Create a Superhero Baby Activity Purpose: Use superhero traits and genetic crosses to help better understand the genetic concepts of: genotypes, phenotypes, Punnett squares and what possible outcomes are when two parent organisms have offspring. Instructions: 1) Pick two superheroes, one male and one female that you are going to use for this project. You can use the internet to help you with this assignment. (Some examples include Wolverine, Cyclops, Wonder Woman, etc.) Record the names on your data sheet. 2) Develop a list of a minimum of 5 phenotypes (physical traits) that your characters have. The traits can be a variety of physical characteristics, like eye color, hair color, etc. You can do 10 or more for extra credit. On your list you must also use, gender and blood type and you must include 2 “superpowers.” Record the list of phenotypes on your data sheet. Example: Trait Gender Flying Power Eye Colour Strength strength Superman Male Fly’s Blue Eyes Super-strength Cat woman Female Doesn’t Fly Yellow Eyes Regular- 3) Using your list of traits make a key and indicate the dominant and recessive allele for each trait. You and your partner will be assigning what’s dominant and recessive. For example: Superhero Trait Chart Trait Skin Hair Colour Dominant Trait Fair Skin = W Black Hair = B Recessive Trait Dark Skin = w Blonde Hair = b Create a Superhero Baby Activity Fly Flying ability = F No flying ability = f Blood Type IA and IB IO 4) Fill in the “FAMILY GENOTYPE/PHENOTYPE CHART” on your data sheet with the genotypes and phenotypes for your superheroes. You must have some heterozygous traits, some homozygous recessive traits, and some homozygous dominant traits. If your superhero is a male he is XY and if your superhero is a female she is XX for her gender genotype. Example: FAMILY GENOTYPE/PHENOTYPE CHART Male Superhero: Superman Female Superhero: Cat Woman Trait Genotype Phenotype Genotype Phenotype Skin Color Eyes Hair Fly Ww bb Hh Xf Y Fair skin Blue eyes Black hair Ability to Fly ww Bb HH XFXF Dark Skin Yellow eyes Black hair No flying ability Gender XY Male XX Female 5) Make a Punnett square for each trait by crossing the male genotype with the female genotype for specific genes. So if you have 7 traits listed you should have 7 Punnett Squares and the gender Punnett square and the Blood type For example: Skin trait Ww x ww Superman = Ww W Cat woman = ww w w w Ww Ww ww ww 6) Then roll a dice. If the die lands on “1” then the baby receives the trait in box number one, if your roll a “2” than the baby receive the trait from box 2 of the Punnett square and so on. If the dice lands on 5 or 6 roll again. Highlight or circle the box rolled. Create a Superhero Baby Activity 1 2 3 4 Lands on #4 = Baby’s Genotype is ww Fill in the “Offspring Data Table” with the results. Look at the example below: Trait Dice Roll Baby Genotype Skin Eyes 4 1 ww Hair 2 Fly Baby Phenotype Dark Skin 4 Gender 7) Record the genotypes and phenotypes with the baby’s results onto the table with the parents 8) Put all of your results onto a poster. Draw the offspring with the traits that resulted from the dice rolls. Checklist of Completed Project Your poster must include a coloured picture of the male parent and female parent. A key for the dominant and recessive traits. A table listing the parent genotypes and phenotypes and the offspring’s genotype and phenotype. The Punnett square for each trait indicating the genotype inherited (either circled or highlighted) A table indicating the dice rolls of the baby’s genotype and phenotype. A hand drawn coloured picture of the result baby. Neat, coloured, and organized. Create a Superhero Baby Activity Superhero Baby Activity SUPERHERO GENETICS Superheroes to be used for this project: Male superhero = _________________________________ Female superhero = _________________________________ Traits Key showing dominant and recessive allele for each trait: Trait Extreme fighting Invisibility Shape shifting Super strength Telekinetic Flight Intelligence Regeneration Superhero Trait Chart Dominant Trait Recessive Trait Superhero Baby Activity FAMILY GENOTYPE/PHENOTYPE CHART Male Superhero: _________________________ Trait Extreme fighting Invisibility Shape shifting Super strength Telekinetic Flight Intelligence Regeneration Gender Baby Punnett Square’s Genotype Phenotype Female Superhero: _________________________ Genotype Phenotype Superhero Baby Activity OFFSPRING DATA TABLE: Trait Dice Roll Baby Genotype Baby Phenotype Extreme fighting Invisibility Shape shifting Super strength Telekinetic Flight Intelligence Regeneration Gender Analysis Questions: Answer the following questions in complete sentences, re-stating the question within your answer. 1. Can you accurately determine a person’s genotype just by observing their phenotype? (hint: think about homozygous dominant and heterozygous) 2. Would you expect the other students in your class to have an offspring completely similar to yours? Explain why or why not? Superhero Baby Activity 3. How might if possible for someone to have a trait when none of their relatives shows it? 4. Do you think that anyone in your class will have the same genetic traits that you have? (hint: think about our genetics unit and how genetics work) 5. How do you explain the chance of having a boy or a girl as always being 50-50? Which parent is going to be responsible for determining the gender of the baby?
