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The Teosinte Hypothesis

Photo of corn next to teosinte from the activity

Topic

  • Genetics
  • Patterns of Inheritance
  • Anatomy & Physiology
  • Plant Anatomy & Physiology
  • Evolution
  • Artificial Selection
  • Math & Computational Skills
  • Data Analysis

Resource Type

  • Activities
  • Lessons

Level

High School — GeneralHigh School — AP/IBCollege
Saved By
17 Users
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Description

In this activity, students further explore the short film Popped Secret: The Mysterious Origin of Corn, by working through the mathematical concepts behind George Beadle’s claim that teosinte is the wild ancestor of maize.

George Beadle was the first to propose that teosinte is the wild ancestor of maize. At first, few scientists agreed with this hypothesis because there did not seem to be enough supporting evidence. Later in his career, Dr. Beadle undertook a huge genetic experiment to find more evidence. Students will use Punnett squares to model crosses if one, two, or three genes are involved in determining the differences between teosinte and maize. Then, they develop a mathematical model to make further predictions, and use those to explain the main conclusion of Dr. Beadle’s research and how it supports his hypothesis about maize’s origins.

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

  • Calculate and predict the probability of offspring genotypes and phenotypes based on genetic crosses.
  • Compare different methods of modeling genetic predictions.
     

Estimated Time

Two 50-minute class periods.

Key Terms

allele, genotype, maize, phenotype, Punnett square, teosinte

Primary Literature

Doebley, J. “The Genetics of Maize Evolution.” Annual Review of Genetics 38, 1 (2004): 37–59. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.genet.38.072902.092425. 

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.

Accessibility Level (WCAG compliance)

PDF files meet criteria.

Version History

Date Published 03.07.16
Date Updated 08.01.19

NGSS (2013)

HS-LS3-3, HS-LS4-3; SEP2, SEP4, SEP5

AP Biology (2019)

IST-1.I, IST-1.J, SYI-3.C; SP2, SP4, SP5, SP6

IB Biology (2016)

3.4, 10.2

Common Core (2010)

Math.A-CED.1, Math.S-IC.2; MP1, MP4, MP8

Vision and Change (2009)

CC3; DP2, DP3

Materials

Resource Google Folder (Link)
Educator Materials (PDF) 326 KB
Student Handout (PDF) 410 KB
Educator Materials - Español (PDF) 203 KB
Student Handout - Español (PDF) 499 KB

Use This Resource With

Video Resource
Popped Secret: The Mysterious Origin of Corn

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