Ch 14 Genetics Activity: Create a Face Lab

Introduction:
Why do people look so different from each other? Even close relatives often look very different from
each other. This happens because there is a large variety of traits that exist in the human population and new
variations continue to be created as humans reproduce. In this activity, you will learn why brothers and sisters
have different genotypes (genetic messages on their DNA) and phenotypes (physical appearances), even when
they share the same parents.
CONGRATULATIONS…you are a parent! You and your lab partner represent a couple that each have
one dominant and one recessive gene for each facial feature illustrated in this lab. Amazing coincidence, huh?
As you already should know, this means you are heterozygous for each trait.

Procedure:
1. With your partner, decide which of you will contribute the genes of the mother and which will contribute
the genes of the father. Write your names as the parents on the Data Sheet.
2. When you are instructed to flip the coin, place it in the cup, cover the cup with your hand, and shake the cup
vigorously, then over turn the cup onto the table, being careful to not send the coin flying across the room.
DO NOT BE TOO NOISY WITH THE COIN SHAKING!
3. Determine the gender of your child:
 Remember  mom’s genotype is XX and dad’s is XY  only DAD flips one coin.
 Heads represents Y sperm  child is a BOY
 Tails represents X sperm  child is a GIRL
 Fill out the Data Sheet  genes from father, genotype (XX or XY), and phenotype (boy or
girl).
4. With your partner agree on ONE name for your bouncing new baby and write this on your Data Sheet.
5. Discover the facial features your child will have by flipping coins:
 Heads will represent the dominant trait  capital letter
 Tails will represent the recessive trait  lowercase letter
6. Carefully read the facial features papers and flip the coin as instructed. On the Data Sheet record the
genetic contributions (results from the flips of the coins) in the columns labels Gene(s) from MOM and
Gene(s) from DAD. Record the full combination of genes the child receives from the parents in the
genotype column, and record the physical expression of these genes in the phenotype column.
7. With your partner, decide which one of you will draw a BABY picture of your child and which one of you
will draw a TEENAGER picture of your child. When drawing you must follow all of the features that your
child genetically inherited from both parents  refer to Data Sheet. The drawing should CLEARLY show
every physical feature. Work together with your partner because the drawings should look like the SAME
person. Do NOT draw any makeup, piercings, tattoos, highlights, etc. The final pictures should be colored
and glued (side by side) on a single sheet of construction paper. With a marker  write the name of your
child on the front of the picture. On the back  write your names and identify who drew each picture.
8. Complete the questions on the back of the Data Sheet. Turn in your pictures, Data Sheets, and questions.
Ch 14 Genetics Activity: Create a Face Lab Name __________________________________________

Mom’s Name ________________________________ Dad’s Name ________________________________

Baby’s Name ___________________________________________

Facial Trait Mom’s Genes Dad’s Genes Genotype Phenotype

GENDER X
1. Face Shape; R, r
2. Chin Shape; P, p
3. Chin Shape II (only if PP or Pp)
R, r
4. Cleft Chin; C, c
5. Skin Color; A, a
B, b
C, c
6. Hair Color; A, a
B, b
C, c
D, d
7. Red Hair (only if 3 or less
dominant alleles from #6); R, r
8. Hair Type; C, c
9. Widow’s Peak; W, w
10. Eyebrow Color; D, d
11. Eyebrow Thickness; B, b
12. Eyebrow Placement; N, n
13. Eye Color; A, a
B, b
14. Eye Distance; E, e
15. Eye Size; L, l
16. Eye Shape; A, a
17. Eye Tilt; H, h
18. Eyelashes; L, l
19. Mouth Size; M, m
20. Lip Thickness; T, t
21. Lip Protrusion; P, p
22. Dimples; P, p
23. Nose Size; B, b
24. Nose Shape; R, r
25. Earlobe Attachment; F, f
26. Darwin’s Ear Point; P, p
27. Hairy Ears (males only); P, p
28. Freckles on Cheeks; P, p
29. Freckles on Forehead; P, p
Ch 10 Genetics Activity: Create a Face Lab Name __________________________________________

