Lesson 4: How does reduced genetic diversity impact survival and reproduction?

A Future Without Coffee Storyline Unit

What did we do in the last class?

At the end of Lesson 3 we considered how mutations would accumulate in the coffee populations in comparison to the bacterial populations we looked at. We wondered how a rapidly changing environment is a concern for both wild and cultivated arabica coffee.

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Turn and Talk

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What did we figure out in the last lesson?

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Do we think the coffee plant is unique? Is genetic diversity important to all organisms or is this unique to human populations?

Explore the Phenomena

I² Strategy

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• Step 1: Identify (record “What I see” comments) Identify any changes, trends, or differences you see in the graph or figure. Draw arrows and write a “What I see” comment for each arrow. Be concise in your comments. These should be just what you can observe. Do not try to explain the meaning at this point.

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• Step 2: Interpret (record “What it means” comments) Interpret the meaning of each “What I see” comment by writing a “What it means” comment. Do not try to interpret the whole graph, data set, or figure.

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• Step 3: Caption (write a caption for the graph or figure) Start with a topic sentence that describes what the graph or figure shows. Then join each “What I see” comment with its “What it means” comment to make a sentence. Build a coherent paragraph out of your sentences.

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Explore the Phenomena

Alone Zone

• What do you see?
• What does it mean?

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Explore the Phenomena

With a Partner

• What do you see?
• What does it mean?

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Explore the Phenomena

With a Partner

• Discuss the article.
• Record connections on the I² strategy chart that you and your partner saw between the article and the graph.

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Alone Zone

• Read the article and think about how it connects to the data from the graph.

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Explore the Phenomena

Discuss with your class:

• What advantages and disadvantages are there with lower genetic diversity?
• Looking at the graph, do these crops have high or low genetic diversity? What evidence shows this?
• Why do we think some species have more diversity than others?
• Is genetic diversity important? Explain.

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Investigate the Phenomena

Alone Zone

As you read, try to find information that helps answer one or both of these questions:

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What caused the populations to have very low genetic diversity?

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Is it important to have genetic diversity?

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Explain the Phenomena

Alone Zone

Look over the previous models and Gotta-Have-It Checklists you’ve developed.

List the important components of the models we’ve developed as a class that are necessary to explain how genetic diversity is maintained in populations and why it is important.

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With your Class

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• What questions on the DQB have we answered?

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• What questions on the DQB have we made progress on?

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What’s Next?

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