Post by blackcrowheart on Mar 26, 2007 19:47:12 GMT -5
Innovative Teacher Uses DNA Test To Teach History Lesson
Some seventh grade students in the Bronx learned some surprising things about their family history after taking a special DNA test in their Social Studies class.
"I was watching a program on PBS called 'African-American Lives' where they did this with admixture, and I thought wouldn't it be great if students could do the same thing," said teacher Eric Lincoln.
Admixture is a test done with a quick oral swab and reveals what kind of blood has been passed down to you from your ancestors. Students learned they had mixtures of European, African, and Native American blood, and that in a city of immigrants the world over, things do come together.
The students, and even Lincoln, were surprised by the test's results.
"I found out that I was 10 percent Native American, out of my last 100 ancestors, and that was a complete shock to me," said Lincoln.
"I was 68 percent European, 25 percent sub-Saharan African and 12 percent Asian," said student Sheila Guerrios. "I was shocked, because everybody thinks that I look Native American. And to say that I'm not Native American, that was a shock to me."
The surprises are still sinking in for student Manuel Estrada, who knew for sure he was Puerto Rican, and now he knows that includes African blood.
"They could have been taken from Africa to Europe and then from Europe to America, and that's how we got Puerto Rico," he said.
Lincoln says the test is the perfect tool to teach his students about history, especially the vast migration of native peoples from Asia and Africa into the Americas before continental separation, explaining his students' Native American blood.
"People could have features and not know they are from that part of the world," said student Randy Rosario.
Most of the children in Lincoln's class are the offspring of that Caribbean history, where Native American blood was mixed with European and African blood.
The test results challenged Wilson Acosta's assumptions about his ancestry.
"I was 70 percent European, one percent East Asian, and 19 percent sub-Saharan African," said Acosta, who is Latino.
And that means he has white ancestors.
"I would be thinking over and over how is this possible," he said.
A school nurse helped administer the test.
For more information on the test, go to www.dnaprint.com.
- Michael Meenan
Some seventh grade students in the Bronx learned some surprising things about their family history after taking a special DNA test in their Social Studies class.
"I was watching a program on PBS called 'African-American Lives' where they did this with admixture, and I thought wouldn't it be great if students could do the same thing," said teacher Eric Lincoln.
Admixture is a test done with a quick oral swab and reveals what kind of blood has been passed down to you from your ancestors. Students learned they had mixtures of European, African, and Native American blood, and that in a city of immigrants the world over, things do come together.
The students, and even Lincoln, were surprised by the test's results.
"I found out that I was 10 percent Native American, out of my last 100 ancestors, and that was a complete shock to me," said Lincoln.
"I was 68 percent European, 25 percent sub-Saharan African and 12 percent Asian," said student Sheila Guerrios. "I was shocked, because everybody thinks that I look Native American. And to say that I'm not Native American, that was a shock to me."
The surprises are still sinking in for student Manuel Estrada, who knew for sure he was Puerto Rican, and now he knows that includes African blood.
"They could have been taken from Africa to Europe and then from Europe to America, and that's how we got Puerto Rico," he said.
Lincoln says the test is the perfect tool to teach his students about history, especially the vast migration of native peoples from Asia and Africa into the Americas before continental separation, explaining his students' Native American blood.
"People could have features and not know they are from that part of the world," said student Randy Rosario.
Most of the children in Lincoln's class are the offspring of that Caribbean history, where Native American blood was mixed with European and African blood.
The test results challenged Wilson Acosta's assumptions about his ancestry.
"I was 70 percent European, one percent East Asian, and 19 percent sub-Saharan African," said Acosta, who is Latino.
And that means he has white ancestors.
"I would be thinking over and over how is this possible," he said.
A school nurse helped administer the test.
For more information on the test, go to www.dnaprint.com.
- Michael Meenan