Mom’s Name ________________________________ Dad’s Name ________________________________

Baby’s Name ___________________________________________

Facial Trait Mom’s Genes Dad’s Genes Genotype Phenotype

GENDER X
1. Face Shape; R, r r
2. Chin Shape; P, p p
3. Chin Shape II (only if PP or Pp)
R, r
4. Cleft Chin; C, c c
5. Skin Color; A, a a
B, b b
C, c c
6. Hair Color; A, a a
B, b b
C, c c
D, d d
7. Red Hair (only if 3 or less r
dominant alleles from #6); R, r
8. Hair Type; C, c c
9. Widow’s Peak; W, w w
10. Eyebrow Color; D, d d
11. Eyebrow Thickness; B, b b
12. Eyebrow Placement; N, n n
13. Eye Color; A, a a
B, b b
14. Eye Distance; E, e e
15. Eye Size; L, l l
16. Eye Shape; A, a a
17. Eye Tilt; H, h h
18. Eyelashes; L, l l
19. Mouth Size; M, m m
20. Lip Thickness; T, t t
21. Lip Protrusion; P, p p
22. Dimples; P, p p
23. Nose Size; B, b b
24. Nose Shape; R, r r
25. Earlobe Attachment; F, f f
26. Darwin’s Ear Point; P, p p
27. Hairy Ears (males only); P, p p
28. Freckles on Cheeks; P, p p
29. Freckles on Forehead; P, p p
Ch 10 Genetics Activity: Create a Face Lab Name __________________________________________

Mom’s Name ________________________________ Dad’s Name ________________________________

Baby’s Name ___________________________________________

Facial Trait Mom’s Genes Dad’s Genes Genotype Phenotype

GENDER X Y
1. Face Shape; R, r r
2. Chin Shape; P, p p
3. Chin Shape II (only if PP or Pp) r
R, r
4. Cleft Chin; C, c c
5. Skin Color; A, a a
B, b b
C, c c
6. Hair Color; A, a a
B, b b
C, c c
D, d d
7. Red Hair (only if 3 or less r
dominant alleles from #6); R, r
8. Hair Type; C, c c
9. Widow’s Peak; W, w w
10. Eyebrow Color; D, d d
11. Eyebrow Thickness; B, b b
12. Eyebrow Placement; N, n n
13. Eye Color; A, a a
B, b b
14. Eye Distance; E, e e
15. Eye Size; L, l l
16. Eye Shape; A, a a
17. Eye Tilt; H, h h
18. Eyelashes; L, l l
19. Mouth Size; M, m m
20. Lip Thickness; T, t t
21. Lip Protrusion; P, p p
22. Dimples; P, p p
23. Nose Size; B, b b
24. Nose Shape; R, r r
25. Earlobe Attachment; F, f f
26. Darwin’s Ear Point; P, p p
27. Hairy Ears (males only); P, p
28. Freckles on Cheeks; P, p p
29. Freckles on Forehead; P, p p
Facial Features
1. Face Shape Round (RR , Rr) Square (rr)

2. Chin Shape Prominent (PP, Pp) Weak (pp)

Sticks Out

3. Chin Shape II – only if child’s chin is prominent (PP, Pp); skip if child’s chin is weak (pp)
Round Chin (RR, Rr) Square Chin (rr)

4. Cleft Chin Present (CC, Cc) Absent (cc)

5. Skin Color:
Skin color involves 3 gene pairs. Each parent needs to flip the coin 3 times,
and record the A, B, and C alleles. Example, mom’s genotype could be AbC
and dad’s could be abC; your child’s genotype would then be AabbCC. Each
capital letter represents an active gene for melanin production (color).

6 capitals Very dark black skin

5 capitals Very dark brown
4 capitals Dark brown
3 capitals Medium brown
2 capitals Light brown
1 capitals Light tan
0 capitals White
6. Hair Color:
Like skin color, hair color is produced by several genes. For the purpose of this
activity, we will assume that 4 pairs are involved (more are likely). So, each
parent will have to flip the coins 4 times for the A, B, C and D alleles. As before,
the capital letters (dominant) represent color while the lower case (recessive)
represent little or no color.

