Stickleback Spines

Image of two stickleback fish being measured, taken from the activityy

Topic

Resource Type

Level

High School — General High School — AP/IB College

Saved By

3 Users

Description

This activity explores images of stickleback fish, some with spines and some without spines, which serve as phenomena for learning about gene regulation and natural selection.

Most stickleback fish in the ocean have structures called pelvic spines. However, stickleback fish in some lakes do not. The presence of pelvic spines is determined by a gene called Pitx1. For stickleback fish without pelvic spines, Pitx1 is not active in the pelvic area. The images show several modern-day and fossil stickleback specimens. The pelvic area is circled in each image.

The “Educator Materials” document includes background information and implementation suggestions for using the images as phenomena. The “Student Handout” includes the images and background information.

The “Resource Google Folder” link directs to a Google Drive folder of resource documents in the Google Docs format. Not all downloadable documents for the resource may be available in this format. The Google Drive folder is set as “View Only”; to save a copy of a document in this folder to your Google Drive, open that document, then select File → “Make a copy.” These documents can be copied, modified, and distributed online following the Terms of Use listed in the “Details” section below, including crediting BioInteractive.

Student Learning Targets

Examine images of phenomena, make observations, and ask questions.
Collaborate with peers on ideas, ask questions that require higher levels of reasoning, and develop deeper understanding of concepts.
Explain how mutations in a gene regulatory region can lead to changes in traits.
Describe how different environments can provide different selective pressures on an organism’s morphology.

Estimated Time

Within one 50-minute class period.

Key Terms

fossil, enhancer, gene switch, mutation, pelvis, pituitary homeobox transcription factor 1 (Pitx1)

Terms of Use

The resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. No rights are granted to use HHMI’s or BioInteractive’s names or logos independent from this Resource or in any derivative works.