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
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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.
Determining the genotype for a trait
• 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
• 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.
Stop and Think
a. 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 Think
b. 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 Think
c. 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 Think
d. 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.
2.
3.
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5.
6.
7.
Orient the body for either male or female (which
orientation do you think is male? Female?)
Place the skin on the smooth side of the body.
Attach the head.
Attach the leg.
Place foot on the stand.
Insert the leg into the foot and stand.
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
environment
1. 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