Anth. 105 Human Species

Anth. 105 Human Species – Lab 1 Report

Nimra Aziz

02/21/2018

Introduction

            In this lab, our task was to determine whether genes, physiology, and environment have a role in shaping our behavioral and physical traits. A humans’ phenotype is usually the result of both genetic factors, environmental factors, and the interactions between them. A genotype is the genetic make-up of an organism, where a phenotype is the observable physical features of an organism- the physical expression of the genotype. Throughout this lab we correlated height, body proportions, and temperature with genetic influence and differences in environment to test out our hypothesis. Traits are determined by a combination of genotype and environment; some traits are “simple” but most traits are complex meaning that they both can be based on genotype and the environment itself. The relationship between genotype and phenotype is affected by the relationship between the two alleles present at any locus. They are different alleles (versions of the genes).

          In this project, we investigated how genotype and environment can affect major factors like height, body proportions, and grip strength in humans. As a class, we took measurements of our height, grip strengths, and body proportions. With that information, we collected a data of 119 students (females and males). On the excel spreadsheet, we analyzed the scatterplots with the R-squared values, so we can determine whether there is a strong, weak, or no correlation.

        We examined these variables by creating a scatter plot for each variable to determine if our hypothesis was correct or not. Student height was compared with the heights of their parents to determine if parents’ height would affect the offspring height. Latitude was compared with Forearm Length to determine if environmental change had an effect with that. While, Limb was compared with Grip strength to determine if they had a correlation.

 Predictions

1. Height will be correlated with parent’s height due to genetic influence, but there will be considerable variation due to differences in environment. Height can depend on factors like the environment you live in as well, along with what your diet.

1. Forearm Length will have a negative correlation with latitude because I don’t think environment can have anything to do with how a person grows in size or weight. It won’t have an effect on genes or environment.

1. Grip Strength will be correlated to Limb proportions due to genetic influence, but there will be considerable variation due to differences in environment because environmental factors can always contribute to a body.

Methods

        The data present in this lab, comes from 119 students, which includes their height, parents’ height, seated height, forearm height, latitude, and grip strength. The information was collected as a class by measuring all of this during lab class. First, we wrote down our parents’ height in cm, then we had to measure our height by standing against the wall with a measuring tape. We also measured each other’s seated height. After, we used a grip machine to determine how much grip we have by pushing it forcefully as we can. Next, we had to use a map to find out the latitude of the country we’re from so we can correlate that to our height, limp proportions, and grip strength. Once that was done, all the results were displayed into an Excel spreadsheet.

     We took that information and used it to create three scatterplots to determine whether there were a strong, weak, or no correlation between genetic and environmental factors. We analyzed our data to test the predictions by checking the R^2 value between our variables to genetic and environmental factors. I made three graphs: Student Height vs. Average Parent Height, Latitude vs. Forearm Length, and Limb vs. Grip Strength. The graphs show a clear viewpoint on whether it has a positive, negative, or no correlation.