Choose your future.

investigator: ________________________________ Date:_____________ period ________

THE REBOP FAMILY-GENETIC VARIATION

Reebops are an imaginary species that are prolific and require minimal care. In this activity you
are to simulate two Reebop parents reproducing with you constructing the resulting Reebop
offspring. You are to sort Mom and Dad Reebop chromosomes in to the gametes (sex cells),
decode the chromosomal code found on the baby. After the Reebops are born, the Reebop siblings
will be assembled together in the nursery to be analyzed. Chromosomal analysis of this unusual
species has revealed that Reebops have 7 pairs of chromosomes, a total of 16 chromosomes.

Objectives:

A. To reveal how genetic

variation occurs due to
sexual reproduction
B. To differentiate between
heterozygous and
homozygous genotypes
and dominant and
recessive phenotypes

Materials:
Marshmallows for body segments
Toothpicks for ligament and tendons
Pipe cleaner for tail
Q-tip for antenna
Thumbtacks for eyes
Push pins for legs—blue or red
Orange/green/yellow candy for nose
Red candy for humps
Envelope with chromosomes
Card for phenotype and genotype

Observe the parent Reebops and their traits. What conclusions can you make about them?

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 Choose your future.

Procedure:
1. Meet Mom and Dad Reebop. They are on the front desk. You will have an envelope which
contains their chromosomes.

2. Remove the chromosomes from the envelope and separate them by sex. In this simulation,
Dad Reebop’s chromosomes are blue and Mom Reebop’s are pink. Of course this is not true in
real organisms.

3. Place the chromosomes FACE down on your lab table so no letters are visible.
4. Arrange each set of chromosomes from shortest to longest in length
5. Select one chromosome of each size from each parent. This will be your baby Reebop.

6. Put the extra chromosomes back in the envelope to avoid confusion

7. Each Reebop baby should have 14 chromosomes (half of one color and half of another)

Why is it important for the parent to split their chromosomes in half? What would happen if they
didn’t?
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Part Two
1. Turn your chromosomes around to see the letters
2. Refer to the key on the next page to determine the phenotype of your baby. Record the
genotype and phenotype in the spaces below.

GENOTYPE PHENOTYPE Dominant/Recessive Heterozygous/homozygous

3. One person from each group should come and get what that group needs to build their baby
Reebop.
4. Build your baby…..then place your baby in the nursery

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Comparison
1. How do all the offspring compare?
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2. Do any look alike?
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3. Were there any mutations
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4. What might have caused these mutations
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5. What did you learn by doing this lab?
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PHENOTYPE GENOTYPE
1 antenna AA
2 Antenna Aa
No antenna aa
1 red hump MM
2 red humps Mm
3 red humps mm
Yellow nose QQ
Green nose Qq
Orange nose qq
Curly tail TT or Tt
Straight tail tt
2 eyes EE or Ee
3 eyes ee
Blue legs LL or Ll
Red legs ll
3 body segments DD or Dd
2 body segments dd