What Question are we Investigating?

Students interpret a series of images (rebus puzzle) to determine the focus of this lesson.

Brief intro to Genus and species and why scientific names avoid confusion around common names.

What we call a "panther" actually means a lot of different, very distinct types of cat.

A very brief history of how these great cats were hunted and driven to the brink of extinction.

How do people feel about the Florida Panther?

▶"The Return of The Florida Panther" explores the plight of the panther through the lens of different stakeholders (e.g. urbanites, ranchers, and Native Americans).

Students Think+Ink+Share what they noticed/inferred from the video about why different groups like or dislike panthers.

Students reflect on a scene where a man compares the loss of panthers to loss of Master Art Works.

Students spend rest of class period reflecting on different impacts of losing Florida panthers.

Students work with a partner, in a group, or individually, as you prefer to fill out a table with biological, social, and economic impacts caused by the extinction of Florida panthers. After sharing/discussing as a class, they spend the rest of class reflecting individually about different stakeholder perspectives and summarizing take-homes.

Students solve two puzzles which demonstrate the meaning of biological traits and how these translate into genetic variation.

For Polymath Puzzle #1, students look at a series of shapes with different patterns and colors and they must count how many different "traits" can be observed. For puzzle #2, students are shown two groups of traits and they must decide which group exhibits greater variation.

Students go through a quick review of dominant and recessive alleles.

Spend some time going through the slides with students to ensure a solid understanding of dominant and recessive traits. These form the basis of why the Florida Panther is experiencing genetic crisis.

How does population size affect how common recessive traits are?

In this activity, students simulate matings between panthers in a small and a large population. The slides guide students through understanding the 3 traits that we will be studying: kinked tails (a bone defect), a heart defect (where kittens are born with a hole in the septum), and cowlick (a strange pattern in the fur). By simulating matings in a large population (where recessive traits will be less common) and a small population (which parallels inbreeding in endangered populations), students should recognize how population size affects overall health of a species.

Students should work in groups to fill out their worksheets.

Each group should have 2 envelopes with cutouts of 15 panther cards (1 set sampled from a small population; 1 sampled from a big population). Students start by drawing a pair of parents from the small population. They fill in Table 1, practicing with assigning genotypes and phenotypes.

With Steps 7-8, students randomly select alleles to pass on and describe phenotypes of offspring.

If a parent is homozygous (e.g. TT or tt), they only have one allele to pass on. In cases of heterozygous parents (Tt), you can have students flip a coin to determine which allele gets passed on.

Once the worksheet has walked students through the process, they simulate 5 more matings.

First students fill out Table 3, with three matings (parent and offspring genotypes), counting up recessive phenotypes. They then do the same thing in Table 4, drawing cards from the "Big Population," which has many fewer recessive genotypes.

Once groups have finished simulating matings in both populations, they combine data as a class.

You will need to have Table 5 drawn on the board (or use a spreadsheet) to allow groups to record their data.

Students copy down other groups' data in Table 5

Students will then calculate the total number of recessive phenotypes out of the total possible to get a percentage. They should then reflect on why the percentage of recessive traits is higher in the small population and why it is important.

Students simulate being on a committee in 1994 that will decide what to do about Florida Panthers.

Divide students into 3 groups and assign each a different option to advocate: let nature run its course; start a captive breeding program; or use genetic rescue. Allow groups 5-10 minutes to brainstorm the pros and cons of their arguments and fill out questions 1 & 2 on the worksheet.

Groups then complete a gallery walk to observe what others worked on and finish by returning to their own group and finishing the worksheet based on what they learned.

Each group will have the opportunity to share the pros & cons they brainstormed for each committee scenario.

Write or type the pros & cons on three large charts for each scenario based on the students' input. Once all three options have been discussed, each student gets to vote on a course of action. Ask students to provide evidence and reasoning to support their choice.

Slides go over the major pros & cons for each scenario, in case anything was missed.

Ask students to vote on a course of action

Ask them to provide evidence and reasoning to support their choice.

Students watch part of ▶"What is genetic rescue, and can we use it to save endangered species?" to review and go deeper into what genetic rescue is and why it is so important for a population to have genetic variation.

Students continue watching ▶"What is genetic rescue, and can we use it to save endangered species?" to learn more about what an extinction vortex is and how populations can be saved from this circumstance.

They are then asked to fill out a concept map to demonstrate understanding of the Extinction Vortex. The slides then walk through a discussion of the logic behind the correct concept map.

Students work in pairs to fill out a scaffolded concept map of Genetic Rescue

Encourage a group to share their answer and the process for figuring it out. Walk through the logic as a class.

Students finish the video, explaining how genetic rescue can go wrong.

Students are asked to study a table of organisms to determine which would be good and which would be bad models to use in studies of genetic rescue.

Students pick a model species to study genetic rescue from the table of options.

Students review the end of ▶"What is genetic rescue, and can we use it to save endangered species?" and go over the previous day's worksheet.

Tortoises are the only bad option listed, as they have a slow generation time and are not common. The other species are all actual models for genetic rescue research.

Dr. Fitzpatrick, whose research forms the basis of this lesson, discusses how she has studied genetic rescue using Trinidadian Guppies (fish) in ▶"Saving a species through genetic rescue: Why we need model organisms".

Students compare and contrast guppies and panthers on their worksheets (Q1-4).

They then switch papers with a partner. They should underline a point they strongly agree with, circle a point they disagree with or think should be explained better, and discuss. Then revise based on the feedback. Students can then share positive/helpful feedback they received.

Slides walk through the primary responses students should have come up with.

Students revisit the genetic rescue concept map and think about what they could measure to assess success.

Specifically, we expect that if genetic rescue is successful:

1. genetic variation should increase and
2. as a result population size should increase (because of higher survival and reproduction)

Students spend the rest of class filling out the worksheet on their own.

They are asked to label graphs from Florida panthers and guppies by carefully studying part of the data table used to generate them.

Students generate a question from the data and synthesize their findings and observations to make a recommendation.

Given the evidence from Florida panther recovery and the study in Trinidadian guppies, should we conduct a second genetic rescue attempt in the panthers?