Meiosis and Reproduction
AP Notebook Labs
*Each lab will have each of the major sections in your lab notebook: introduction, hypothesis, methods,
data and analysis, and conclusions.
*Lab notebooks will be graded on organization as well as understanding of the material.
#1 Flower Reproduction:
Question: How does Allstromeria avoid self-incompatibility?
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Introduction: Show knowledge of
o Basic plant life cycle
o Parts of a flower
o Fertilization within a flower.
Hypothesis: What can be observed from a flower that suggests it is acting as only one sex?
Methods: Dissect your flower. Observe activity of both pistil and stamen. An active pistil will
be open so pollen can enter. Active stamen have anthers covered in pollen. Measure the
relative length of both pistil and stamen. Put into class google docs so you can analyze patterns
and trends.
Data and Analysis: Make a table to demonstrate activity of stamen and pistil. Make a graph to
analyze stamen and pistil length. Trend is what sexual character your flower displays.
Conclusion:
o Use data collected to determine the sex of your flower that is active and discuss whether
your data suggests that structural incompatibility could play a role in avoiding selfing as
well.
o Discussion of error and variation as seen within the data.
o Research molecular self-incompatibilty in plants and explain how plants avoid self the
molecular level.
#2 Flower to Seed
Research Question: What is the role of fruit in the development of a flower into a seed?
 Introduction:
o Show knowledge of where fertilization occurs in a flower
o How/what flower structures develop into fruit structures
 Hypothesize: How does a flower develop into a fruit?
 Method: Use the internet to find diagrams of 3+ stages of flower/fruit development
 Data/analysis: Make a table that shows how flower parts have modified/developed into flower
parts for 3-5 common fruits. Compare and contrast differences in different types of plants
 Conclusion: Discuss the role of fruits in the reproductive success of various plant species
#3 Seed Germination:
Question: Does temperature or light affect seed germination?
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Introduction: Show knowledge of:
o Role of seed dormancy
o Parts of a seed
o Growth of a plant embryo
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Hypothesis: Make a null hypothesis about your condition (fridge, dark, incubator, bright light).
Methods: Design an experiment to investigate your null hypothesis. Control must be at room
temperature in the light. Procedure will be to soak seeds for 30 minutes and then grow in a
ziplock baggie with a wet paper towel. You must monitor daily to make sure paper towel is
wet.
Data and analysis: Keep a daily log of the amount of seeds germinated. Stop when at least 50%
of the control seeds have germinated. Use the control values as the expected values for testing
your null hypothesis.
Conclusion: Accept or reject your null hypothesis, explain sources of error, and sicuss the role
of fruit in plant reproduction.
#3: Crossing over in Fungi:
Question: At what rate does crossing over occur in Sordaria fungi?
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Introduction: Show your knowledge of
o Fungi life cycle
o Stages of meiosis and where crossing over occurs.
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Hypothesis: How can crossover frequency be determined?
Methods: Complete meiosis lab bench. Use the information to analyze and determine the
crossover frequency for the ascospore sample the teacher provides you.
Data and Analysis: Organize a table to show data collected for your sample and crossover
frequency calculation.
Conclusion: Explain what is significant about crossing-over frequency and why crossing over is
important in terms of genetic variation. Read pages 259-260 in your book and suggest when a
fungi may initiate a the sexual portion of its life cycle and give the pros and cons of reproducing
sexually vs. asexually.
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