Biodiversity & Probability: Mice Rule! (or Not)
Mice!
Students explore the relationships between genetics, biodiversity and evolution through teacher-presented information, including walking through two example Punnett squares that show the probability of freckles in offspring from parents who have and do not have freckles. Seeing how probability figures into the study of genetics prepares students to conduct the simple associated activity that involves wild mouse populations. In the associated activity, students toss coins to determine which traits mouse parents possess, such as fur color, body size, heat tolerance and running speed, and to determine the traits of a mouse pup born to these parents. Then they compare these physical features to features that would be most adaptive in several different environmental conditions, as well as what would happen to the mouse offspring if those environmental conditions changed. Which mice would be most likely to survive and produce the next generation?
Probability and statistics are just a few of the tools used by engineers. This lesson explores concepts studied by genetic scientists as well as biomedical and environmental engineers.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- Explain what is meant by "biodiversity."
- Explain how adaptive features are maintained in a population of organisms.
- Apply probability to the study of genetics.