1. Artificial Selection

2. What are we going to do??
“Real time natural selection with multicellular organisms”
-Darwin used pigeons, cattle, and other domesticated animals to make his case for Origin of the Species.
We are going to use:

3. Wisconsin Fast Plants

4. General Procedure
First, we will identify and quantify several traits that vary in the population and that we can quantify easily.
Then we will perform ARTIFICIAL SELECTION by cross pollinating only selected plants.
We will collect seeds, plant them, and then quantitatively analyze them to see if selection has occurred.

5. Pollination

8. Basic Steps
Today:
-Thread a wicking cord through a hole in the bottom of each pot (4 per group)
-Fill each pot with light planting mix. Cord should stick through.
-Plant 6 seeds in each pot (24/group) Label.
-Cover seeds in a light layer of planting mix.
-Place plants in grow area and make sure wicks touch fertilizer reservoir.

10. As the plants grow, observe and identify any variations in the plants that can be reliably measured (HINT: start keeping a journal!!!!)
After 7-12 days, as a class, identify several variable traits to study and quantify.
You will plot a histogram