I.

Title

The name of this lab is Population Genetics and Evolution. Our

primary focus in this lab to learn about populations and effects that
can change the frequency.

II. Introduction

In this lab we use the Hardy-Weinberg equation, that was

named after G.Hardy and W.Weinberg, who came up with the idea
that evolution is simply a change in frequencies of alleles in the gene
pool of a population. We use the Hardy-Weinberg equation to find
out the probable genotype frequencies in a population and track their
changes from one generation to another. You can use the Hardy-
Weinberg equation to determine genetic equilibrium which occurs
when the gene pool of a population does not change over time. There
are five conditions that must be met for Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
to occur in a population. They are: large population, random mating
(Non-random mating will result in changes in allele frequency), no
mutations (no alteration in the DNA sequence of alleles), no gene
flow (no immigration or emmigration), and no selection (all genotypes
have equal chance of surviving). When the five conditions are met
Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium occurs. Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
means there is no change in either allele or genotype frequencies (no
evolution). To figure out if equilibrium occurs you need to use the
Hardy-Weinberg equation, which is p2+2pq+q2=1.0.

Our objectives in this lab are to understand how natural selection can
alter allelic frequencies in a population, the Hardy-Weinberg equation
and its use in determining the frequency of alleles in a population,
and the effects on allelic frequencies of selection and other causes of
microevolution as deviations from the conditions required to maintain
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. My own personal objective for this lab
is to be able to understand the bigger picture and realize what’s going
on and why it happens in our sample population.
Hypothesis (exercise 8A)
If we use the class as a sample population, we can test to see if they
can taste the PTC paper then we can use that count to plug into the
Hardy-Weinberg equation to figure out the allele frequencies.
Hypothesis (Case I)
If the p and q frequencies come out as predicted then we know that
it’s at equilibrium, meaning there is no evolution.
Hypothesis (Case II)
If the homozygous recessive trait has no chance of survival then the
frequency for q will be super low and close to zero.
Hypothesis (Case III)
If the homozygous recessive trait has no chance of survival and the
homozygous dominant trait has only a 50/50 chance of living then
you will end up with a lot of heterozygous in replace of the
homozygous recessive and dominant.
Hypothesis (Case IV)
If you divide the lab into smaller populations then you will end up with
the p and q frequencies farther away from the predicted amount.

http://anthro.palomar.edu/synthetic/synth_2.htm
Copyright © 1997-2008 by Dennis O'Neil

Lab #8 Population Genetics and Evolution (College Board 2001)

