Genetics & Adaptation Bundle

About this resource

5 mystery-driven Science Unlocked lesson sets for middle school (grades 6-8), about 5 weeks of genetics & adaptation instruction. Each set opens with a real, surprising phenomenon, builds the science one level at a time, and ends with students cracking the case in a claim-evidence-reasoning (CER) write-up.

Topics: genetics, mutations, heredity, natural selection, evolution, adaptations, claim evidence reasoning (CER), science phenomenon, review games.

Bundle price: $12.50 for 5 sets ($2.50 a set). Bought one at a time, these sets cost $15.

Sets in this bundle

• The Bodybuilder Dog (MS-LS3-1, Mutations & Proteins). Whippets are slim racing dogs. But now and then a whippet puppy grows up with huge, bulging muscles — a “bully whippet.” What makes a bully whippet look like a bodybuilder — and why are some whippets with a little extra muscle the fastest racers?
• The Banana Clones (MS-LS3-2, Asexual vs. Sexual Reproduction). In the 1950s, a soil fungus wiped out farm after farm of the world’s favorite banana. Now a new strain is killing its replacement, the Cavendish, on farms around the world. Why can one fungus threaten nearly every Cavendish banana on Earth — and where could a banana that fights back come from?
• Hurricane Survivors (MS-LS4-4, Natural Selection & Variation). Two monster hurricanes hit two tiny islands in 2017. When scientists came back, the lizards still alive had bigger toe pads, longer front legs, and shorter back legs than the lizards measured just before. Why were the survivors so different?
• The Neon Fish (MS-LS4-5, Artificial Selection & Genetic Engineering). Tiny zebrafish in pet-store tanks shine neon red, green, and purple. They aren’t painted or dyed, and their babies are born bright too. How did people give a fish a new color that it passes on to its babies?
• The Tuskless Mystery (MS-LS4-6, Natural Selection Math & Population Traits). In most elephant herds, only about 2–6 of every 100 females never grow tusks. In Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park, more than half of the older females have no tusks. Why are so many Gorongosa elephants tuskless?

Every set includes

• An editable Teacher Deck with answers highlighted and speaker notes (what to say, support and GT tips).
• An interactive Student Deck (PowerPoint + PDF) where students type, drag and rate their confidence.
• Google Slides versions of both decks, with make-a-copy links.
• A Teacher Guide with a run-of-show for every level, materials, misconceptions, answer keys and sources.
• A Student Printable in 12 pt type, plus a low-ink greyscale copy, for paper days and sub days.
• A self-grading digital activity: SCORM 2004, SCORM 1.2, a web package and a single HTML file.
• Two whole-class review games (Jeopardy-style and Trashketball), plus Kahoot! and Blooket import files with an answer key.
• Leveled lessons with "I can" targets, notes, practice, checkpoints, exit tickets, a Mini Quiz and a Stretch beyond grade level.

By the numbers

• 5 one-week units, each with 5-6 levels (about one 45-50 minute class per level).
• 5 of the 5 sets include a hands-on lab with a materials list and safety notes.
• 248 Kahoot!/Blooket review questions across the bundle.

Try the digital activity first

• Not sure the self-grading activity will work in your LMS? Download the FREE HTML & SCORM Sample and test it with your students before you buy.

Save more

• Middle School Life Science (21 sets, $42)
• Science Unlocked Mega Bundle (89 sets, $133.50)

More from Mystery Lab Learning

• See every Science Unlocked set, and follow to hear when new ones are added, at Mystery Lab Learning.

Good to know

• When a set in this bundle is updated, you get the update for free in My Purchases.
• The illustrations in these resources were created with AI image tools, and AI tools helped draft the lesson text. Every slide, answer key and lab step was then fact-checked against the sources listed in each Teacher Guide and proofread.
• Kahoot!, Blooket, Jeopardy!, Google Slides and PowerPoint are trademarks of their owners. These resources are not affiliated with or endorsed by them.
• License: one teacher, for use with their own students. Please buy an additional license for each colleague who uses it.