Reproduction!
Instructions – Part 1
Organism A
1. Use the coin provided to determine your organisms I.D. number. Flip your coin once to determine your
first digit, then flip again to determine your second.
Heads = 1
Tails = 2
2. In this part of the activity you will go through 10 years. Each year you will double your population size
and all your offspring will have the same I.D. number as you.
3. Read the READING PASSAGE below and then answer the questions for Organism A.
Organism B
1. Roll the dice twice to determine your I.D. number for this part and put it in the space provided on your
student sheet. Example: If you roll and 2 and then roll a 5, your number would be 25
2. Next, you can start producing offspring. BUT WAIT! In order to produce offspring you will need a
partner so first find one. Then get one coin, ONLY ONE per group.
3. Once you have a partner use this process to produce offspring for 10 years.
i. First, write your two I.D. numbers in the “parent” circle, one per circle.
ii. Second, flip your coin to determine which digit you will pass on. If it is heads, write your
first digit in the offspring circle, if it is tails write your second digit.
a. EXAMPLE if your I.D. number is 25 and you flip a tails you would put a “5”
in the offspring circle.
iii. Then your partner will flip the coin to determine what digit they will pass on.
4. Finally, calculate the size of your population at the end of the 10 years (do not add together your I.D.
numbers and answer the questions for Organism B.
READING PASSAGE
Reproduction is necessary for the continuation of a species. Low reproduction can lead to a species going
extinct (something we talked about previously).All organisms reproduce either sexually or asexually. In
Asexual reproduction all of the genetic information comes from one parent. Offspring are identical to the
parent. In asexual reproduction there is no genetic variation because each offspring is exactly like the parent.
In Sexual reproduction a new organism begins to form when an egg and sperm join in a process called
fertilization. An offspring that is the result of sexual reproduction receives half of the chromosomes from one
parent and half from another. No matter what type of organism, if it reproduces sexually, the resulting
offspring will be a genetic 50/50 mix of chromosomes from the two parents.