III. Materials and Procedures

Exercise 8A materials: PTC test paper, paper, and pencil

Exercise 8A procedures:
1. Using the PTC taste test papers provided, tear off a short
strip and press it to your tounge tip. PTC tasters will sense a bitter
taste. For the purposes of this exercise these individuals are
considered to be tasters.
2. A decimal number representing the frequency of tasters (p2 +
2pq) should be calculated by dividing the number of tasters in the
class by the total number of students in the class. A decimal number
representing the frequency of nontasters (q2) can be obtained by
dividing the number of nontasters by the total number of students.
You should then record these numbers in Table 8.1.
3. Use the Hardy-Weinberg equation to determine the
frequencies (p and q) of the two alleles. The frequency q can be
calculated by taking the square root of q2. Once q has been
determined, p can be determined because 1 - q = p. Record these
values in Table 8.1.
Exercise 8B materials: Four cards for each student (two cards with A
and two cards with a), paper, and pencil
Exercise 8B procedures:
Case I:
1. Turn the four cards over so the letters are not showing,
shuffle them, and take the card on top to contribute to the production
of the first offspring. Your partner should do the same. Put the two
cards together. You are now the proud parents of the first offspring.
One of you should record the genotype of this offspring in the
Generation 1 row of Table 8.2. Each student pair must produce two
offspring, so all four cards must be reshuffled and the process
repeated to produce a second offspring.
2. Your partner should then record the genotype of the second
offspring in his or her Table 8.2. The very short reproductive career
of this generation is over. You and your partner now become the
next generation by assuming the genotypes of the two offspring.
That is, student 1 assumes the genotype of the first offspring and
student 2 asumes the genotype of the second offspring.
3. Each student Each student should obtain, if necessary, new
cards representing the alleles in his or her respective gametes after
the process of meiosis. Each student should randomly seek out
another person with whom to mate inorder to produce the offspring of
the next generation. The sex of your mate does not matter,nor does
the genotype. You should follow the same mating process as for the
first generation, being sure to record your new genotype after each
generation in the table. Class data should be collected after each
generation for five generations. At the end of each generation,
remember to record the genotype that you have assumed. Your
teacher will collect class data after each generation by asking you to
raise your hand to report your genotype.
Case II:
1. Start again with your initial genotype and produce your
“offspring” as you did for Case I. This time, however, there is one
important difference. Every time your “offspring” is aa, it does not
reproduce. Since we want to maintain a constant population size, the
same two parents must try again until they produce two surviving
offspring. You may need to get new “allele” cards from the pool,
allowing each individual to complete the activity.
2. Proceed through five generations, selecting against the
homozygous offspring 100% of the time. Then add up the genotype
frequencies that exist in the population and calculate the new
p and q frequencies in the same way as it was done in Case I.
Case III:
1. In this round keep everything the same as it was in Case II,
except that if your offspring is AA, flip a coin. If the coin lands heads
up, the individual does not survive; if tails, the individual does survive.
2. Simulate five generations, starting again with the initial
genotype from Case I. the genotype aa never survives, and
homozygous dominant individuals only survive if the coin toss comes
up tails. Since we want to maintain a constant population size, the
same two parents must try again until they produce two surviving
offspring. You may need to get new “allele” cards from the pool as
needed. Total the class genotypes and calculate the frequencies of p
and q.
3. Starting with the F5 genotype, go through five more
generations, and again total the genotypes and calculate the
frequencies of p and q
4. If time permits, the results from another five generations
would be extremely informative
Case IV:
1. Divide the lab into several smaller “populations” so that
individuals from one isolated “population” do not interact with
individuals from another population.
2. Now go through five generations as you did for Case I.
record the new genotypic frequencies and calculate the new
frequencies of p and q for each population.
 In the first part of this experiment (part A) the dependent
variables is the frequencies because they depend on the number of
tasters and non-tasters, which is your independent variable.The
control of the next part of the experiment (part B) is Case I. The data
you collect from the other cases can be analyzed by comparing it with
Case I (the control). The dependent variables is the frequencies of p
and q because they depend on the offspring’s genotype, which is the
independent variable. The frequencies are subject to change if your
genotype changes.

IV.Results/Data Collection/Analysis

ALLELE FREQUENCY
PHENOTYPE
BASEDON THE H-W
EQUATION

TASTERS NONTASTER P Q
(P2+2PQ) S
(Q2)
CLASS # % # %
POPULATIO 0.49 0.51
N 20 0.74 7 0.26

*DATA PAGE ON SEPARATE SHEET OF PAPER

V.Discussion/Conclusion

In this lab, we tested and observed the relationship between evolution

and changes in allele frequencies. Using the Hardy-Weinberg
equation, we learned how to calculate the frequencies of alleles and
genotypes in the gene pool of a population. For this lab we were the
sample population and we tested the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium by
mating with index cards with the allele on the front. We did four
different cases each with a different scenario. In Case I we aimed to
reach equilibrium by meeting the five conditions. We made sure to
have large population size, random mating, no mutation, no gene flow
and no selection. When we calculated our results, it was a little off. I
think we made a mistake when we were counting uptotal class
frequencies because the class total is changing from 22 to 23. Next
time I think we should tripple check our count. In Case II none of the
homozygous recessive lived causing our frequencies to be off the
charts. Since the homozygous recessive trait died we were left with a
large amount of homozygous dominant. For Case III the recessive
trait had no chance of survival so it dies and the homozygous
dominant only lives if the coin toss lands tails up, making the chance
of survival 50/50. So there was a heterozygote advantage, which
basically means there is more heterozygous due to the fact that the
recessive dies and the homozygous dominant chance of survivng is
50/50. In Case IV we are working with a smaller population size
which causes genetic drift, and changes the frequencies slightly.
Some errors we ran into were miss counting the totals, not having
enough index cards for the experiment, not randomly mating. Next
time we should be fully prepared with all the materials before starting,
and moving around the classroom to create more random mating.
Mating with people outside our group. If we make these corrections
chances are our results will come out more accurate. In conclusion,
my hypothesis’ on exercise A and Cases I-IV were correct.

