Download The Guppy Project

The Guppy
Project
This project gives students a hands-on approach to
learning heredity and how traits are passed from
generation to generation.
Curriculum/State Standard
Camden Diocese Science
Curriculum – Life Science Content
E:1,2,4 Mendel’s Theory of
Genetics, Chromosomes and genes,
dominance/recessive, genetic
engineering
New Jersey Core Curriculum
Content Standards – Standard
5.2.15, Standards 5.7.3,5,,9,13
Overview
Students set-up 3 breeding trios of
guppies, each trio having different
traits. After allowing guppies to
reproduce and giving time for
maturity, students determined male
and female guppies, separated them
and observed differing characteristics between individuals and the
sexes. Through selected breeding,
new breeders were established and
allowed to breed based on their
inherited traits. These traits will be
observed for the purpose of
learning how these new traits, when
combined, are passed from parent
to offspring.
Objectives
• The student will apply Mendelian
genetic principles in a “real-life”
situation.
• The student will, through direct
observations, determine
recessive, dominant, and sexlinked traits in guppies.
8-12
GRADE LEVEL
• The student will be able to
compile data gathered through
the project to make a clear
determination of the outcome of
the selected characteristics that
were being studied
Materials
6 – 10 gallon fish tanks, cart 6' x 3'
( I used stainless steel and welded
the cart together), pump, heater,
1 – 30 gallon trash can, filter
system, air system, 30 ft. PVC 1/2"
pipe, 12 – 1/2" PVC elbows, 200 ft
1/4" air tubing, 2 – 5 way gang
valves, 3 – 2 quart pitchers, 3 PVC
Tees, additional tubing for pump
and filter system (depending on
what you use), fish, additional
support information on guppies.
Please note that additional supplies
may be needed to start your project.
Readiness Activity
Students spent two days learning
about the history, anatomy, mating
practices and breeding/birthing
cycles of guppies. They spent a
third day doing preliminary
observation on the original parents
used.
1
YEAR
Continued on the back . . .
$1,000
TOTAL BUDGET
THIS WINNING LESSON PLAN WAS SUBMITTED BY:
Lawrence R. Young
Sacred Heart Grammar School
922 East Landis Avenue, Vineland, NJ 08360
“The Guppy Project” project continued . . .
Strategies/Activities
Once the project is set-up, label
each of the six tanks, using
numbers 1-6. Acquire your parent
trios. This can be done through
your local pet store or from an
actual breeder. I suggest obtaining
the guppies from a breeder, this
allows you to know that the strains
are pure and not mixed. The local
community college in my area
supplied our guppies from their
aquaculture program. Separate each
trio (consisting of one male and
two females) into separate tanks.
Each trio should consist of males
and females from the same strain.
After the students have received the
preliminary information, allow
them to observe the breeding trios
for characteristics that are being
studied. Characteristics to be
studied are size, scale color and
pattern, caudal tail shape, and
dorsal fin size and shape. These
are only a few of the possible
characteristics that can be studied.
I require each student to obtain a
separate notebook for the project to
log all data, drawings, and other
information given. The students
should keep accurate written and
drawn descriptions of the
observations. Assuming that the
females are not already pregnant by
the male, the first drop should
occur around a month to a month
and a half after the set-up. If the
females are already pregnant from
the trio male, keep watch over the
females. A tip on when to expect
the delivery of the drop: you will
be able to see, very clearly, the eyes
of the young frey (new-born
guppies). From this point you have
about a day. Birth generally occurs
early morning to late morning. You
will need to separate the frey
immediately, because the parent
guppies will eat them as they are
born. To separate the frey, simply
place a divider in the tank and
place the frey on the unoccupied
side of the tank.
Delivery may take up to four or
five hours and usually will yield
between 19 and 30 offspring. Once
the new frey are all delivered,
allow the students to make their
next set of observations. They
should include number of offspring
born, written descriptions and
drawings of at least four or five of
them, including size, shape, and
color. In about 4-5 weeks the
students will make their next set of
observations. At this time the
male’s reproductive structure,
called the gonopodium is visible.
Other traits are starting to appear as
well, including color. Allow
students to write and draw the
differences between males and
females. It is important that you
separate the males and females as
the students identify the differences. Generally, male and females
become reproductively active at
this time and to control the genetics
and breeding cycles males and
females need to be separated. I
have used tanks 5 and 6 as my male
and female tanks. This allows the
fish to mature and gain all of their
characteristics, but eliminates the
possibility of mating before the
students know the characteristics.
By week 10, the offspring should
gain their full characteristics and
the students need to make another
set of observations for both male
and females. After the observation,
the students have the task of
determining which characteristics
are dominant, recessive, and sexlinked. This may take a few
breeding cycles to fully gain an
accurate conclusion. The students
can then determine, of the offspring,
which contain suitable breeding
characteristics and which do not.
The guppies that do contain the
suitable characteristics are placed
in tank 6 and the others are sold off
at the end of the semester or year
during a fish sale. The profits from
the sale are then used to maintain
any replacements of parts or other
maintenance items that may arise,
creating a self-supporting program.
Once the guppies are separated and
breeders have been established, run
a few more breeding cycles, and
then you can have the students start
to mix the strains to develop new
strains based on the desired
characteristics. The students will
have to apply the knowledge
gained from previous years to
determine if the cross will work
and yield the proper outcomes.
Properly developing a new strain
will take a year or two, so be
patient and allow the students to
take ownership of the project.
Other considerations to allow this
to be the students’ project are train
six or seven students to perform
water quality tests once a week. My
students test for oxygen, pH,
nitrates, nitrites and ammonia.
Allow them to carefully feed the
guppies and siphon the tanks but
use discretion.
Culminating Activity
Students are assigned a final report
that detail the project and their
findings. Results, conclusions,
drawings, data collected, and
suggestions for the next class of
students are be included in the
report. Students also attend
Cumberland County College to
learn more about Aquaculture.
Activities include chemical testing
of water and fish weighing.
Evaluation
Students are evaluated through direct
teacher observations during lab
times, their Guppy Project Notebook, quizzes, and a final report.