One of the labs we recently did was the "Coin Sex Lab". In this lab, we simulated sex by flipping coins with different alleles on each side, to see what traits our 'children' would have. Coins serve as a model for genetics because traits are random, and the side that a coin will land on is random as well. In the dihybrid cross, we expected 9 kids to have brown hair and brown eyes, 3 to have brown and blue, 3 to have blonde and brown, and 1 to have blonde and blue. Our results were very similar to our prediction as the numbers, respectively, were 10, 3, 1, and 2. This is based on chance and probability. We can use probability to see how likely our offspring will be to get certain traits, but can't predict exactly. This relates to my life because now I understand how I could've gotten my traits.
In this unit, we learned about the topic of Why Sex Is So Great. We learned about the Cell Cycle and Mitosis Vs. Meiosis. Mitosis had one divisions, and went from diploid to diploid, while meiosis had 2 divisions and went from 2n to n. We also learned about Gregor Mendel's experiments with pea plants and how he came to realize certain traits dominated over others. Traits come in different versions, called alleles. Mendel came up with 2 laws, the Law Of Segregation, and the Law Of Independent Assortment. The Law of Segregation stated that chromatids split apart during meiosis. Independent Assortment meant that genes assorted randomly. There are also complications to genetics, such as codominance, where 2 traits both show up fully, incomplete dominance where neither trait completely dominates over the other, and epistasis, and polygenism. We also learned how to do crosses such as monohybrid and dihybrid crosses.
The basic genetics were easy for me and made sense. I remembered dominant and recessive from seventh grade, and Punnett Squares, but crosses were a bit confusing. Dihybrid crosses took some practice to get the hang of, but eventually, it became easy. The infographic also helped me organize what I learned in the unit, and I knew what information was most important to know, because if it was super important, I'd include it there. I want to learn more about polygenic traits and epistasis, generally the genetic exceptions. They seemed really interesting to me. Overall, this unit helped me understand about myself, how I could've gotten my traits, and I am now curious about traits more.
In this unit, we learned about the topic of Why Sex Is So Great. We learned about the Cell Cycle and Mitosis Vs. Meiosis. Mitosis had one divisions, and went from diploid to diploid, while meiosis had 2 divisions and went from 2n to n. We also learned about Gregor Mendel's experiments with pea plants and how he came to realize certain traits dominated over others. Traits come in different versions, called alleles. Mendel came up with 2 laws, the Law Of Segregation, and the Law Of Independent Assortment. The Law of Segregation stated that chromatids split apart during meiosis. Independent Assortment meant that genes assorted randomly. There are also complications to genetics, such as codominance, where 2 traits both show up fully, incomplete dominance where neither trait completely dominates over the other, and epistasis, and polygenism. We also learned how to do crosses such as monohybrid and dihybrid crosses.
The basic genetics were easy for me and made sense. I remembered dominant and recessive from seventh grade, and Punnett Squares, but crosses were a bit confusing. Dihybrid crosses took some practice to get the hang of, but eventually, it became easy. The infographic also helped me organize what I learned in the unit, and I knew what information was most important to know, because if it was super important, I'd include it there. I want to learn more about polygenic traits and epistasis, generally the genetic exceptions. They seemed really interesting to me. Overall, this unit helped me understand about myself, how I could've gotten my traits, and I am now curious about traits more.
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