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NOTE: This product is also available in a bundled product called Biology Labs: 15 Must Do Labs for a Biology Class .


This lab demonstrates that the phenotype of an organism is due not only to its genotype, but also to the conditions in the surrounding environment. An individual's phenotype often depends on the influences of the environment. For example, during the winter a snowshoe rabbit will have white fur because the pigment producing genes do not function in cold weather. This allows the rabbit to blend in with it's environment. When the weather warms in the spring and summer, the genes function to produce pigments and the coat becomes brown. Is heredity or environment more important in determining the kinds of traits that appear in offspring? This lab will attempt to show the importance of each.

Corn seeds that are the progeny of two heterozygous parents are planted by the students. My students love taking care of their corn and watching it grow! The environmental variable that is tested is light. Some students grow their corn in the dark; other grow their corn in the light. Students will learn that even if plants have the dominant gene for producing chlorophyll, they may still be albino in appearance in the absence of light.

Materials needed: Corn seeds need to be purchased from a biological supply company that show a 3:1 ratio of green to albino stem. (I have purchased corn seeds from a local seed store and got great results!) Also needed are potting soil and any kind of container in which seeds can be planted. Plastic margarine dishes work fine.


PURPOSE:
1. To determine the expected numbers of normal to albino plants.
2. To record the actual numbers of normal to albino plants when corn seeds are germinated and allowed to grow.
3. To determine the influence of light on a genetic trait by comparing and analyzing class data.

Your download will include handouts that have: Title, Purpose, Introduction, Materials, Safety Precautions, Procedure, Analysis Questions, Student Data Pages, Answers to all Questions, and Teacher Preparation Notes.

You will download a folder that has 2 different versions of the lab depending on whether you want your students to write a lab report on their own notebook paper, or if you want to use the enclosed student handouts. Both version are in pdf form as well as Word documents.


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