Final report

The Glennie School in Toowoomba(Australia)entered the Human Genetics project by surveying many classmates and family members. From the results it can be seen that our class has been able to complete the project as planned. Various measures were established so the data were as valid as possible; there was no repetition of results and we had a printout of the different genetic traits to use for comparison. The results were collected and compared for the dominant and recessive features and, as the results show, the dominant allele is not always the most common in the population. An example of this is the fact that white forelock is dominant but uncommon in the population.

The chance to participate in this kind of research has allowed us to gain experience in scientific procedures with a large sample group. This situation is uncommon for most classroom settings and it is great for young scientists to work together. In reality, most of the studies performed by professional scientists are carried out this way and to be part of a similar process was invaluable.

The results demonstrated a number of trends: ...66%of those suveyed had free earlobes, the dominant allele. ...20%of the sample group had white forelock. Amonirity in the population even

though it is dominant. ...43% presented with dimples ...51% had straight thumbs ...60% had straight pinkies, a recessive allele ...45% had mid digit hair ...5% were colour blind.

These results were surprising because we thought that the dominant traits would be the most common. The data have proven this to be untrue and therefore have forced participants to re-evaluate their perceptions. This is highlighted by the frequency range which was 75 and indicates that the terms dominant and recessive do not represent the OCCURRENCE of the phenotype in the population.

There were few weaknesses in the project although we found it difficult to collate the data from individual class members. The tallying process could be streamlined by including spaces on the final tally sheet.

The project proved highly beneficial and we have enjoyed the opportunity to participate in a worldwide collaborative research proect. This has allowed us to develop a greater understanding of genetics. We have learnt many new skills and discovered many new factors about genes.