My Sister's Keeper

“What happens when scientific possibility becomes greater than our ability to agree about what we should do with it?”

Welcome to the Novel Science series—curriculum unit frameworks designed to bridge literature, rigorous scientific inquiry, and social and environmental justice.

My Sister's Keeper: Genetics, Biotechnology & Bioethics is a comprehensive, nine-week integrated unit framework that uses Jodi Picoult’s multi-perspective novel to anchor high-level investigations into cellular differentiation, leukemia, Mendelian genetics vs. HLA tissue compatibility, PGD/IVF embryo screening, immunology, and organ transplantation. Rather than filling out abstract Punnett squares in isolation, students examine how biotechnology, law, healthcare equity, and bodily autonomy collide when an adolescent girl is intentionally conceived as a genetic donor for her sister.

What Makes This a "Unit Framework"?

This resource is not a scripted, one-size-fits-all lesson plan binder. I trust educators as the experts in their classrooms and communities.

This framework delivers the architectural blueprint, mathematical progressions, and pacing for your unit—the essential questions, laboratory and modeling concepts, bioethical discussion circles, standards alignments, and project rubrics. You retain the autonomy to adapt daily activities, readings, and investigations to reflect your students' lived realities and local environments.

What’s Inside the 9-Week Arc?

Each week pairs specific chapters of My Sister's Keeper with targeted NGSS, CCSS-Math, and CCSS-ELA standards, inquiry questions, and lab investigations:

• Week 1: Blood, Cells & Anna's Identity (Specialized Cells, Bone Marrow & Differentiation, Blood Cell Identification Lab, Sample Blood Data Spread)

• Week 2: Cancer, Mutation & Cellular Regulation (Cell Cycle Disruption, APL Leukemia, Normal vs. Cancer Cell Modeling, Population vs. Individual Outcome Data)

• Week 3: Genetics, Inheritance & Probability (DNA/Chromosomes, Dominant/Recessive Traits, Genetic Probability Simulations, Theoretical vs. Experimental Probability)

• Week 4: PGD, IVF, Embryo Screening & "Designer Babies" (Embryonic Development, PGD/IVF Process Modeling, Reproductive Technology Access Audit)

• Week 5: HLA, Immunology & Tissue Compatibility (Surface Markers, Self vs. Non-Self, Immune Recognition Modeling, Conditional Match Probability Math)

• Week 6: Kidneys, Transplantation & Bodily Autonomy (Selective Filtration, Homeostasis, Kidney Filtration Lab Model, Medical Emancipation & Minor Rights Research)

• Week 7: Environmental Health & Environmental Justice (Carcinogens, Groundwater Contamination, Cancer Clusters, Community Environmental Exposure Fieldwork)

• Week 8: Healthcare Access, Medical Debt & the Ethics of Care (Transplant Outcomes, Healthcare Access Audit, Two-Way Data Tables, Multiple-Perspectives Literary Seminar)

• Week 9: Synthesis, Irony & the Bioethics Review (The Surprise Ending, Kate's Epilogue Voice, The Campbell/Jesse Metaphor Audits, The Bioethics Review Panel)

Key Features Included:

• The Discussion Circle Progression: A scaffolded sequence moving weekly from biological inquiry to systemic justice ("Who is Anna?" ➡️ "When Does a Cell Become a Problem?" ➡️ "Who Owns Anna's Body?" ➡️ "Is Where You Live a Health Issue?" ➡️ "Does the Ending Change Everything?").

• The Final "Bioethics Autopsy": A multi-lens evaluation tool where students synthesize cell biology, biotechnology, mathematics, ethics, law, justice, and narrative structure in hindsight.

• Integrated Mathematics Progression: Rigorously threads probability, two-way frequency tables, center/spread analysis, correlation vs. causation, and model limitations into everyday medical decisions.

• Place-Based Social & Environmental Justice Threads: Practical research protocols investigating medical debt, informed consent/youth rights, local environmental hazard exposure, and economic disparities in specialty healthcare access.

• Culminating Performance Task (The Bioethics Review): Multidisciplinary student teams present a comprehensive scientific, quantitative, literary, and ethical case file before a simulated hospital ethics board or legal panel.

• Complete Multi-Disciplinary Standards Alignment: Fully threaded alignments for NGSS Life Science and Engineering Design, CCSS High School Mathematics (Statistics, Probability, Quantities), and CCSS-ELA 9–10 reading, writing, and speaking standards.

What You Receive:

Upon purchase, you will receive a downloadable PDF containing direct access to the master Google Drive files. Simply make an editable copy directly to your own Drive to tailor, differentiate, and pace the framework according to your school calendar and classroom needs.