
Why can some people taste PTC while others cannot?
- Use taste papers to determine if you are a PTC taster or a non-taster.
- Learn about the parts of the nervous system involved in tasting.
- Interpret a pedigree and a simulated electrophoresis gel to determine the genotypes of members of a family.
- Optional extension activities relate PTC tasting to Hardy-Weinberg principles.
Also Required
- Water
- Safety goggles
Quantity Discounts
- 1 – 9 kits: $13.95 each
- 10 – 24 kits: $13.25 each
- 25+ kits: $12.56 each
Kits:
- 1 – 9 packs: $89.95 each
- 10+ packs: $85.45 each
Unassembled:
- 1 – 9 packs: $39.95 each
- 10+ packs: $37.95 each
Refills:
Correlation to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Shop by NGSS »
Performance Expectations:
MS-LS1-8. Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories.
MS-LS3-2. Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.
HS-LS4-3. Apply concepts of statistics and probability to support explanations that organisms with an advantageous heritable trait tend to increase in proportion to organisms lacking this trait.
Science & Engineering Practices
Developing and Using Models - Develop and use a model to describe a phenomenon.
Analyzing and Interpreting Data - Apply concepts of statistics and probability (including determining function fits to data, slope, intercept, and correlation coefficient for linear fits) to scientific and engineering questions and problems, using digital tools when feasible.
Disciplinary Core Ideas
LS1.D: Information Processing - Each sense receptor responds to different inputs (electromagnetic, mechanical, chemical), transmitting them as signals that travel along nerve cells to the brain. The signals are then processed in the brain, resulting in immediate behaviors or memories.
LS3.B: Variation of Traits - In sexually reproducing organisms, each parent contributes half of the genes acquired (at random) by the offspring. Individuals have two of each chromosome and hence two alleles of each gene, one acquired from each parent. These versions may be identical or may differ from each other.
LS4.C: Adaptation - Natural selection leads to adaptation, that is, to a population dominated by organisms that are anatomically, behaviorally, and physiologically well suited to survive and reproduce in a specific environment. That is, the differential survival and reproduction of organisms in a population that have an advantageous heritable trait leads to an increase in the proportion of individuals in future generations that have the trait and to a decrease in the proportion of individuals that do not.
- Adaptation also means that the distribution of traits in a population can change when conditions change.Crosscutting Concepts
Cause and Effect - Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural systems.
Patterns - Different patterns may be observed at each of the scales at which a system is studied and can provide evidence for causality in explanations of phenomena.
