Finding Your Roots: The Seedlings

Penn State University Anthropologist/Paleobiologist Dr. Nina Jablonski and “Finding Your Roots" series host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. provide an introduction to what campers will explore during the Finding Your Roots: The Seedlings Genetics & Genealogy Camp.

In episode 2, we see campers on their first day extracting and seeing their own DNA, the "blueprint of life."

In episode 3, campers make predictions about their genetic ancestry and then open their individual DNA test results to find out for certain.

Campers dig into their DNA test results to discover the likelihood they possess various genetic traits. Then they take the PTC test to see if they have the dominant gene for tasting bitter compounds.

In this episode, campers head outside to play a survival game of genetic mutations in natural selection called “Food for the Bird Brain.”

In this episode, campers find out why ancestry, geography, and natural selection are all important to determining skin color.

In this episode, learn how to conduct a family history interview and trace your family tree.

In Episode 8, Finding Your Roots campers do a surprising activity to get them ready for a trip to the Matson Museum of Anthropology at Penn State University. Graduate students and mentors show them how to find clues in skulls and bones to determine sex, species, and evolutionary order.

One of the foundational components of this curriculum is the intentional time and space made for students to dig in and do additional research. Students have the most amazing questions, ideas, and interests! In Episode 9, Finding Your Roots campers prepare to present their research and findings to their families.