Name: ________________________
Date ____________________
Making Babies Activity I: Understanding rules of inheritance for several traits, considering the random nature of meiosis.
GenScope™ file: MakingBabies.gs
Remember that to make a baby you have
to start with a cell from the mother and a cell from the father (use the
cell tool - the one that looks like a little circle - and click on a dragon).
Then you run meiosis to make the gametes (the four little cells that carry
the baby's chromosomes) and drag one gamete from the mother (on the left)
and one from the father (on the right) into the middle window. Then you
run fertilization and the two gametes (an egg from the mother and a sperm
from the father) come together to make the baby.
1. Fred and Wilma desperately want a little boy. Can you give them one? Can you be sure before you make it that the baby will be a boy? Hint: Use the magnifying glasses to make the cells big, then run meiosis and watch the chromosomes carefully. Find the gamete that has the alleles you want and double click on it. The outline will become heavy. Then click on the minus sign magnifying glass to make the cell small again.
2. Run meiosis again, and this time see if you can make a girl. Hint: be careful -you want a LIVE girl!
3. Notice that Fred and Wilma both have horns. Is it possible for them to have a baby with no horns? Try it and see if you can make a baby girl dragon with no horns. Hint: It is do-able. If you don't get the gametes you want, try running meiosis again.
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