HHMI Presents:

Building Phylogenetic

trees from DNA Sequences

David Knuffke (@DavidKnuffke),

Deer Park High School. Deer Park, NY

Howdy!

Thanks for coming.

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All links, etc. are available on this presentation, which is available here:

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http://bit.ly/knuffkeHHMI13

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General Session Plan:

• Fiddle a bit with a hands-on shell sorting phylogeny activity.
• Move into a demonstration of a modern approach using free research-class tools and sequence data.
• Discuss ways to use the techniques demonstrated to have students address their own questions about phylogenetic relationships.

So What’s The (Instructional) Plan?

• Make sure that everyone is on the same page re: DNA analysis and its use in evolutionary biology.
• Use the framework of this activity to train students on using sequences, alignment tools, and tree rendering programs.
• Encourage students to use their new skills in an authentic context.
• Rejoice at student awesomeness.

To Begin:

Introduce yourself to your neighbors.

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You and your partner(s) will receive a deck of cards full of pretty pictures of mollusc shells.

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Working with your partner, spend the next 5 minutes grouping the shells in a way that most makes sense to you.

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Aim for 3-10 groups.

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That Was Great!

• What were some difficulties that you encountered with this process?

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• How would you suggest that we could refine this investigation to deal with some of those difficulties?

Before We Go Too Much Further….

Let’s pause and take a brief tour of some relevant resources.

Every Resource Presented:

Activity-specific resources:

Biointeractive.org:

http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive

Biodiversity Activities:

http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/classroom-activities-biodiversity-and-evolutionary-trees

Sorting Sea Shell Click and Learn:

http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/sorting-seashells

Phylogenetic Tree Click and Learn:

http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/creating-phylogenetic-trees-dna-sequences

DNA Comparison Activity:

http://media.hhmi.org/biointeractive/activities/shells/shell-dna.pdf

Phylogeny.fr:

http://www.phylogeny.fr/

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Additional resources:

Piazza webforum:

http://www.piazza.com

Specific Inquiry Process Screencast:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAckbn_oZnY&feature=youtu.be

Course Magazine for student publishing:

http://breakingbio.blogspot.com/search/label/Phylogeny

Additional Planning and Work-Product Guidelines:

http://dpapbio.wikispaces.com/Laboratory+Activities#Domain 1: Evolution-Mollusc Phylogeny

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THANK YOU SO MUCH

Now is the time for questions.

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If you don’t ask now, you will NEVER be able to get in touch with me.

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Please rate this session as an indicator of my personal worth as a human being

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