Lab Unit 3 – In Person

Speciation: An Evolutionary Process – In-Person Lab

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Speciation – The evolutionary process in which new biological species arise.

PRE-LAB

Click to get the Pre-Lab Assignment

Read the lab unit, pp. 33-40. NOTE: Activity 1 – Procedure I (p. 36-37) will be done during the In-Lab meeting, but please read the whole unit ahead of lab.
General Background Information
- View the Hybridization of Honeybees Presentation
Activity 1 – Procedure II: Micropipetting and gel electrophoresis
- View the following video and animation (make sure to review the lab manual, pp. 38-40):
  Gel Electrophoresis – animation
  Instructions for loading an agarose gel – video (mixing the same is not as important with our samples)
Speciation – View the following:
NOTE: Be sure to bring your lab manual to lab this week. This lab unit is not available digitally.

The Roles of different bees

IN-LAB

Morphological Characteristics – Activity 1 – Procedure-I: (p. 36-37)

Working in the lab this week, each group will get a notebook containing 36 Bee wing pictures. The pictures in each notebook at the 6 different lab tables are different from one another. Two tables of students will assess the bees from one hive in order to determine if the bees in that hive have been hybridized and/or taken over by Africa bees. Why would this be problematic for a beekeeper?
Bee Wing Picture Assignments:

Hive 1 – Group 1 Hive 1 – Group 2 Hive 2 – Group 3 Hive 2 – Group 4 Hive 3 – Group 5 Hive 3 – Group 6
Use the provided metric ruler (cm/mm) on your lab table.
Study the provided wing diagram in the notebook or lab manual to see how to position the ruler parallel to the wing length to determine the length from the notch near the joint to the longest point on the flattened wing. Do not angle the ruler to connect the notch to the longest part of the wing. You may need to rotate some of the images for ease of measuring.
Video on how to measure the bee wing images.
As a group, divide the wings to measure evenly between each student in your group. If you have 4 group members, each person should measure 9 different wings. There are 12 Known African wings, 12 Known European wings, and 12 Unknown Wings. You will be comparing the length of unknown wings to the other two groups of known bees.
Record your group data and calculate the average wing lengths on page 37, Table 3-2 in your lab manual.
Graph the data. Use the provided Bee Wing Length Graphing Excel or Google Sheet in your Group folder or on one of the lab computers. Excel Template.
Video on entering data in the Graphing Google Sheet. The video refers to using an Excel template, but we found the transfer of the Excel sheet to work on in Google sheets does not keep all the settings in our template. Entering the data in the the provided Google Sheet template is the same.

Molecular Characteristics: (p. 38-41)

In lab we will run DNA Electrophoresis using samples of mtDNA from bees found in your assigned hive.

Equipment:

The Electrophoretic Process – You should have viewed the electrophoresis simulation as part of your pre-lab.

Compare your morphological data with the corresponding mtDNA analysis.

As a group of 4, be prepared to present your findings to the class. What can you conclude about the bees in your hive? Explain your supporting evidence. How do your results compare with the other Group investigating this hive? What course of action do you suggest to the Beekeeper of this hive?

What economic implications are at stake making appropriate hive management so important?

(Before leaving Lab – your TA will review the methods for random sampling and measuring leaf surface area needed for the Lab Unit 4.1 fieldwork due in the next Pre-Lab.

POST-LAB

Use your cell phone to take a picture of your stained gel (saved as a jpeg or pdf) and include it with your Group Graph and explanation of what this means and what your advise would be to the bee keeper in a Word or Google doc. Submit this in Moodle (group work – one submission per group-people at your table).
Answer the questions #1-9 on pages 43-46 (group work – one submission per group – people at your table).
Need to start work on the Lab 4.1 Leaf Herbivory Data Collection/PRE-LAB assignment. See the assignment box below. (Individual work).

Spring 2023 – Pre-Lab Assignment for Unit 4 – required to complete before the next lab.

This Pre-Lab requires you to complete fieldwork to sample area trees. You will need to complete the PRE-LAB for the Unit 4.1 SPRING SEMESTER data collection handout – before coming to lab where your data and pictures will be used for the In-Lab work with your group.