Grade 8 Genetics and Evolution word search, scramble and crossword puz

Grade 8 Genetics and Evolution word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this genetics and evolution puzzle set for my 8th graders during our life science unit. The kids had a basic grasp of traits from earlier grades, but they kept mixing up the difference between genotype and phenotype, and they had no idea what words like allele, homozygous, or heterozygous meant when we started Punnett squares and heredity. They also always asked if evolution was "just a theory," so I wanted vocabulary that would help them understand the mechanisms behind it. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using vocabulary from the core of the unit: genetics, heredity, DNA, gene, allele, chromosome, genotype, phenotype, dominant, recessive, homozygous, heterozygous, Punnett square, mutation, variation, evolution, natural selection, adaptation, fossil, and extinction.

The PDF is four pages. Three puzzles plus one answer key page. The word search works well for quiet time after recess or as a quick warm-up to get the terms in their heads before we dive into a Punnett square activity. The scramble gets them talking because they argue about the spelling of "heterozygous" (it's a tricky one) or whether a genotype and phenotype are the same thing (they're not—they always have opinions about it). The crossword I use for partners or as a review before a quiz, and I usually have a Punnett square example and a simple diagram of a chromosome on the board for the kids who need the visual support to connect the words to the concepts.

Works for 8th through 9th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers use a Punnett square to show a cross between two parents with different traits on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.