1. You discover a plant species in South America used by local populations that contains a chemical
compound in its leaves that tastes sweet but does not contain calories (the chemical is abbreviated
Reb. A.) You immediately think of selling this artificial sweetener in the USA and earning tons of
money. The problem is that the concentration of Reb. A is very low in the leaves of the wild
population of this plant and therefore expensive to grow, purify, and sell. You decide to breed a
population of these plants with super-concentrated Reb. A.
You have plenty of land, greenhouses etc… Explain how you would breed a population of plants
with super-concentrated Reb. A. Your initial population was collected from the wild and has an
average concentration of 0.02g Reb. A/ g leaves. (Assume you have the ability to easily check for
Reb.A concentration). In your explanation, clearly connect what you are doing with your population
to Darwin’s four postulates we discussed in class.
(There is no need to use any information beyond what we discussed in class.)
*Long Response.
2. History of Evolutionary Thought
Summarize the Idea/Person assigned to you and connect that Idea/Person to two other
Ideas/People presented in class. Your response should place your idea/person in the context of the
history of evolutionary thought. Discuss how the other ideas influenced your idea, or how your idea
influenced the other ideas.
In your answer, start with a paragraph summarizing the Idea assigned to you (You might need to
change the first and last sentence to create a cohesive response.) Include additional paragraphs
addressing the connections as prompted above.
*Long Response
3. Explain why no mutation is one of the conditions for a population in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.
(Remember you are teaching me the concept) Short Response.
