Rock, Paper, Scissors - Mr. Taggart's Virtual...
Transcript of Rock, Paper, Scissors - Mr. Taggart's Virtual...
1Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Objectives
1. Students will understand how some traits are always expressed
when passed from parent to offspring.
2. Students will understand that some traits are not always
expressed when passed from parent to offspring.
3. Students will be able to identify similarities and variations in
physical traits expressed by offspring of a parent plant.
Rock, Paper, ScissorsInvestigating traits that are always seen when
passed from parents to offspring
Time: 90 minutes (can be split
into two class periods)
Grade: 5
Core Standard:V- Students will understand that
traits are passed from the parent
organisms to their offspring, and
that sometimes the offspring may
possess variations of these traits
that may help or hinder survival in
a given environment.
Objective 1- Using supporting
evidence, show that traits are
transferred from a parent
organism.
Intended Learning
Outcomes:Students will know and explain
science information specified for
the grade level; record data;
describe or explain observations
carefully and report with pictures;
understand the nature of science;
and cite examples of how science
affects life.
Background
The Father of Genetics, Gregor Mendel, was born in 1822. He
was born into a peasant family and later entered into a monastery in
Brunn (a city in the southeastern part of the Czech Republic), where
he received an education. The great work that Mendel did in the quiet
monastery garden was ignored until after his death in 1885. His
work marked the beginning of modern genetics. Mendel’s major
contribution was to demonstrate that inherited characteristics are
carried as discrete units in each generation. These units came to be
known as genes.
Genes are the basic units capable of transmitting characteristics
from one generation to the next. A trait becomes the genetically
determined characteristic or quality that distinguishes one from
another. When an offspring is formed, its traits are determined by a
combination of genes from each parent. Each parent contributes
one half of the genes for each trait. In the simplest cases, genes are
either always expressed (dominant) or not always expressed
(recessive). When a dominant gene combines with a recessive gene,
the dominant gene’s characteristics are expressed in the offspring.
When two recessive genes are combined, the recessive characteristic
is expressed in the offspring. Co-dominance occurs when the genes
for a particular trait are equally strong. In this case, the two
variations of the gene are expressed in equal strength (e.g., red vs.
white= pink).
Gregor Mendel studied yellow and
green pea plants to determine
which traits were always
expressed when passed from
parent plants.
Materials
“Rock, Paper, Scissors” Recording Chart, one for each pair of
students
“Plant Feature Page,” one for each student
Crayons and scissors for each student
“What Does It Look Like?” activity sheet for each student
5 “Gene Pool” boxes made from shoe boxes (labeled leaves, fruit,
flowers, roots, and stems)
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Questions for
Investigation or
Assessment
1. Why would dominant
traited plants be more
readily available in the
grocery store? What
would a farmer need to
do in order to grow a
crop that exhibited only
recessive traits? Do you
think this would cost him
more or less money?
Mendel conducted his work with pea plants because they were
readily available and easy to cultivate. Different varieties had different
characteristics. He started with 32 types of pea plants which he
studied for about two years. He wanted to see which
characteristics were clearly defined. The results of these experiments
were called dominant traits and recessive traits by Mendel.
He continued with various experiments until his death in 1864.
Mendel’s work was first reported in 1865 to a small group of people
at the Brunn Natural History Society. Sadly, no one seemed
interested in what Mendel was talking about. It wasn’t until 1900 that
Mendel’s work was discovered by three other scientists working
independently of each other. Mendel’s brilliant analysis of the
questions they sought to answer, the design of his experiments, and
the clarity of his results are so outstanding that his name is
permanently linked with the first principles of genetics.
In agriculture there are many examples of dominant, recessive
and co-dominant traits. Many of the foods we enjoy every day have
been bred to look, taste, grow and develop using the principles that
Mendel first discovered. Some examples are listed. Perhaps you
have noticed that the dominant-traited plants are easier to find in
your grocery store.
* Red potato skin is dominant over white potato skin.
* Russet colored potato skin is dominant over white potato skin.
* Green peas are dominant over yellow peas.
* Red cherry tomatoes are dominant over yellow cherry
tomatoes.
* Red and white snapdragon flowers are co-dominant and
produce pink flowers.
* Short and tall corn plants are co-dominant and produce
medium height corn plants.
* Tall sunflower plants are dominant over short sunflower plants.
