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Home » SCIN 130 AMU Lab 6 The Origin of Corn Introduction to Biology American Military University

SCIN 130 AMU Lab 6 The Origin of Corn Introduction to Biology American Military University

  • Name of class: SCIN 130 Introduction to biology
  • Name of School: American Military University </br> American Public University
  • Posted By: Nicholas34

SCIN 130 AMU Lab 6 The Origin of Corn Introduction to Biology American Military University assistance is available on Domyclass

General Instructions

Step 1: Read and complete the Lesson for the week – both the Lecture and Lab portion found in the APUS online classroom! The information you acquire in this Lab will be included in your quiz for the week – so make sure you have it completed prior to taking the quiz!

Step 2: Complete all the activities in this lab instruction packet: SCIN 130 Lab 6: The Origin of Corn.  Work through the instruction packet step by step. Record your results in the worksheet as you progress through this instruction packet.

Lab Packet Found Here

Step 3: You should save a copy of your completed lab with your name and lab # in the title. For example, if you are Felicetti and this is lab 6, you would title your document: FelicettiLab6.doc. You are then to add this as an attachment to the quiz for the week! 

Please note the following:

For any sections that request that you “take notes”, the notes should be in your own words summarizing information learned. You should not copy and paste information from the Internet including media and resources accessed in this lab. Directly copying and pasting information is considered plagiarism in this course.

When taking screenshots save with file name that has your last name, the lab number and the screenshot number. For example, for the first screenshot in lab 6 if your last name was Felicetti the file name would be FelicettiLab6Shot1.jpeg. It is important to follow this image labeling structure. Images submitted without proper labeling will be graded as a zero.

This lab instruction packet will be submitted with the quiz for the week when completed. Again, save the file with your name and the lab number as a Word document. For example, if this was Lab 6 and your last name was Felicetti the file name would be FelicettiLab6.docx. It is important to follow this file labeling structure. Files submitted without proper labeling are subject to a score of zero.

SCIN 130 Lab 6: The Origin of Corn

General Instructions

Be sure to read the general instructions from the Lessons portion of the class prior to completing this packet.

Remember, you are to upload this packet with your quiz for the week!

Background

Ten thousand years ago, corn didn’t exist anywhere in the world, and until recently scientists argued vehemently about its origins. Today the crop is consumed voraciously by us, by our livestock, and as a major part of processed foods. So where did it come from? Popped Secret: The Mysterious Origin of Corn tells the story of the genetic changes involved in the transformation of a wild grass called teosinte into corn.

Specific Lab Instructions

Name:     

Date:     

Go to: The Mysterious Origin of Corn from HHMI Biointeractive

Watch the short film, and answer these questions as you progress.

     
  1. What was the purpose of domestication in ancient civilizations?
  • What TWO features made Dr. Beadle believe that teosinte was an ancestor of modern maize?

1.      

2.      

  • Stop the film at the 6:55 and answer the following:
    • Answer the Let’s Review Questions. Embed a screenshot of your answer to question 1 in this packet:

Question 1:

     
  • Why did botanists expect the wild relative of maize to look similar to modern maize?
     
  • Why did Dr. Beadle use so many plants in his experiments? Would his data have been as meaningful if he had grown only 1,000 plants? Why or why not?
     
  • How many genes did Dr. Beadle deduce were involved in the changes between maize and teosinte?
  • Resume the film. Near what river did Dr. Doebley discover that all modern maize varieties originate?
  • What type of evidence left behind on the plant grinding tools was Dr. Piperno looking for to show the presence of maize?
  • Stop again at 12:10 and answer the following
    • How did archaeological evidence support the molecular evidence for the timing and geographic location of maize domestication?
     
  • Based on the quiz in the video, Dr. Doebley and his team compared the DNA sequence of maize to that of a number of teosinte varieties from throughout Mexico. What did their analysis reveal? Select all that apply.

That teosinte and maize have the same number of chromosomes.

That maize originated from a variety of teosinte that existed about 9,000 years ago.

That maize and teosinte could interbreed to produce viable hybrid plants.

That maize is most closely related to a teosinte variety in the Balsas region of Mexico.

  • Watch the film to the end.
    • Fill in the table below to compare teosinte and maize.
  Extent of branching Number of rows of kernels per cob Kernel type (naked or enclosed in a hard fruitcase)
Teosinte                  
Maize                  
  • Pick one of the characteristics of maize from the table above and explain how it makes the crop more useful to humans than teosinte?
     
     
  • What does the fact that teosinte can be “popped” help to explain?
  • Explain how changes in a small number of genes can result in very different looking plants.