Flylab is a genetic simulation used to teach basic principles of Mendelian genetics using matings between fruit flies with different mutations. The students can select from six bristle, six body color, two antennae, five eye color, five eye shapes, four wing sizes, five wing shapes, three wing vein patterns, and two wing angle mutations. The program has excellent graphics illustrating the phenotypes of the mutations and has an easy way for the student to see the results of the crosses and analyze the results using a Chi-Square statistical analysis. The simulation is designed to have the students select crosses, make predictions and hypotheses, run the crosses with different numbers of flies, and perform statistical tests of the data. It is versatile enough to use in a non-majors biology course that covers the basic genetic principles of dominance, recessiveness, and Mendelian ratios; or can be used to teach more complex principles such as linkage, sex-linkages, epistasis, recombination, and genetic mapping. The introductory pages contain seven assignments for biology majors that include: Performing Monohybrid, Dihybrid, and Trihybrid Crosses, Testcross, Lethal Mutations, Epistasis, Sex Linkage, and a group assignment. There are two assignments for the non-biology major which include: Performing Monohybrid, Dihybrid, and Trihybrid Crosses, Testcross.
Type of Material:
Simulation and Interactive Tutorial
Recommended Uses:
Lab or homework exercise.
Technical Requirements:
Netscape 4.x (not Netscape 6) or Internet Explorer 4.5-5.0. MRJ 2.2.3 or greater Java applet required.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
The purpose of this laboratory is to:
Simulate basic principles of genetic inheritance based on Mendelian genetics by designing and performing crosses between fruit flies.
Help you understand the relationship between an organism's genotype and its phenotype.
Demonstrate the importance of statistical analysis to accept or reject a hypothesis.
Use genetic crosses and recombination data to identify the location of genes on a chromosome by genetic mapping.
Target Student Population:
High school or college
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
Chromosome structure, and the stages of gamete formation by meiosis.
The basic terminology and principles of Mendelian genetics, including complete and incomplete dominance, epistasis, lethal mutations, recombination, autosomal recessive inheritance, autosomal dominant inheritance, and sex-linked inheritance.
Predicting the results of monohybrid and dihybrid crosses by constructing a Punnett square.
How genetic mutations produce changes in phenotype, and beneficial and detrimental results of mutations in a population.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
Content Quality: 5.0, 5.0 = 5.0
An excellent program, clearly laid out with superb graphics and based upon real fruit fly mutations.
Excellent background information which covers Darwin, Mendel and mendelian genetics with references.
A good glossary of terms and abbreviations.
There are separate assignments for the biology majors and non-majors.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
Potential Effectiveness: 5.0, 5.0 = 5.0
The students are able to see the results of crosses and then easily go to a table summary and to a Chi-Square analysis with the analysis determining if the hypothesis should be accepted or rejected.
It is easy to create new crosses and manipulate the results for each cross and design F1, F2, and test crosses.
Very open ended so that an instructor could make a number of different assignments as well as allowing the student to explore other crosses.
There is a built-in student notebook feature that can be used to keep track of the crosses and provides a means of outputting the data for student write-ups.
Promotes problem-solving and critical thinking.
Has seven built-in assignments.
Excellent application of basic genetics theory.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
Potential Effectiveness: 5.0, 4.0 = 4.5
The site is well designed and it is easy for the user to locate directions, vocabulary lists, assignments, references and abbreviations used in the simulation.
The simulations run very fast and a student can gather large amounts of data in a very short period of time.
Very easy to navigate and understand how the data is input and retrieved.
Concerns:
If the user reads the introductory materials, the assignments and other information provided on how to use the site, it is difficult and confusing for the reader to start the fly lab. A link to the java applet in more then the introductory page would help.
There needs to be an easy way for the user to go from the lab java applet to the introduction, background information, assignments, help pages, and glossary and return to the lab.
Creative Commons:
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