Download Genetics Simulation Activity - Grade 8 Learning from the Fossil Record

Learning from the Fossil Record
Grade 8 Science
Name: Caroline B.
Date: 1/14/11
Genetics Simulation Activity
Below are a male and female puffalump. They have fallen madly in love and have decided to have
children. What are their chances of having children with two horns, which makes them better at
defending themselves?
The cells in the male puffalump have
two genes for one horn (O).
The cells in the female puffalump
have one gene for one horn (O) and
one gene for two horns (T).
When the male makes sperm it only contributes one of the two genes to the sperm. When the female
makes an egg it only contributes one of the two genes to the egg. This is done randomly.
1. Use a penny to represent the male’s sperm. There is an O on each side of the penny.
2. Use a nickel to represent the female’s egg. There is an O on one side and a T on the other side.
3. You will flip each coin for each time they make a new sperm cell and egg cell. You will do this 15
times to make 15 sperm and eggs. Record which gene randomly was contributed to the sperm
and egg each time below.
Trial
1
SPERM (penny) O or O
O
EGG (nickel) O or T
O
Two or One Horns
One Horn
Learning from the Fossil Record
Grade 8 Science
Name: Caroline B.
Date: 1/14/11
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
4.
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
T
T
O
T
T
O
O
T
T
T
T
O
O
One Horn
Two Horns
Two Horns
One Horn
Two Horns
Two Horns
One Horn
One Horn
Two Horns
Two Horns
Two Horns
Two Horns
One Horn
One Horn
If the sperm and egg combine during reproduction each time they “make a baby” the two horns
will always appear if they have the T gene. If they do not have a T gene they will only have one
horn. Fill in the “Two or One Horns” column.
5. How many of the puffalump offspring have one horn?
Answer: There will be 6 puffalump offspring’s with one horn.
6. How many of the puffalump offspring have two horns?
Answer: There will be 8 puffalump offspring’s with two horns.
7. Why are there differences between some of the siblings?
Answer: There are differences between some of the siblings because the parents have different
genes, and even though they might have brown hair they might have another gene that is black
hair. Even though you can’t see black hair the child may end up having black hair. Then the
siblings get two different genes from the parents and the siblings may use a different one than
each other.
8. Why are there similarities between some of the siblings?
Answer: There are similarities between some of the siblings because they might use the same
type of gene. For example if there are 3 children, and one uses the orange hair gene, and the
others use the brown hair genes, those two are similar. And if you have 3 children it is
impossible for them all to be different.
9. Why are some of the offspring similar to one parent and not the other?
Answer: An offspring is similar to one parent and not the other because it read that parent’s
gene. For a trait there are two genes, one form the mom and one from the dad, and the
offspring might only read the dad’s for eye color but he mom’s for hair color. This is how they
Learning from the Fossil Record
Grade 8 Science
Name: Caroline B.
Date: 1/14/11
are similar to one parent and not the other, except the offspring doesn’t just read the mother’s
genes or just the father’s genes.
Question: Does the sperm/egg give different gene traits? I mean does it alternate between which one it
gives each time?