Stickleback Fish Guided Notes

Thursday 4/4/19 TASKS

1. Label notebook ​Mendel Genetics 4/4/19
2. Working ​SILENTLY​ AND I​ NDEPENDENTLY
3. RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION

Part 1: “Video #1: Making of the fittest”

Watch the ​Making of the fittest: Stickleback Evolution Video​ and answer the following questions:

1. For tens of thousands of years, much of north America lay buried under ______ up to a mile thick.

2. In what is now ____________ ocean bound streams and rivers emerged opening up possibilities for
countless new species.

3. One of the animals that came calling was the ____________

4. But as the ice-free land began to rise, streams and the fish in them were cut off from the
____________ .

5. Stickleback bodies changed in many ways. As they adapted to life in post glacial lakes. ​Describe 3
things that changed about them.
●
●
●

6. This is bear Paw Lake, one of the many lakes created in ____________ by the glacier’s retreat
8-10,000 years ago.

7. Like all freshwater sticklebacks, their ancestors lived in the ____________

8. In the ocean, there are lots of big ____________ fish and there is no place to ____________

9. So sticklebacks evolved body armor: ____________ ____________ on their side and long
sharp____________ coming off their pelvis and back.

10. They are easy to catch but easy to ____________

11. In Bear Paw Lake there are no large mouth predators, but there are hungry ____________ larvae
that grab sticklebacks by their ____________ .
12. So, pelvic spines actually ____________ fitness and lessen a fish’s chances of surviving and
____________

13. In just a few thousand years, these fish underwent a dramatic skeletal change completely losing their
____________ ____________
14. As pelvic spines are homologous to the ____________ ____________ of four legged vertebrates,
the change we see in sticklebacks is the equivalent of losing ____________

15. Changes in form arise from changes in development. And since ____________ control development,
changes in form are ultimately due to change in ____________

16. Geneticists use ____________ to map the location of genes that make the difference. Ocean and
freshwater varieties of stickleback can be crossed by collecting sperm-filled testes from males and
eggs from females and mixing them together.

17. Each cross re-shuffles the genetic material and ____________ that are passed on from one
generation to the next.

18. What did the scientists find at the marker for the Pitx1 gene? What conclusion can they make about
marine and freshwater fish?

19. If you look at a marine embryo, you see the Pitx1 gene is expressed in multiple places. It turns on in
the ____________ region, in the lips … In that tissue, its telling cells to start growing a full
____________ and ____________

20. What about in fish that aren’t going to make a pelvis? Where in the body do you see the blue stains?
Where in the body do you not see the blue stains?

21. So the structure of the proteins is the same between the two populations and the expression of the
gene is the same between the two populations except for just in the ____________

22. Like all DNA, the sequences of switches can acquire ____________

23. Fish that have lost their pelvis have deleted the ____________ switch, it’s gone. But because this
mutation only crippled one specific switch, the Pitx1 gene remained fully functional in the rest of the
____________ .
24. So the obliteration of that switch actually makes these fish ____________ adapted to the new
environment they are in than their ____________

25. If you look at a fish that has lost its pelvis in Scotland, or iceland, or Alaska, or British Columbia, the
same switch has been thrown away over and over again whenever the fish have evolved a loss of a
____________

26. Bell made a surprising discovery. Fish with a full pelvis had arrived suddenly, perhaps when some
geological event briefly opened the lake to the ____________

27. Yet, within a few thousand years, almost all sticklebacks here lacked ____________ ____________
28. We can link up genetics to development, development to ____________ , phenotypes to
environments and we can look at change through time in the ____________ ____________

29. Biologists are finding that the most common mechanism driving the seemingly endless diversity of
animal bodies is____________ in the switches that regulate developmental control genes.

