Science Assessment ~ Topics ~ Reproduction, Genes, and Heredity ~ Item RH007002 ~ Student Performance

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A change commonly referred to as a mutation occurs to a DNA molecule in an organism's skin cell before the organism reproduces. When the organism reproduces, how many of its children will have the mutation?

All of the organism's children will have the mutation.
Some of the organism's children will have the mutation.
None of the organism's children will have the mutation.
It will depend on how much time passes between when the mutation occurs and when the organism has children.

Pre-Test

Distribution of responses (prior to studying evolution in high school)
Answer Choice		Overall	Grades		Gender		Primary Language
		n = 572	6–8 n = 18	9–12 n = 502	Male n = 245	Female n = 283	English n = 511	Other n = 18
A.	All of the organism's children will have the mutation.	17%	17%	16%	23%	10%	16%	33%
B.	Some of the organism's children will have the mutation.	47%	44%	47%	42%	52%	48%	28%
C.	None of the organism's children will have the mutation.	8%	6%	9%	9%	7%	8%	6%
D.	It will depend on how much time passes between when the mutation occurs and when the organism has children.	28%	33%	28%	26%	31%	28%	33%

Post-Test (Control)

Distribution of responses (following typical high school instruction on evolution)
Answer Choice		Overall	Grades		Gender		Primary Language
		n = 274	6–8 n = 14	9–12 n = 230	Male n = 119	Female n = 130	English n = 237	Other n = 9
A.	All of the organism's children will have the mutation.	16%	21%	17%	19%	15%	18%	0%
B.	Some of the organism's children will have the mutation.	48%	36%	47%	40%	55%	47%	44%
C.	None of the organism's children will have the mutation.	12%	14%	12%	16%	7%	11%	22%
D.	It will depend on how much time passes between when the mutation occurs and when the organism has children.	24%	29%	24%	24%	23%	24%	33%

Post-Test (Treatment)

Distribution of responses (following completion of an evolution curriculum module)
Answer Choice		Overall	Grades		Gender		Primary Language
		n = 278	6–8 n = 4	9–12 n = 248	Male n = 130	Female n = 131	English n = 251	Other n = 5
A.	All of the organism's children will have the mutation.	12%	0%	13%	12%	11%	12%	0%
B.	Some of the organism's children will have the mutation.	54%	75%	52%	56%	53%	53%	80%
C.	None of the organism's children will have the mutation.	11%	25%	11%	14%	9%	11%	20%
D.	It will depend on how much time passes between when the mutation occurs and when the organism has children.	23%	0%	24%	18%	26%	24%	0%