The quest to fend off cat allergies
Students will answer questions about the Science News article “How to lick cat allergies,” which explores some potential solutions to prevent and calm allergic reactions.
Educator Guide: How to Lick Cat Allergies
Researchers are trying to reduce the allergen levels of house cats or make people’s immune systems less reactive to our feline friends.
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About this guide
This guide asks students to explore how scientists are combating cat allergies, apply problem-solving strategies to an allergen of their choice, review basic concepts in genetics and analyze Punnett squares.
This Guide Includes:
Taking charge of allergies
Students will identify and categorize various approaches to fending off cat allergies. After discussing the approaches, students will apply similar problem-solving strategies to a new allergen.
Cats and Punnett squares
Scientists would like to breed cats that don’t trigger allergies in people. By constructing and analyzing a Punnett square for two low-allergen cats, students will review key concepts including patterns and probabilities of inheritance, genotype, phenotype, genes, alleles, chromosomes and mutations.