Part 2: “Video #2: Bear Paw Lake vs Frog Lake”

Watch the ​Bear Paw Lake vs Frog Lake ​ and answer the following questions:
1. According to Dr. Bell, what is an important difference between Bear Paw Lake and Frog Lake

Part 3: Stickleback Fish Reading

Use the following CATCH Annotation Rubric as you CATCH Annotate the text below:
CATCH Annotations Rubric Checklist  
Highlight in pink:​ ​ ​THREE​ unknown/confusing words ​AND define 
them/synonym
A​sk: ​ONE​ ? and Comment (question about it, something you were confused about.
T​alk: ​ONE​ ! Comment (interesting point) throughout text 
H​ighlight in yellow​: ONLY ​key points​ are highlighted (not entire 
sentences/paragraphs)
Stickleback Fish Reading
By: Michael Bell
Freshwater stickleback populations were established
when some sea-run populations became trapped in lakes
that formed at the end of the last ice age. These lakes were
initially connected to the ocean, but were cut off as ice fields
retreated. In most cases, f​reshwater stickleback fish
populations are strikingly ​different from sea-run and
marine fish populations because they have adapted to life
in freshwater environments. ​Sea-run and marine
stickleback ​fish have strong armor defenses to protect them
from large predatory fish that live in the ocean. These
defenses include ​complete pelvic structures: bony plates
along the sides of their bodies and long spines projecting from their backs and pelvises
Some ​freshwater stickleback populations have reduced armor or none at all. In addition,
freshwater stickleback fish have evolved to be slightly smaller and more streamlined than their
sea-run ancestors, allowing them to swim faster and dart more easily into the many hiding places
present in lakes. They also have modified gill function and an altered excretory system.

Thinking Question #1: How are sea-run and marine stickleback fish different from freshwater
stickleback fish?

Although freshwater stickleback fish underwent many changes as they adapted to life in
freshwater, researchers have focused on ​changes in the pelvic skeleton because this trait is highly
variable and is easy to see and measure. In addition, its underlying genetic mechanisms are well
studied. The development of the pelvic girdle and spines appears to be controlled by a major gene
called ​Pitx1​. Evidence suggests that the function of this gene has been conserved throughout
vertebrate evolution for millions of years.

Thinking Question #2:​ ​ Why have researchers focused on changes in the pelvic skeleton?

In the ​ocean​, a stickleback fish with a ​complete pelvis​ is ​less likely to be eaten by larger
fish that prey on it.​ The pelvic structure allows the fish to defend themselves against the predators.
As a result, ​if there are many predator animals​ in the ocean, the s​tickleback fish will​ most likely
selecting for and pass on the trait for the stickleback fish to have a complete pelvis structure.
Almost all​ ​marine​ and ​sea-run ​ stickleback fish have a​ full ​pelvic girdle​ and ​pelvic spines​ so they
can defend themselves against predators.

Thinking Question #3:​ ​ Do marine and sea-run stickleback fish have pelvic structures? Why or why
not?

Part 4: Work on Science State Test Study Guide

1. The Study Guide and your CER responses will be entered as ​TWO Summative Grades​ in gradebook.
2. Make sure to​:
a. Answer multiple choice questions
b. Complete CATCH Annotations on Part 4 and Part 5
1. Circle 3-5 unknown words and define them 
​
2. Ask 1 Question AND 1 Comment 
​
!  This is INTERESTING. 
?  This is CONFUSING. 
* Write your comments and questions in the margin. 
  
3. ​Highlight ​important information NOT entire paragraphs  
c. Answer the CER Responses in complete sentences!
​Part 5: Punnett Squares Vocab
Use the link ​Punnett Squares Vocab ​ to fill the chart below:

WORD DEFINITION EXAMPLE/SENTENCE/IMAGE

Example:​ Force A push or a pull Pushing a car that broke down to the side of
the road.
Punnett square

Trait

Allele

Hybrid

Purebred

Phenotype

Genotype

Part 6: ACHIEVE 3000 ARTICLE​ (if done early)

Directions:
● Log on to Achieve 3000 and select ​PAREDES PERIOD ___ INTEGRATED
SCIENCE CLASS
● Read and complete a science article of your choice and complete the​ Before
Poll Question, Read the Article, Activity questions and Thought Activity
● Fill out Achieve 3000 Advisory Tracker
● Answer the questions below:
1. In ​3-5 sentences, summarize​ the ​main idea ​of the article.

2. How does this article ​connect ​to what we have been learning about in Science class
about ​genetics, heredity, phenotype, genotype, mutations?

3. What was your score on this Article? Did you get a 75% or above? Why or why not?
If you do not get a 75% or above​, you will need to come to tutoring on Monday to
make up this Achieve 3000 Article Assignment.