Sesame Street Genetics

Maryland Science Content Standard  Students will be able to explain the ways that genetic information is passed from parent to offspring in different organisms. –Students will be able to explain that in sexual reproduction, a single specialized cell from a female merges with a single specialized cell from a male and the fertilized egg now has genetic information from each parent, that multiplies to form the complete organism composed of about a trillion cells, each of which contains the same genetic information 

Objective  Students will understand meiosis in order to portray how traits are passed on from parent to offspring

Can You Tell Me How To Get To Sesame Street?…..  Observe the characters  In you composition book, list the traits the characters have  Distinguish between a trait and a specific form of a trait

Some Important Definitions  Meiosis: Cell division in sex cells where the number of chromosomes are cut in half  Karyotype: A picture of all the chromosomes arranged in pairs  Gene Map: Locations on genes where specific alleles are located  Alleles: Different forms of the same gene

More Definitions  Gamete: The final product of meiosis, each gamete only has half the number of chromosomes as the parent cell  Homologous: non-identical chromosomes that contain information for the same biological features and contain the same genes at the same loci but possibly different genetic information, called alleles, at those genes.genes locialleles

What Will Be Assessed?  Chromosome map  Explanation of meiosis  Chromosome of the two children  Punnett Squares  Portrait  Diagram of the two crosses

Day One  Read the “Introduction”  Observe the gene map  Complete questions provided regarding the traits of the Sesame Street population

Day 2  Complete the chromosome map for Zoe  Go through the steps of meiosis  Have four gametes when finished  When you believe you are finished, call me over to check your work.  Diagram correct process in your notebook  Do the same for the male character

Day 3  Roll the die (only between one and four. If you get a 5 or 6, re-roll)  Determine what gamete from Zoe will be used for child one  Repeat for your male character  Draw a Punnett Square for each trait  Be sure your genotype is possible for your offspring.  Repeat for second offspring

Day 3 (continued)  Use the Genetics of Sesame Street characters table (Figure 1) to find the phenotype of the two children  Draw your family portrait  On the back of your portrait include the genotype for each of the traits for each of the individuals. –Can be done individually or in a group