VI.Literature Citation

Lab #8 Population Genetics and Evolution (College Board 2001)

AP Biology Lab Mannual for Students (2001) New Jersey: College
Board. p. 90-97
http://anthro.palomar.edu/synthetic/synth_2.htm
Copyright © 1997-2008 by Dennis O'Neil
http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/labbench/lab8/intro.h
tml
Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates
http://students.discoveryeducation.com/
Copyright © 2011 Discovery Education
 VII. Questions

1. What does the Hardy-Weinberg equation predict for

the new p and q?
The Hardy-Weinberg equation predicts that p and q each equals 0.5.
If you plug this number into the equation it come out to 1, the hardy-
Weinberg equation is p2+2pq+q2=1 so when you substitute for p and
q it is: [(0.5)2+2(0.5)(0.5)+(0.5)2]=1.

2. Do the results you obtained in this simulation agree?

If not, why?
No, because we kept to our group which limited us from getting that
random mating and the large population size. In our simulation p
came out to be 0.48 while q came out to be 0.52. So it didn’t come
out like the equation predicted but it came out pretty close.

3. What major assumption(s) were not strictly followed

in this simmulation?
Some major assumptions that wasn’t strictly followed was the large
population and the random mating. I think next time you should make
the class move around to mate with other people besides the people
in their group. That way we could meet equilibrium.

4. How do the new frequencies of p and q compare to

the initial frequencies in Case I?
The new frequencies of p and q in Case II changed dramatically from
the frequencies of Case I. In Case I the p and q were pretty much
equal just a few off. In Case II there is no homozygous recessive
instead there is a lot of homozygous dominant and heterozygous. So
the p frequency nearly doubles while the q frequency decreases
hugely.

5. What major assumption(s) were not strictly followed in this

simulation?
Some major assumptions not strictly followed were random mating
and no gene flow. In Case II homozygous recessive never survived
(100% selection against).
6. Predict what would happen to the frequencies of p and q if
you simulated another five generations.
If we did another five generations I would expect to see the frequency
of q continue to decrease, and if q decreases that would mean p
would increase.

7. In a large population would it be possible to completely

eliminate a deleterious recessive allele? Explain.
No, it is impossible to completely eliminate a deleterious (harmful or
damaging) recessive allele. Even though some people that express
the trait because they are heterozygous recessive may die before
they can pass the trait on to offspring, the gene pool will always have
this allele because carriers are able to live normal lives and pass
these alleles on to there offspring.

8. Explain how the changes in p and q frequencies in Case II

compare with Case I and Case III.
In Case II the frequency of p was 0.93 and the frequency for q was
0.07. Knowing that you can tell there was a lot of homozygous
dominant. In Case III the frequencies was all heterozygous after five
generations making p and q 0.5. After five more generations p was
0.59 and q was 0.41. In Case I p was 0.48 and q was 0.52. So
compared to Case I and Case III Case II has a greater p. Which
means there is more homozygous dominant than homozygous
recessive.

9. Do you think the recessive allele will be completely

eliminated in either Case II or Case III?
No, the recessive allele will not be eliminated because there will
always be heterozygotes. As you do Case II homozygous recessive
doesn’t survive and when you get to Case III homozygous dominant
only survives if the coin toss lands up heads (only 50% of the time).
The trait that does survive is the heterozygous which is Aa and it
doesn’t show the recessive trait but it still carries it.
10. What is the importance of heterozygotes (the heterozygote
advantage) in maintaining genetic variation in populations?
Heterozygotes are important because they have the dominant allele
and they also carry the recessive. So when you mate, the recessive
and dominant allele is still there, giving you more variation.
11. Explain how the initial genotypic frequencies of the
populations compare.
In Case I p and q is close to the predicted amount but not exact. In
Case IV the amounts are not as close to the predicted amounts like
Case I due to genetic drift. In Case IV we see more heterozygous
and less recessive traits. In Case I we see more heterozygous, but
the homozygous recessive and dominant traits are still close in
number.

12. What do your results indicate about the importance of

population size as an evolutionary force?
Our results indicate that smaller populations are more likely to
experience genetic drift, which is change in allele frequency by chance.
In other words there is more change in the allele frequencies.

I LOST THE GAME:)