Create a Face Lab aka Ugly Baby Contest	CLASS COPY

Introduction:

Why do people look so different from each other? Even close relatives often look very different from each other. This happens because a very large variety of traits exist in the human population and new variations are created as humans reproduce. During meiosis (the process of producing gametes, sperm and egg) there can be reshuffling and even crossing over of genes between chromosome pairs. In this activity, we will learn why brothers and sisters have different genotypes (genetic messages on their DNA) and phenotypes (physical appearances), even when the share the same parents.

So… CONGRATUALTIONS! You are a parent! You and your partner will represent a couple that each have one dominant and one recessive gene for each facial feature illustrated in this lab. Amazing coincidence, huh? As you already know, this means you are heterozygous for each trait.

Materials:	A partner	A penny	Colored pencils

Procedure:

Obtain a partner and the rest of your materials. Decide which of you will contribute the genes of the mother and with will contribute the genes of the father.

Find out the sex of your child.

Remember your mom’s genotype is XX and dad’s is XY. The mother provides an X chromosome because that is all she has, and father provides either his X or his Y chromosome. So only Dad flips the coin.

Heads = Y sperm, which means the child will be a boy.

Tails = X sperm, which means the child will be a girl.

Give your bouncing baby a name.

Discover the facial features your child will have by flipping the coin as directed by the following pages. For purposes of the rest of the activity:

Heads will represent the dominant trait shown in capital letters.

Tails will represent the recessive trait shown in lowercase letters.

On you Face Lab Data Table record the genetic contributions (results from the flips of the coins) in the columns labels Gene(s) from Mother and Gene(s) from Father. Record the actual genetic message in the genotype column, and record the appearance in the phenotype column.

Once you have finished determining all facial traits for your child, draw your child’s Senior Picture, magnifying it so it takes up the entire space. When you have determined all the features of your child’s face, draw and color the way your baby will look when he/she has reached their senior year of high school. Then, provide a Senior Quote to top off their yearbook photo.

Complete the analysis section of the lab. Then, attach the lovely drawing of your child to the data sheet and turn it in.

Facial Features

1. Face Shape	Round (RR , Rr)	Square (rr)
2. Chin Shape	Prominent (PP, Pp)	Weak (pp)
3. Chin Shape II – only if your child’s chin is prominent (PP, Pp)
Round Chin (RR, Rr)	Square Chin (rr)
4. Cleft Chin	Present (CC, Cc)	Absent (cc)
5. Skin Color:
Skin color involves 3 gene pairs. Each parent need to flip the coin 3 times, and record the A, B, and C alleles. For example the result of the first pair of coin flips might be AA, Aa, or aa. Record the first coin flip then do two more alleles B and C. Each capital letter represents an active gene for melanin production (color).
6 capitals 5 capitals 4 capitals 3 capitals 2 capitals 1 capitals 0 capitals	Very dark black skin Very dark brown Dark brown Medium brown Light brown Light tan White

