4 Easy Foldables in the Classroom I Use to Teach Mendelian Genetics

October 19, 2022

Have you wanted to use foldables in the classroom, but didn’t know how to incorporate them? Then this post will inspire you to try them for teaching mendelian genetics and Punnett squares.

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Using Visuals to Teach Vocabulary

Genetics has a ton of vocabulary and for many students learning the terminology is one of the most challenging parts of learning genetics. I start on day one by discussing these terms and having students create a foldable for the 10 most important vocab terms we use in the entire unit. I created a template for them to fold, cut, and write in so that they would be able to easily create it without stressing if the lines are even. However, a template for any of these foldables is NOT needed. For many years I did not use a template, but I simply upleveled my vocab game this year.

The reason I like using foldables for teaching vocabulary and genetics terminology specifically is that they provide great visuals and it is a different approach to learning vocabulary. I can also just tell them to pull out their foldable and they will know exactly which one to grab.

4 Easy Foldables for Teaching Mendelian Genetics

The first thing I want to mention before I jump into my favorite 4 foldables in the classroom is that I typically do each foldable on a different color paper. That way when students are looking for one of their foldables, I can tell them “Oh, it’s the hot pink one”! This helps to keep them organized as well as being able to locate the correct one (or all of them) quickly.

ONE | Inheritance Vocabulary

The vocabulary that I chose for the Inheritance vocabulary foldable is 10 of the most common terms that are used in this unit. Students are able to go one by one, open their foldable, and write down the definition, along with an example that I have provided. This allows time for them to work through each of the vocabulary words, and for me to be able to explain the example in a way that they understand. We then will use our foldable to practice the vocabulary through either a review game or applying them to the Punnett squares.

TWO | Incomplete & Codominance Inheritance

These are two types of inheritance that are often confused. I like to have one foldable specifically for incomplete and codominant traits because students have a tangible item that they are able to refer back to when doing practices. Knowing the difference between the outcomes of inheritance of incomplete dominance, and the outcome of co-dominance is critical in students correctly answering these types of Punnett square questions. In addition to the foldable, I also do several different crosses as examples, and we discuss the outcomes of each of these crosses.

THREE | Blood Type Inheritance

This foldable is perfect for helping students understand the four blood types. The phenotypes we are able to write on the front and then when they open up the flap, we go over the genotypes that would result in each of the four blood type phenotypes. I’ll show them The correct genotype as well as the hack. That makes learning blood types a little easier.

FOUR | Sex-Linked Inheritance

This one is the most complex of the foldables in the classroom simply because there are more folds and flaps, even though it’s still super simple. I have students write the phenotypes on the outside of the flaps, and then, when they open the inside, we discuss the genotypes of the individuals. On the back of the foldable while I go over several examples with the students so they can see a variety of outcomes that are possible. We also discussed the three main sex-linked traits that we often discuss in biology class.

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