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Excel Project
George Gouliamos
EDTC 633-Tools-Data-Spring
2017 in Clifton
Introduction
• I teach Biology at Clifton High School in
Clifton, NJ. Each class contains about twenty
five students from diverse backgrounds all
with different skills and abilities.
• Class periods are forty four minutes each with
a double lab period once per week.
Goals and Objectives
• Students will strive to generate spreadsheets
based on collected data.
• Students will strive to analyze statistical data in
order to better understand certain concepts.
• Students will strive to compare population
demographics before and after certain events.
• Students will strive to evaluate how genetic drift
can be a strong evolutionary force in certain
situations.
NJ Next Generation Science Standards
•
HS-LS4-1: Communicate scientific information that common ancestry and biological evolution
are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence.
•
HS-LS4-2: Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily
results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the
heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual
reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those
organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.
•
HS-LS4-3: Apply concepts of statistics and probability to support explanations that organisms
with an advantageous heritable trait tend to increase in proportion to organisms lacking this
trait.
•
HS-LS4-4: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to
adaptation of populations.
•
HS-LS4-5: Evaluate the evidence supporting the claims that changes in environmental
conditions may result in: (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the
emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.
Project timeline
This project will take place over the course of
one lab period (2 double 45 minute periods).
Project Activities
• Genetic drift is defined as the random change
in allele frequencies that occurs in small
populations.
• This lab will demonstrate how genetic drift
can be a strong evolutionary force in certain
situations.
• We will see that a smaller population size can
show a much more dramatic shift in allele
frequencies over time due to certain events.
Initial Population:
• Students will pick up a cup of 24 Plain M&M’s
and a paper towel; this represents the original
population.
• Each colored M&M represents 1 allele found
in the population. Note that there are 6
possible alleles represented in this population
(multiple alleles).
• Students will count the alleles in the initial
population and fill in the data in Table 1.
Founder Effect:
• Genetic drift is strongly tied to population size
and becomes important in situations where a
small segment of an original population splits
off or becomes isolated from the parent
population.
• WITHOUT LOOKING students will remove 6
M&M’s from the cup and place them on the
paper towel; this represents the founding
group.
• Students will count the alleles in the founding
population and fill in the data in Table 2.
Bottleneck Effect:
• This process also occurs when the original
population undergoes a devastating population
reduction (i.e. by natural disaster) and the allele
frequencies are changed as a result. This is
referred to as the ‘bottleneck effect.
• Without looking, students will remove 18 M&M’s.
This removal represents a natural disaster that
has hit the population. Only 3 individuals remain,
each having 2 alleles (6 alleles).
• Students will count the alleles in the surviving
population and fill in the data in Table 3.
Analyze the Data:
• Students will compare allele frequencies
between the initial population and the
founding and bottleneck populations.
• Students will compare the percent change
after the founder effect and bottleneck effect
on the populations by analyzing the data
tables and graphs.
• Students will answer the discussion questions
in complete sentences on a separate paper.
How to evaluate the data
• Students will compare the allele frequency in
the initial population with the allele frequency
in both the founding population and the
surviving population.
• For example, students will observe that green
is represented at 25% in the initial population,
16.7% in the founding population, and 0% in
the surviving population after the bottleneck
event.
• This demonstrates that chance can be
involved in species evolution and not just
natural selection.
• Students will analyze the tables titled Percent
change after founding and bottleneck effect.
These charts have the condition formatting
function where green shows an increase and
red shows a decrease from the initial
population. Yellow shows no change.
• Excel will automatically graph the data so
students can get a graphical representation of
their results for easier comparison.
Student evaluation
• The excel spreadsheets will guide students as
they work through the lab. A problem many
students encountered over the years with the
formulas has been solved due to excel. The
formulas are in place so all students have to
do is input data into the correct tables.
• Students will be evaluated on their
interpretation of the data as well as the
discussion questions that accompany the lab.
“Brainy Bits”
Sense and Meaning
• “Brain scans and other studies have shown that
when new learning is readily comprehensible
(sense) and can be connected to past experiences
(meaning), there is substantially more cerebral
activity followed by dramatically improved
retention (Maguire, Frith, &Morris, 1999;
Poppenk, Kohler, & Moscovitch, 2010; RittleJohnson & Kmicikewyecz, 2008)” (Sousa, 2011).
• We have discussed genetic drift in class so
students are familiar with the founder effect
and the bottleneck effect. They are also
familiar with the concept of chance. This
makes sense to them.
• Students will be physically removing the
M&Ms at random simulating both the founder
effect and bottleneck effect so this will give
tremendous meaning to what they are
learning.
• And best of all…they get to eat the M&Ms
when they are done!
Primacy-Recency
• “In a learning episode, we tend to remember
best that which comes first and remember
second best that which comes last. We tend
to remember least that which comes just past
the middle of the episode.” (Sousa, 2011) Due
to the primacy-recency effect, it is important
to teach new information in the beginning of
the lesson. This is when students are most
likely to remember new material.
• “The primacy-recency effect has a particularly
important impact on block scheduling, in
which a learning episode of 80 or more
minutes can be a blessing or a disaster,
depending on how the time is used. A block
containing four 20-minute segments will often
be much more productive than one
continuous lesson. Further, only one or two of
the four block segments should be teacher
directed.” (Sousa, 2011)
• During the first segment students will be given
a brief introduction to the lesson where we
will review the founder effect and the
bottleneck effect. All directions for the lab will
be clarified before students begin.
• The next segments will be independent where
students gather data for the initial population,
the founding population and the surviving
population.
• During the final segment, students will analyze
the data and answer discussion questions.
Citations
• Sousa, D. A. (2011). How the brain learns.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.