Objective
To understand and apply Mendel's Law of Segregation and Law of Independent Assortment using a hands- on simulation with colored beads.
Materials Needed
Procedure
PART 1: LAW OF SEGREGATION
1. Setup
Assign colors to represent alleles for a single trait (e.g., Red, Blue). Alternatively, you can use circular plastic or cardboard discs and write gene symbols on them. Each parent (bowl) contains two alleles for the trait (e.g., one red bead and one blue bead or two cardboard discs labelled with gene symbols).
Diagram image pending upload by Admin.
2. Simulation
Students randomly draw one bead from each parent to simulate gamete formation. Combine the beads from both parents to form an offspring genotype (e.g., RR, Rr, or rr).
3. Repeat/replication
Perform the draw 50 times to simulate multiple offspring. Record the genotypes and phenotypes on a data sheet (sample is given below).
| Repeats / Replicates | Male Gamete | Female Gamete | Genotype of the offspring | Phenotype of the offspring |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | R | r | Rr | Round |
| 2 | 3 | |||
| And so, on up to 50 |