Tri Hybrid Cupcakes
Name: ____________________ Date: ________________ Period: _________________
This delicious activity will reveal if you have mastered skills taught during the genetics unit. Can you
accurately identify the genotype of your creation? Can you use your skills in probability to predict the
different phenotypes that could be found in the entire class? Can you resist eating your cupcake until
after your assigned questions have been answered?
Assume the following:
White Frosting (W) is dominant
Chocolate Frosting is recessive (w)
Colored Sugar (C) is dominant
White Sugar is recessive (c)
No Sprinkles (N) is dominant
Having Sprinkles (n) is recessive
Directions:
Step 1: Get a cupcake from the counter and decorate it using any of the above alleles. There are no
codominant traits in cupcakes, so don’t add both kinds of sugar or both kinds of frosting.
Step 2: Put the description of your cupcake (its phenotype) on the chart at the front of the room.
Step 3: Answer the following questions (including the ones on the back of this paper):
1) What is the phenotype of your cupcake? _______________________________________
2) What is the genotype of your cupcake?(3 letters) ________________________________
3) How many different phenotypes are found in the class? ___________________________
4) How many different phenotypes could be predicted to occur in the class? _____________
5) “Mate“your cupcake with someone else’s. Record the genotypes of each cupcake:
_______________ (my cupcake) X ____________________(other cupcake)
Could any of the “offspring” have white frosting? ________
Could any of the “offspring” have white sugar? ________
Could any of the” offspring” have no sprinkles? ________
Step 4: Eat your cupcake and clean up any mess you left behind.
Step 5: Hand in this paper before leaving the classroom.