1 of 32

Exam One – Tuesday, October 1��25 Questions�5 hours of study (readings/videos)�on Canvas in class�(bring phone or laptop)��If you don’t spend the 5 hours, �you will not pass�

2 of 32

CLASS 7��Tuesday - Sept 17��BEGIN - 5461

3 of 32

Genetics and �Social Inequality

4 of 32

Median Family Wealth – U.S.

2021 2050

Asian - $320,900 ?

White - $250,400 ?

Multiethnic - $82,500 ?

Hispanic - $48,700 ?

Black - $27,100 ?

American Indian - ** ?

** 8 cents per one dollar

Pew Research Center

5 of 32

NYC – Enrollment in the top High Schools – 2018 (determined by test scores)

Stuyvesant – 73% 3.5%

Bronx Science – 64% 8%

Brooklyn Tech – 61% 14%

Asian

Black and Hispanic

15% of NYC pop. is Asian

U.S. Census & NYC Dept of Educ.

6 of 32

Personal Decisions��and/or��Structural and Historical Factors��and/or��Genetics

7 of 32

Evolution?

8 of 32

9 of 32

Which one is of Native American ancestry?

Which one is of Han Chinese ancestry?

10 of 32

11 of 32

“African Asians”

12 of 32

13 of 32

Geographical distribution of skin pigmentation

As early humans moved into arid, hot climates, losing body hair was useful to cooling the skin.

But increase in sweat glands and loss of body hair was favored by “evolution” but it also meant that humans were less protected from harmful UV rays from the sun.

Turns out that Melanin, the skin’s brown pigment, is a natural sunscreen and protects skin from too many UV rays.

We need some for the production of Vitamin D, Folic Acid, and Calcium production but not too many.

In less sunny climates we need more UV because we still need the same amount of Folic Acid, Vitamin D and Calcium and less sun availability means we want less Melanin (dark skin pigment).

What about Artic People who tend to be darker skinned? They can afford to have darker skin because they have diets rich in seafood (where they get these supplements).

There is a direct correlation between the geographic distribution of UV radiation (UVR) and the distribution of indigenous skin pigmentation around the world. Areas that receive higher amounts of UVR, generally located closer to the equator, tend to have darker-skinned populations. Areas that are far from the tropics and closer to the poles have lower intensity of UVR, which is reflected in lighter-skinned populations.^[4] Researchers suggest that human populations over the past 50,000 years have changed from dark-skinned to light-skinned and vice versa as they migrated to different UV zones,^[5] and that such major changes in pigmentation may have happened in as little as 100 generations (≈2,500 years) through selective sweeps.^[5]^[6]^[7] Natural skin color can also darken as a result of tanning due to exposure to sunlight. The leading theory is that skin color adapts to intense sunlight irradiation to provide partial protection against the ultraviolet fraction that produces damage and thus mutations in the DNA of the skin cells.^[8] In addition, it has been observed that adult human females on average are significantly lighter in skin pigmentation than males. Females need more calcium during pregnancy and lactation. The body synthesizes vitamin D from sunlight, which helps it absorb calcium. Females evolved to have lighter skin so their bodies absorb more calcium.^[9]

Melanin in the skin protects the body by absorbing solar radiation. In general, the more melanin there is in the skin the more solar radiation can be absorbed. Excessive solar radiation causes direct and indirect DNA damage to the skin and the body naturally combats and seeks to repair the damage and protect the skin by creating and releasing further melanin into the skin's cells. With the production of the melanin, the skin color darkens, but can also cause sunburn. The tanning process can also be created by artificial UV radiation.

14 of 32

Khoisan

15 of 32

Where would you draw your boxes �for different “racial groups”?

Humans share 99.9% of their genetic code

16 of 32

17 of 32

Paris 2024

Medal Winners in Table Tennis

18 of 32

Bosnians

Laotian

4’ 11.5”

6’ .5”

19 of 32

20 of 32

21 of 32

PISA – Programme for International Student Assessment - 2022

World Population Review

SCIENCE, MATH,

READING COMPREHENSION

“Real-world problem-solving”

22 of 32

Kantrowitz, 2021

23 of 32

Average percent White “ancestry”�of Black Americans

Shriver, 2015

24 of 32

CLASS 7��Tuesday - Sept 17��END - 0318

25 of 32

26 of 32

Eric from the YouTube

live stream chat asked:

“What do we include when we

talk about “genetics”?

What is included (in common vernacular)

that shouldn’t be?”

27 of 32

Judith from the YouTube

live stream chat asked:

“Is there a genetic explanation why particular ethnic groups have done better or worse than others?

For instance, how did it become so that

there is a large number of Ashkenazi

winners of the Nobel Prize?

Why are Asians “better at math?”

Why do Africans (African-American/Afro-Caribbean) run faster, on average, than other races?”

28 of 32

Bob the Artist from the YouTube

live stream chat asked:

“Hair, skin, eye color are all due

to solar radiation, correct?”

29 of 32

itsmeiguss from the YouTube

live stream chat asked:

“If having darker skin is beneficial

because of the sun protection,

why don’t we all dark?”

30 of 32

Comment section comments/questions

31 of 32

@paulbozikis4645 from the YouTube

comment section asked:

“Wouldn't it make sense to assume that people have evolved differently according to their circumstances over millennia?

For example how would one explain the fact that people in a particular part of the world had not discovered even fundamental tools like wheel, metal, farming, boat building etc and another group had moved onto mathematics astronomy and architecture?”

32 of 32

@Rob-me8vp and @justlol7281

from the YouTube comment

section asked:

“It’s not genetics, it’s culture. Families that stay together and have high expectations will on average have a higher net worth.” - Rob

“Culture is downstream in part

from genetics” - JustLol