The learner picks her grade at the top of the page (no automatic detection), then answers Items 1 and 2. Grade 8 also answers Item 3. Passing shows "Luminary earned."
Item 1 · Multiple choice · all grades
A mutation changes one letter in a gene's code. What can happen to the protein that gene builds?
Correct: The protein may be built differently, which can change how it works.
Distractors: Nothing can ever change. The protein always disappears. The organism becomes a different species.
Success: selects the correct answer.
Item 2 · Sort as harmful, helpful, or neutral · all grades
(a) A fur color mutation makes a mouse easier for hawks to see. Harmful
(b) A mutation changes a protein, but the trait stays the same. Neutral
(c) A mutation helps bacteria survive where others cannot. Helpful
Success: two of three sorted correctly.
Item 3 · Written response · Grade 8 only
Use the chain gene to protein to trait to explain what happened to the changed Sentinel.
Success: all three links named in order: gene, then protein, then trait. The page checks for the three words in order; confirm the explanation makes sense.
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Scaffolds by grade
Grade 6 · full scaffolds
Guided prompt: "Read the code twice. Circle the one letter that changed before you answer."
Sentence frame: "The gene's code changed, so the ____ was built differently, so the ____ changed."
Worked example (one tap away, labeled Example): "The wing shape gene's code changed, so the protein was built differently, so the shape of the wing changed."
Grade 7 · hint on request
Hint: "A gene is a recipe. A protein is the dish. A trait is what you notice at the table."
Grade 8 · no hints
No prompt, frame, hint, or example. Adds Item 3.
Feedback the learner sees on Item 1
Right: "Right, Explorer. One changed letter can reshape the protein, and the protein shapes the trait."
Wrong: "Look again. The gene's code is the recipe for one protein. If the recipe changes, what happens to the dish?"
Data collection is planned, not active: this prototype keeps answers only on the learner's device. The Ascension Parish Library arrangement is proposed, not confirmed.
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