Gen-Behave Lab
Description
A five-station virtual lab where learners run classic nature-vs-nurture experiments — cross-fostering, gene knockouts, common garden studies, epigenetic plasticity, and conditioning — to explore how genes and environment jointly shape behavior. Concludes with a cumulative lab report and exam.
Learning Outcomes
Through five interactive stations, learners build a foundational understanding of behavioral genetics by exploring how genes and environment jointly shape traits and behavior. They learn to apply classic experimental designs — including cross-fostering, gene knockouts, common garden studies, and epigenetic plasticity models — to distinguish correlation from causation and to predict how organisms respond to genetic and environmental variation. Along the way, learners gain skill in interpreting reaction norms, understanding epigenetic mechanisms, and recognizing basic principles of associative learning. The lab concludes with a cumulative report and exam that reinforces the ability to reason through and communicate genetic and behavioral concepts in novel contexts.