Assignment: Inheritance Lab
Have you noticed any similarities among you and your parents or other relatives? Even if you do not know your biological parents, you can guess some of their physical characteristics based on your own physical characteristics or phenotypes. You can do this by applying Mendelian genetics.
For your Assignment, complete the Inheritance Lab in which you identify your phenotypes for several physical characteristics such as the presence of dimples or a widows peak. Then, infer your possible genotypes, as well as your parents possible genotypes.
To prepare for this Assignment:
Review Chapter 7, Are You Only as Smart as Your Genes? (pp. 141-155) in the course text and consider what Mendelian genetics is and how you can determine genotypes based on phenotypes and vice versa.
Review the Inheritance Lab Background document (see the link in the Required Resources section), focusing on the phenotypes you observe for the Inheritance Lab and how to identify genotypes associated with those phenotypes.
Review the lab instructions in the Inheritance Lab Report (see the link in the Required Resources section), focusing on the steps you must follow and the information you must complete in the report. You may complete this report by hand as you complete the lab; however, by Day 7, you submit an electronic version of this document for your Assignment.
NOTE: You do not need to purchase any materials to complete this lab.
The Assignment:
Complete the Inheritance Lab Report.
Questions about this Assignment? Post the questions in the Contact the Instructor area, so all class members may benefit from the Instructors response.
Links:
American Museum of Natural History. (n.d.). Hall of human origins. Retrieved on December 1, 2011, from http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent-exhibitions/human-origins-and-cultural-halls
This website provides fossil evidence and other scientific discoveries related to human evolution.
ChangBioscience. (2004). Punnett square calculator. Retrieved from http://www.changbioscience.com/genetics/punnett.html
ArcheologyInfo.com. (2011). Retrieved from http://archaeologyinfo.com/
This website traces the archeological evidence of human evolution.
Darwiniana and Evolution. (2009). Retrieved from http://darwiniana.org/hominid.htm
This website provides information and timelines related to human evolution and many links to additional resources on this topic.
Macroevolution.net. (n.d.). Human evolution timeline. Retrieved from http://www.macroevolution.net/human-evolution-timeline.html
This traces the human evolution during the past 7 million years, providing details about various hominid types.
Natural History Museum. (2012). Human evolution. Retrieved from http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/human-origins/index.html
This website on human evolution includes evidence from genetic research, a timeline displaying information about early human relatives, and interactive media that describes changes in the human skull.
Proof of Evolution. (2011). Human evolution timeline. Retrieved from http://www.proof-of-evolution.com/human-evolution-timeline.html
This website traces the human evolution timeline and includes information about brain size and the likelihood of bipedalism in each species described.
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. (2011). Human evolution timeline interactive. Retrieved from http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-evolution-timeline-interactive
This website provides information on human fossils and an interactive timeline on human evolution.
University of California Museum of Paleontology. (2006). A fish of a different color [Online article]. Retrieved
fromhttp://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/news/060201_zebrafish