8 capitals Black
7 capitals Very dark brown
6 capitals Dark brown
5 capitals Brown
4 capitals Light brown
3 capitals Dark blonde
2 capitals Blonde
1 capitals Very light blonde
0 capitals White

If your child ends up with 3 or fewer dominant alleles, continue on to #7. If

your child has 4 or more dominant alleles, then skip #7.

7. Red Hair Color:

Red hair seems to be caused by a single gene with two alleles:
Dark red (RR) Light red (Rr) No red (rr)
Red hair is further complicated by the fact that brown hair will mask or hide red
hair color. The lighter the hair color the more the red can show through. If your
child has 3 or less capitals (for hair color, see number 6), and RR is tossed your
child will have flaming red hair. (Have fun with your colored pencils!)

8. Hair Type: incomplete dominance

Curly (CC) Wavy (Cc) Straight (cc)

9. Widow’s Peak: The hairline comes to a point in the middle of the forehead
Present (WW, Ww) Absent (ww)
10. Eyebrow Color: incomplete dominance

Darker than hair color Same as hair color Lighter than hair color
(DD) (Dd) (dd)

11. Eyebrow Thickness: Bushy (BB, Bb) Fine (bb)

12. Eyebrow Placement: Not connected (NN, Nn) Connected (nn)

13. Eye Color:

Assume that there are two gene pairs involved, the capital letters represent
more color and the lower case, less color. Dark eyes are dominant over light.
Assume that there are two layers of color on the iris of the eye. The first
alleles (A or a) code for the front of the iris and the second alleles (B or b)
code for the back of the iris. Determine the first layer, A, then the second layer,
B. In reality eye color is much more complex than this.

Iris – front = inner side A or a

Back = outer
Pupil side
- black
 B or b
AABB Black
AABb Dark brown
AaBB Brown with green flakes
AaBb Hazel
Aabb Dark blue
aaBB Green
aaBb Grey blue
aabb Light blue

14. Eye Distance:

Close together (EE) Average (Ee) Far apart (ee)

15. Eye Size:

Large (LL) Average (Ll) Small (ll)
16. Eye Shape: Almond (AA, Aa) Round (aa)

17. Eye Tilt: Horizontal (HH, Hh) Upward slant (hh)

18. Eyelashes: Long (LL, Ll) Short (ll)

19. Mouth Size:

Long (MM) Average (Mm) Short (mm)

20. Lip Thickness: Thick (TT, Tt) Thin (tt)

21. Lip Protrusion:

Very protruding (PP) Slightly protruding (Pp) Absent (pp)

22. Dimples:
Present (PP, Pp) Absent (pp)

23. Nose Size:

Big (BB) Average (Bb) Small (bb)
24. Nose Shape: Rounded (RR, Rr) Pointed (rr)

25. Earlobe Attachment:

Free (FF, Ff) Attached (ff)

26. Darwin’s Ear Point:

Present (PP, Pp) Absent (pp)

27. Hairy Ears: This is sex-linked and only occurs in males so if your baby is a girl skip this.
If your baby is a boy, only mom flips.
Present (P) Absent (p)

28. Freckles on Cheeks:

Present (PP, Pp) Absent (pp)

29. Freckles on Forehead:

Present (PP, Pp) Absent (pp)
Questions:
Use your vocabulary list to give a COMPLETE definition of the following terms:

1. Dominant –

2. Recessive –

3. Homozygous –

4. Heterozygous –

5. Genotype –

6. Phenotype –

Refer to your Data Sheet for the following questions:

7. What is the gender of your child? What is the genotype of your child’s gender?

8. Which parent (Mom or Dad) determined the gender of the child?

9. Name 3 homozygous dominant facial traits that your child inherited  write the phenotypes

10. Name 3 heterozygous facial traits that your child inherited  write the phenotypes

11. Name 3 homozygous recessive facial traits that your child inherited  write the phenotypes
12. If siblings are receiving DNA from the same sources, why can siblings look different from each other?
(Hint: Think about Mendel’s laws of dominance, segregation, & independent assortment)