BIO 105 Science of Biology w/Lab

Experiment 1Genetic Variation Experiment Inventory

Materials Blue Beads

Red Beads

Green Beads

Yellow Beads

Labware (2) 100 mL Beakers

(2) 250 mL Beakers

*Permanent Marker

Note: You must provide the materials listed in *red.

EXPERIMENT 1: GENETIC VARIATION Genetic variation is the genetic difference within or between populations observed in either the gene pool or in the gene frequency. Consider the following two populations of butterflies (Figure 4):

Figure 4: Butterfly populations.

Both populations contain the same four color phenotypes; thus, the gene pool is the same. However, the distribution of colors within that population is different. As a result, their gene frequencies are different, resulting in genetic variation between the two populations.

In this experiment, you will create two different populations and investigate their genetic variation.

PROCEDURE Part 1

1. Pour and mix 50 blue beads and 50 red beads into a 250 mL beaker. Without looking, select 50 beads from the 250 mL beaker, and place them in a 100 mL beaker. Label this beaker as Beaker #1.

2. Pour and mix 50 green beads and 50 yellow beads into a second 250 mL beaker. Without looking, take 20 beads from the 250 mL beaker, and place them in the other 100 mL beaker. Label this beaker as Beaker #2.

3. Answer the post-lab questions.

© eScience Labs, 2018

Part 2 1. Dump the contents of Beaker #2 into Beaker #1 and mix the contents thoroughly. Pour approximately half the beads from

Beaker #1 into Beaker #2.

2. Answer the post-lab questions.

Note: When done, keep the beads in their beakers for use in the next experiment.

© eScience Labs, 2018