In 1987 the Education Division of the Foundation for Blood Research developed, field tested, and distributed a human genetics curriculum unit for high school biology classes. The unit was designed to complement existing biology text materials by providing a framework whereby high school students might develop an increased awareness of how advances in the field of human genetics are applied in real life situations. This increased awareness includes an appreciation for the societal implications of these genetics advances and applications. The unit, titled Chances' Choices, is a free-standing interactive unit currently being used on an ongoing basis by at least 280 biology teachers and 15,000 students annually) throughout the country. Its unique format includes an extended family (the Chance family). build upon each other, provide a base of information to allow incorporation of information about the personal and societal implications of screening, counseling, treatment and prevention of genetic disorders. The proposed project has been designed in response to rapid advances in the field of human genetics, requiring that Chances' Choices be revised, updated, and added to. The project plan also includes the development of an experimental theater component whose purpose is to extend the human genetics information and issues to include middle school students and high school students other than those in biology classes. The first year of this 26 month project is to be devoted to updating the curriculum unit and to adding information on such current topics as DNA testing, the human genome project, gene therapy, insurance coverage issues, job security, confidentiality of laboratory test results and other information, and the genetics of cancer. During the second year, the updated and revised materials will be field tested by biology teachers and students in each of the 10 genetics regions in the United States. Also a pilot experimental theater component will be designed and tested in selected high schools, directed at a general audience of high school and middle school students. The results of the experimental theater pilot will be submitted for publication. Assuming only minimal distribution of the updated version of Chances' Choices to teachers already using it, the proposed project has the potential to reach 280 teachers and at least 15,000 students yearly.
