Phylogeny of Candy Bars Activity and Blog Post
There are two parts to the Phylogeny of Candy Bars activity and blog posting.
For Part 1, you will identify the characteristics that differentiate “species” of ten candy bars (of your choosing) and complete a phylogenetic analysis of your sample. You will post to the class blog your decisions on the number and type of species you identified.
For Part 2, you will draw your phylogeny and post it to the class blog.
For both parts, you can also comment on posts from two of your fellow learners on the blog.
Learning Outcomes
• Justify arguments effectively, using logical and scientific support.
Instructions
To complete the Phylogeny of Candy Bars activity and blog postings:
Part 1
1. Select ten candy bars, which you will purchase.
2. Identify different candy bars or groups of candy bars species in your sample. Think about what makes them different and come up with criteria for differentiating species. After doing this, don’t eat your candy bars
3. Write two or three paragraphs to describe the species you identified and your justification for identifying different species.
Part 2
1. This time, you are looking for characteristics that will help you differentiate between candy bars. Some examples may include colour of the wrapper, shape of the bar, type of information on the wrapper, texture of the bar, number and type of layers in the bar, and so on.
2. When you have at least fifteen characteristics, start coding your bars for each.
3. Use your coding to reconstruct a phylogenetic tree. For an example on how to do this, please revisit the phylogeny exercise presented in the course materials.
4. Once you have the phylogeny of the candy bars, answer the following questions: Which candy bars are most closely related to one another—which form clades? Are the clades you identified in the phylogeny similar to species you identified in the first part of this exercise? Why or why not?
Phylogeny reconstruction blog
1. I have described and listed the characters I used for phylogenetic reconstruction.
2. I have identified the most closely related candy bars.
3. I have discussed how clades of candy bars compare to species of candy bars I previously identified.
4. I discussed why or why not I have discrepancies between clades and species of candy bars.
5. For each of my paragraphs, I have included the following: a topic sentence that makes a point, claim, or observation; evidence that illustrates or supports the point; and an explanation of how the paragraph directly answers the question.
6. My topic sentences relate to each other and support the purpose of the post. I have followed formatting requirements.
7. I have used correct, concise language.
8. I have clearly connected different ideas.