Holidays may find us sharing family stories that can glimpse into our roots.  Yo Yo Ma, cellist and humanitarian, is a man who fails to disappoint, and Professor Henry Gates Jr.’s research on Ma’s family history delivers as well.  In this short video clip, Gates teases Ma a bit before revealing some astonishing facts about his family’s past.

You’ll find video of Gates’ visit to China to speak with Ma’s father, Ma’s reaction to family revelations and supports materials that include a lesson plan toexplore types of genetic information contained in the human genome  at Ma Family History: Faces of History.  In addition, a lesson plan entitled Faces of America: I Dream of Genome is also available at PBS LearningMedia.  And there’s still more you’ll find:  A collection if resources from Faces of America with Harvard professor Henry Gates, Jr.