Bean Bunny Evolution CREST March 15, 2016

Which bunny will survive the cold Indiana winters?

“Bean Bunny Evolution” How does natural selection affect gene frequency over several generations? What will happen to the F and f alleles in rabbits over 5 generations?

Biology refresher before we begin….. Natural Selection – process by which organisms best-suited to their environmental conditions are most likely to survive and reproduce Gene – section of a chromosome that contains information coding for that trait Allele – one of two or more alternating forms of a gene Gene frequency – how often the different alleles of a gene occur Evolution – on a genetic level is a change in frequency of alleles in a population over a period of time

“Bean Bunny Evolution” Allele Letter Allele for Allele type F Fur Dominant f No fur Recessive

“Bean Bunny Evolution” Possible mating combinations FF homozygous dominant Fur Ff heterozygous ff homozygous recessive No Fur

“Bean Bunny Evolution” How does natural selection affect gene frequency over several generations? What will happen to the F and f alleles in rabbits over 5 generations? With a partner create a hypothesis from this opening lab question

“Bean Bunny Evolution” If rabbits with F (fur) and f (no fur) alleles mate for 5 generations, then the gene frequency of F alleles will increase and the gene frequency of f alleles will decrease.

“Bean Bunny Evolution” Using simple materials, how could we design an experiment to test our hypothesis?

Today’s experiment Red beans – F allele for fur White beans – f allele for no for Paper bag – Indiana fields, setting for rabbits mating Paper plates – mating results

Today’s procedure Place red and white beans in brown bag Select 2 beans at a time Place pair in appropriate plate (FF, Ff, ff) Record number of pairs in data chart for first three columns Safety – don’t eat/throw the beans!

Trial run from the chief engineer 11 pairs 11 pairs 28 pairs SET ASIDE

Trial run from the chief engineer Let’s get some materials and take data for 5 trials!

Graphing Graph, graph and graph!! Superb life skill – graphs are everywhere! Graphing mechanics Scatter plots Best fit lines Analyzing trends Direct/indirect relationships

Scientific Argumentation “CLEVER” CLaim - make statement about experiment EVidencE – use data, graphs to explain Reasoning – explain how evidence supports the claim

Analysis Questions and Assessment Ramp up the rigor with a high level of questioning Question students as they collect and graph data Consider having check points in data collection Does this data make sense? Do you see any trends? Lesson assessment is AP style questioning, application of lab learnings

Successes and Challenges Reflect for a few moments on the successes and challenges of implementing this lesson in a classroom… You can use this reflection technique with your students

“Bean Bunny Evolution” Lesson Objective – Model evolution by natural selection of the gene frequency in two alleles in a population of organisms Calculate and graph gene frequency Connection to AP Biology – genetics, process of evolution Great math applications!

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