* Yellow kerneled corn is dominant over white kerneled corn.
Activity Procedures
1. Have students list words that are associated with the words
“dominant” (dominated, dominating, dominate, domain,
dominance, predominant, dominator, etc.) and “recessive”
(recessively, recede, receded, receding, recessional, recession,
etc.). Then, discuss the differences between the concept of
dominating a situation and receding in the same situation. For
instance, if two people wanted to climb up the ladder of a slide at
the same time, one person might dominate the situation by
yelling it was his turn or pushing someone out of the way to go up
first. Someone else might recede by walking away and playing
something else. The receding person may play at the slide later
when there is less competition (similar to genes!). Role play a few
situations such as lining up after recess or participating in class
discussions.
2. Describe the game Rock, Paper, Scissors using the words
“dominant” and “recessive.” Discuss that rock dominates
3Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
scissors, scissors dominate paper and paper dominates rock.
Have the students play this game with a partner, recording their
outcomes on the “Rock, Paper, Scissors Recording Chart.” The
outcome column will say either “Rock,” “Paper,” “Scissors.” If
both people choose the same item then it is a tie and the item that
both people chose will be written in the outcome box. The
procedure for playing the game is described below.
To Play Rock, Paper, Scissors:
After a count of “1-2-3,” each player must symbolize a rock,
scissors or paper with one hand on a desk or table top. The
hand symbol for rock is a fist. The hand symbol for scissors
is the first two fingers cutting the air in a scissors motion.
The hand symbol for paper is a flat hand on the desk top or
table top. It is important that both players reveal their chosen
hand symbols at exactly the same time.
3. Discuss the outcome of the game. Are there ways of making
certain one person will always dominate (win)?
4. Discuss “dominant” and “recessive” in terms of genes and
heredity using some of the ideas given in the background
information.
5. Have each partnership color and cut out a “Plant Feature Page.”
Place the features into the appropriate gene pool containers (shoe
boxes) labeled “Leaves,” “Fruit,” “Flowers,” “Roots” or “Stems.”
Each partnership will contribute a dominant and recessive trait for
each feature. Place the five boxes in different locations through-
out the room.
6. Hand out, to each pair of students, the “What Does It Look Like?”
page. From the five separate “gene pool” containers have each
student randomly select one feature. Have the students fill in the
gene chart as each feature is chosen. The partners then need to
determine what their plant looks like. For example, if one partner
chooses a dominant round fruit and the other partner chooses a
recessive oval fruit, the plant will have round fruit. Have the
students complete their plant by drawing the appropriate features
on their plant.
7. Have the students display their plants. Discuss how many
dominant traits were expressed compared to recessive traits
(students should easily see that there were more dominant traits
Teacher Notes:
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Teacher Notes:
expressed than recessive traits). Discuss the wide variety of
plants produced from the same gene pool and how this activity
shows that it would be highly unlikely for two plants to be exactly
alike. Impress upon students that it is because of dominant and
recessive traits that certain characteristics may only appear in
select generations (why a child may have blue eyes like their
grandmother, but neither of the child’s parents has blue eyes).
Extensions/Adaptations/Integration
1. Have the students design their own dominant and recessive
features for the gene pool, perhaps adding some co-dominant
traits. Have them create the offspring with modeling clay.
2. Display pictures of parent plants along with four different pictures
of possible offspring. Have the students select which offspring is
most appropriate based upon a list of dominant and recessive
traits given by the instructor. Students should be able to justify
their answer.
Additional Resources
Lesson adapted from materials available from the California
Agriculture in the Classroom. Visit their web site for more
information: www.agclassroom.org/ca
Materials Adapted by the Utah Agriculture in the Classroom, www.agclassroom.org/ut
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Rock, Paper, Scissors Recording Chart
Name
Date
Possible Outcomes:
* Rock dominates scissors * Scissors dominates paper * Paper dominates rock
1) Which outcome was most common in your partnership?
2) Which outcome was the least common?
3) Were your results similar to the results of the class?
4) Describe one thing you learned about heredity by doing this activity.
Round Partner A Partner B Outcome(Rock, Paper, Scissors)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
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What Does It Look Like?
Name
Date
Complete this plant diagram by following the instructions of your teacher.
Plant Diagram
Features Partner A Partner B Outcome
Leaf
Fruit
Flower
Stem
Root