Drosophila+Basics+-+Studying+the+Monohybrid+Cross



Susan- This lab sounds problamatic. I am glad we had the opportunity to discuss some of the hurdles that have to be jumped prior to purchasing. I am still a fan of flys, but appreciate your work on finding this labs weaknessess.

Emily- This lab is too time intensive for me to use in my classroom. I think there are better and maybe easier ways to illustrate Mendel's principals than using fruit flies.

Kasi-In concepts I would like to do this lab, however it doesn't seem practical because the lab calls on the teacher to monitor the fruit flies over several days. I do feel that this would be an excellent way to show a monohybrid cross.

Deb- I will be interested to hear how this works with middle school students and how the parents react to fruit fly counting. I didn't do this kind of lab until college as it was very time consuming. I think I would try doing this using computer generated materials rather than actual flies. But if you can get it symplified, the kids would love it.

Keith Madden - This is a classic lab, but I never realized how much work it is from the instructor's perspective. My experience is that a dissecting microscope for fly sorting is a must. This lab would be great for the most motivated students (and instructors)!

Jim-The motivated student might like this.

Ken - Lots of time and extra effort involved here. Almost impractical for the average high school teacher without an assistant of some kind. Having the students take it home may be a helpful approach, but has its own problems. Make sure to get signed parental permission before kids take flies home.