1. 4/17/12
Objective: Provide explanations for changes in allele frequency in a population
Warm-Up: Why would it be advantageous for a species to maintain some genetic variation within a population?
Homework, due Thursday: Clover Case Study, Exercises 1-7

2. Discussion
Describe what happened to the frequency of each allele in this investigation
Which traits were most advantageous in the plant population? Why?
What role, if any, did “randomness” play in this investigation?
Suppose another species of herbivorous dinosaur came into this ecosystem during Generation 10 and preferred tall, bitter plants. Predict what would happen to the plant population.

3. Vocabulary Gene pool: all of the available alleles within a population
Allele frequency: how common a particular allele is within a gene pool (expressed as a fraction or decimal)
Evolution: a change in the allele frequency of a population over time
Fitness: a measure of an individual’s ability to survive and reproduce

4. Vocabulary
Selective pressure: any factor that can affect an individual’s ability to survive and reproduce; a factor that can impact the allele frequency within a population