Name: ___________________ Spouse’s Name: _______________________ Date: _______ Period: _____
BEAKER BABIES GENETICS LAB
BACKGROUND:
In this activity, you will practice the basic mechanisms by which characteristics are passed from one
generation to another. You will take on the role of parents who have children, who, in turn, have children of
their own – the grandchildren of the family. Working with a partner of the “opposite gender,” you will first
determine your own genotype and phenotype for several human traits. Then you will mix your genes
(symbolically) with your partner’s to create a new baby (F1). Your baby will then pair with another couple’s
baby to create an F2 generation.
PROCEDURE:
1. Work at your lab station with your “spouse”.
2. Using the descriptions of traits below, record you and your spouse’s phenotype and genotype on the chart
on the next page.
 Your phenotype (along with step #3) will help determine your genotype.
 Your genotype determines what two alleles you can possibly have in your gametes.
3. If you cannot determine if you are heterozygous or homozygous for a dominant trait, flip a penny. If it is
heads the genotype is homozygous dominant. If it is tails, the genotype is heterozygous
4. If you are heterozygous for a trait, flip a coin to determine which allele your gamete will give to your
child. If you flip heads, you give the dominant allele. For tails, give the recessive allele. If you are
homozygous, your gamete will be guaranteed what type of allele it will carry. Place this information in the
data table under “gamete”.
5. Now, crossing the two gamete chromosomes of the parents, list the information for the genotype and
phenotype of F1 generation. List this information in the table marked “F1 generation - Your Kid”.
6. Repeat the same procedure as above, this time using your child’s genotype to determine the alleles that its
gametes will pass on. Record this information under the column “gamete” on your kid’s data table.
7. Find another pair of parents and fill in their F1 information on the appropriate chart, including the gametes.
8. The two F1 generation offspring and now going to have offspring of their own. Determine the alleles
carried by the gametes from these F1 generations to determine the genotype and phenotype for the F2
generation- your grandchildren!!!
9. Draw and color a picture of your beautiful child or grandchild and try to include as many traits in the
picture as possible.
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BREAKDOWN of HUMAN TRAITS:
Gender (Sex): A chromosomal rather than a genetic trait. Males have an X and Y chromosome.
Females have two X chromosomes.
Dominant/Recessive-Face shape: QQ, Qq – round; qq – square
-Cleft chin: CC, Cc – cleft; cc – no cleft
-Widow’s peak: WW, Ww – present, ww – absent
-Eyebrows: KK, Kk – bushy; kk – fine
-Unibrow: UU, Uu – connected; uu – not connected
-Eye shape: AA, Aa – almond; aa – round/narrow
-Slanted eyes: SS, Ss – horizontal; ss – upward slant
-Eyelashes; LL, Ll – long; ll – short
-Lips: II, Ii – thick; ii- thin
-Dimples: DD, Dd – dimples; dd – no dimples
-Nose shape: JJ, Jj – rounded; jj – pointed
-Earlobes: VV, Vv – unattached; vv – attached
-Freckles: FF, Ff – present; ff – absent
-Hitchhiker’s thumb: HH, Hh – absent; hh – present
-Tongue rolling: PP, Pp – roller; pp – non-roller
Incomplete Dominance-Tallness:
TT – tall (>5’8” ♀; >5’11” ♂)
Tt – medium (5’4”-5’7” ♀; 5’7”-5’10 ♂)
tt – short (<5’4” ♀; <5’7” ♂)
-Hair type: CC – curly; Cc – wavy; cc – straight
-Eye distance: YY – close; Yy- average; yy- far
-Eye size: ZZ – large; Zz – average; zz – small
-Mouth size: OO – wide; Oo – average; oo – small
-Nose size: NN – large; Nn – average; nn – small
Polygenic Inheritance - 2 pairs of genes
-Eye color:
EE EE – dark brown
EE Ee – brown
EE ee – light brown/green
Ee ee – hazel/blue-green
ee ee – blue
-Skin tone:
MM MM – very dark
MM Mm – dark
MM mm – medium
Mm mm – olive/light
mm mm – fair
Multiple Alleles - Two genes for each combination
-Hair color I: BB – black; Bb – brown; bb – blonde
-Hair color II: RR – red; Rr – little red; rr – no red at all
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GLOSSARY
Phenotype: the observable characteristics of an organism (OR what the organism looks like)
Genotype: the genetic makeup of an organism (OR what genes an organism has)
Allele: a copy of a gene. Many genes have many different alleles (for example, humans have
many more than two eye colors), but a human has at most two different alleles of a particular
gene.
Gamete: a male or female reproductive cell (a sperm or egg). A gamete has only one copy of
each chromosome pair, whereas every other cell in humans has two copies.
Zygote: the cell produced by the union of two gametes (one sperm, one egg) in a process
called reproduction. A zygote therefore has both copies of each chromosome pair. The zygote
grows and divides to become a baby.
Dominant allele: allele which masks the recessive and always shows in the phenotype;
represented by a capital letter
Recessive allele: allele that is masked by the dominant and only shows in the phenotype
when the dominant is not present; represented by a lowercase letter
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Name: ___________________ Spouse’s Name: _______________________ Date: _______ Period: _____
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The Picture of Your F1 Child
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