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Name ___________________________________________________________ Date__________________________ Per:___________
Dragon Genetics Activity
43 Total Points
Background Information
Dragons are a curious type of creature. Amazingly, though, their genetics is very similar to that of
humans. Hagrid, the Gamekeeper at Hogwarts, wishes to develop a herd of dragons for his Care of
Magical Creatures class. Unfortunately, he only has two dragons as of now. The purpose of this activity is
to determine what kinds of dragons Hagrid will have in his herd when (and if) his two dragons decide to
mate.
Each partner should each have a set of different colored chromosomes. (It does not matter who
gets which color, as long as each person has a different color.)
1. One set of strips represent the chromosomes from the mother (female) dragon. The other set
represents chromosomes from the father (male) dragon.
2. Each STRIP represents a CHROMOSOME. Each strip has a letter, – either uppercase or
lowercase. The uppercase letters represent a DOMINANT form of the trait and the lowercase
letters represent the RECESSIVE form.
3. Each letter represents a different trait. See the laminated chart provided.
4. The traits are sorted so that they are matched into same sized pairs and same letters of the
alphabet. You should have 7 pairs of same size strips (chromosomes whose letters code for
traits) for both the male and female.
Procedure
1. Lay the chromosomes for the mom dragon and the dad dragon down on the table so that they are
paired by sizes and that letters are not showing.
a. If you have trouble pairing them by size, match the letters and then TURN THEM OVER SO
THAT YOU CANNOT SEE THE LETTERS!
2. WITHOUT TURNING THE CHROMOSOMES OVER, pick one chromsome of the longest size from
one color (mom) and pick one chromosomes from the longest size of the other color (dad).
3. Your partner will take the remaining pair for his/her dragon baby.
4. Continue doing this, taking one from each pair from longest to shortest. You and your partner
should end up with seven new traits; each pair is one color chromosome and one of the other color
chromosome.
5. Turn over the chromosomes that remain on your table. These represent a new "baby" dragon! On
the DATASHEET, record the letter found on the first color of chromosomes in the Male Gene
column. Record the letter found on the second color of chromosomes in the Female Gene column.
6. After filling out the DATA SHEET, return all chromosomes to their proper bags.
7. Determine the GENOTYPE by combining the 2 letters.
8. Record the PHENOTYPE for each characteristic, using the KEY provided.
9. Now color and add parts to the baby dragon.
Dragon Key
Phenotype
Genotype
breathes fire
AA or Aa
does not breathe fire
aa
4 toes
MM or Mm
3 toes
mm
5 spikes on tail
QQ or Qq
4 spikes on tail
qq
red tail
TT or Tt
yellow tail
tt
blue body and head
EE or Ee
green body and head
ee
red wings
LL or Ll
yellow wings
ll
horn
DD or Dd
no horn
dd
2
Dragon Worksheet
Data Sheet
Male Gene
Trait
(1st
color)
Female Gene (2nd color)
Genotype
Phenotype
Fire/No fire
Toes
Spikes on tail
Tail color
Body color
Wing color
Horn/no horn
Dragon Sketch
(D/d’s)
3
Analysis Questions (4pts each)
1. Explain what is being modeled in this activity when a strip of paper is selected from the mom or
dad pile.
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2. Explain what is being modeled in this acitivity when the strips of paper from mom and dad are
joined together.
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3. What is one phenotypic trait that is the same in Mom, Dad, and the baby dragon? What is one
pheonotypic trait that is not shared by Mom, Dad, and the baby dragon?
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4. Pick 2 traits and draw at least 2 Punnett squares to show how your baby dragon inhertied the
genes that resulted in the traits you choose.
4
5. Suppose that Mom and Dad had a second baby dragon. Explain whether or not the second baby
dragon would have the same traits.
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6. For this couple of dragons, will all their offspring be fire-breathing? __________________ Explain your
answer in words and complete a Punnett Square as well to support your answer.
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Grading:
Analysis Questions: 24pts
Data Table: 14pts
Dragon Sketch: 5pts
Total: 43pts
5
Chromosome Strips
For Father
A
A
m
m
Q
q
T
t
e
e
L
l
D
D
6
Chromosome Strips
For Mother
A
a
M
M
q
q
T
t
E
E
l
l
D
d
7