6. Hair Color:
Like skin color hair color is produced by several genes (polygenic or multiple alleles). For the purpose of this activity we will assume that 4 pairs are involved (more are likely). So, each parent will have to flip the coins 4 times for the A, B, C and D alleles. As before, the capital letters (dominant) represent color while the lower case (recessive) represent little or no color.
8 capitals 7 capitals 6 capitals 5 capitals 4 capitals 3 capitals 2 capitals 1 capitals 0 capitals	Black Very dark brown Dark brown Brown Light brown Honey blond Blond Very light blond White
7. Red Hair Color
Red hair seems to be caused by a single gene with two alleles:
Dark red (RR)	Light red (Rr)	No red (rr)
Red hair is further complicated by the fact that brown hair will mask or hide red hair color. The lighter the hair color the more the red can show through. If your child has 3 or less capitals (for hair color, see number 6), and RR is tossed your child will have flaming red hair. (Have fun with your colored pencils!)
8. Hair Type: incomplete dominance
Curly (CC)	Wavy (Cc)	Straight (cc)
9. Widow’s Peak: The hair comes to a point…like Eddie Munster
Present (WW, Ww)	Absent (ww)
10. Eyebrow Color: incomplete dominance
Dark (DD)	Medium (Dd)	Light (dd)
11. Eyebrow Thickness:	Bushy (BB, Bb)	Fine (bb)
12. Eyebrow Placement:	Not connected (NN, Nn)	Connected
13. Eye Color:
Assume that there are two gene pairs involved, the capital letters represent more color and the lower case, less color. Dark eyes are dominant over light. Assume that there are two layers of color on the iris of the eye. The first alleles (A or a) code for the front of the iris and the second alleles (B or b) code for the back of the iris. Determine the first layer, A, then the second layer, B. In reality eye color is much more complex than this.
AABB Dark brown Aabb Dark blue aaBB Green aaBb Grey blue AABb Dark brown AaBB Brown with green flakes AaBb Hazel aabb Light blue
14. Eye Distance:
Close together (EE)	Average (Ee)	Far apart (ee)
15. Eye Size:
Large (LL)	Average (Ll)	Small (ll)
16. Eye Shape:	Almond (AA, Aa)	Round (aa)
17. Eye Tilt:	Horizontal (HH, Hh)	Upward slant (hh)
18. Eyelashes:	Long (LL, Ll)	Short (ll)
19. Mouth Size:
Long (LL)	Average (Ll)	Short (ll)
20. Lip Thickness:	Thick (TT, Tt)	Thin (tt)
21. Lip Protrusion:
Very protruding (PP)	Slightly protruding (Pp)	Absent (pp)
22. Dimples:
Present (PP, Pp)	Absent (pp)

23. Nose Size:
Big (BB)	Average (Bb)	Small (bb)
24. Nose Shape:	Rounded (RR, Rr)	Pointed (rr)
25. Nostril Shape:	Rounded (RR, Rr)	Pointed (rr)
26. Earlobe Attachment:
Free (FF, Ff)	Attached (ff)
27. Darwin’s Ear Point:
Present (PP, Pp)	Absent (pp)

28. Ear Pits:	Present (PP, Pp)	Absent (pp)
29. Hairy Ears: This sex-linked and only occurs in males so if your baby girl skip this. If yourbaby is a boy, only mom flips.
Present (P)	Absent (p)
30. Freckles on Cheeks:
Present (PP, Pp)	Absent (pp)
31. Freckles on Forehead:
Present (PP, Pp)	Absent (pp)

Parent Names:	Baby’s Name:
Create A Face Lab Data Sheet
Facial Trait	Genes from Mother	Genes from Father	Genotype	Phenotype
Gender of Baby	X	XX or Xy?	(girl or boy?)
1. Face Shape
2. Chin Shape
3. Chin Shape II
4. Cleft Chin
5. Skin Color
6. Hair Color
7. Red Hair
8. Hair Type
9. Widow’s Peak
10. Eyebrow Color
11. Eyebrow Thickness
12. Eyebrow Placement
13. Eye Color
14. Eye Distance
15. Eye Size
16. Eye Shape
17. Eye Tilt
18. Eyelashes
19. Mouth Size
20. Lip Thickness
21. Lip Protrusion
22. Dimples
23. Nose Size
24. Nose Shape
25. Nostril Shape
26. Earlobe Attachment
27. Darwin’s Ear Point
28. Ear Pits
29. Hairy Ears
30. Freckles on Cheeks
31. Freckles on Forehead

FATHER :	Mother:

BABY NAME: ____________________	GENDER:____________

Analysis

What percentage does each parent contribute to a child’s genotype?

Explain how/what part of your procedures represents the process of meiosis.

Using examples from this activity, explain the difference between complete and incomplete dominance.

Using examples from this activity, list which traits were polygenic. Explain why.

Using specific examples from the activity, explain the following terms:

a. allele

b. homozygous

c. genotype

d. dominant

e. phenotype

f. recessive

g. heterozygous

Explain how the coin flip relates to the probability of inheriting genetic conditions.

All the children had two heterozygous parents. Use the law of independent assortment to explain why there were no identical twins produced.

Name Senior Quote