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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.