Making biology count: integrating mathematics into the teaching of inheritance

In this paper, I explore how seamless embedding of four mathematical concepts: counting, ratio, distribution, and statistical significance, into a unit on inheritance enables students to gain a deeper insight into biological phenomena than a qualitative only approach achieves. The topic of Mendelian inheritance is used to illustrate this proposal. An introductory activity is presented that separates the specialized genetics vocabulary from the inheritance process, allowing the initial mathematical relationship to be developed and subsequently followed by the language requirements.