Genetics:Crazy Traits and Adaptations

Welcome!

Who is CPO Science?

• Developer and publisher of inquiry-based science curriculum and hands-on materials• How many have heard of CPO Science?• Sample materials at your table – PLEASE LEAVE FOR OTHER WORKSHOPS – WE CAN MAIL SAMPLES – Thanks very much!

How is CPO Science Different?• We design and manufacture high quality

science equipment and INCLUDE IT with purchase of textbook sets

• We support guided inquiry through extensive teacher support material and reader-friendly texts

• We offer strong science content that is a blend of conceptual and quantitative approaches.

What Subject Areas?• High School: Physical Science, Earth/Space

Science, Physics First, CP Physics• Middle School: Earth, Life, Physical• Visit the booth• Request samples with raffle forms at end of

workshop

Now for the fun!

Key questions• What are traits?• How do traits vary in a species?• How are traits inherited?• What role does chance play in an

organism’s heredity?

Try This…

• When you are told, place the small piece of paper on your tongue.• What happened?• How many in the classroom can taste something?• How many cannot taste anything?

Traits• The ability to taste PTC is an inherited trait.

There are two forms of the trait:• Let T = Taster (dominant form)• Let t = nontaster (recessive form)• Your genotype is TT or Tt if you are a taster,

or tt if you are a nontaster.

Your creature’s gender

• Find the egg coin (x on both sides)• Find the sperm coin (x on one side, y on the other)• Flip the coins together to determine the gender of your creature.• Record this in the table provided – see next slide for example

Determining trait genotypes for your creature

• Members of this species have the following traits: main body, foot, leg, skin, arms, hands, beak, eyes, eyebrows, ears, wings, antenna.

• You will flip sperm and egg coins to determine the allele for each trait your creature inherits from each parent.

Determining trait genotypes for your creature

• In this activity, we will assume that both parents have the same genotype for all traits (Tt).

• The genotype of each parent could be Tt, TT, or tt. We are choosing to have parents with the Tt genotype for each trait.

Determining the genotype for each trait

• You will need the blue egg coin with a capital T on one side and a lower case t on the other side.

• You will also need the green sperm coin with a capital T on one side and a lower case t on the other side.

• The first trait you will roll for is skin color. • Place the egg and sperm coins in the cup. • Shake the cup and toss the two coins onto the

lab table. • The side that lands up on each coin represents

the sperm and egg that unite during fertilization.

Determining the genotype for a trait

• Record the allele from each parent and genotype in columns 2, 3, and 4 of the first row of Table 1.

• Repeat this procedure for traits 2 through 13.• See the next slide for an example.

Determining the genotype

Stop and Thinka. What information do the letters on the

sperm and egg coins indicate: alleles, genotype, or phenotype?Alleles.Both alleles together represent the genotype.

Stop and Thinkb. For the sperm coin, what are the chances

of getting a T or getting a t? State your answer as a fraction or a percent. 1/2 or 50%.

Stop and Thinkc. For the egg coin, what are the chances of

getting a T or getting a t? State your answer as a fraction or a percent. 1/2 or 50%.

Stop and Thinkd. When both coins are

flipped at once, what are your chances of getting each of the following combinations: TT, Tt, or tt? State your answer for each as a fraction and a percent.

Building your creature• Once you have completed columns 2

through 4 of Table 1, use Table 2 (next page) to look up the phenotype for each trait. Record the phenotype for each trait in column 5 of Table 1.

Building your creature• Once you have completed Table 1,

select the correct body parts to build your creature. See parts list on next slide.

Creature Building Tips

1. Orient the body for either male or female (which orientation do you think is male? Female?)2. Place the skin on the smooth side of the body.3. Attach the head.4. Attach the leg.5. Place foot on the stand.6. Insert the leg into the foot and stand.7. Attach the rest of the body parts.

Thinking about what you observed

a. Examine the creatures. Do any of them look exactly alike? Why or why not?

• Some look similar, but no two are alike. For two to look exactly alike, every single flip of all three coins would have to be the same for both creatures.

Thinking about what you observed

b. How does this investigation explain why siblings may resemble each other, but never look exactly alike (unless they are identical twins)?

• Since siblings share the same parents they will likely share many of the same traits. With the huge amounts of traits possible for humans the probability of all of them matching from sibling to sibling is very small.

Thinking about what you observed

c. Count the number of males and number of females. Does the number of each match the chances of getting a male or female in the game? Why or why not?

• Not exactly because the sample is small. Larger samples yield results that are closer to the average.

Thinking about what you observed

d. Which trait(s) are examples of complete dominance?• Eyebrows, beak, ears, leg, foot, arms, hands, antennae,

antenna shape, wings, and gender.e. Which trait(s) are examples of incomplete dominance?• Skin color and tail.f. Which trait(s) are examples of codominance?• Eye color.

Crazy Adaptations

Describe the adaptations your creature has for surviving in

the environment – be creative!

Now, let’s see if your creature can survive the unpredictable conditions of a changing

environment1. Environment Cards will be displayed on

this screen. For each card, your creature can: thrive (+1 point); be pushed closer to extinction (-1 point); or have no effect (0).

2. Watch out for Catastrophe Cards!3. When you earn a score of -3, you become

extinct!4. Play until there is one survivor left.

Build the creature that you think will be the best survivor in our environment