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4.4: Bingo Chip Evolution (Worksheet)

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    Name: ______________________________

    Section: _____________________________

    Student ID#:__________________________

    Introduction

    Your team has discovered a new population of Bingo Chips that lives along the coast. This organism is haploid, meaning it only has one copy of each chromosome. It has one visible phenotype (color), which is determined by the Color Gene. Like budding yeast, Bingo Chips reproduce clonally via a budding process, resulting in two individuals who have the same genome and phenotype.

    They are exceptionally long-lived, meaning that each Chip can reproduce for many generations. Everything these Chips need to survive is on the coast. They can see an island off in the distance, but cannot reach it.

    Generation 1: Establish Your Own Population of Bingo Chips

    There will be two Bingo Chips of each color. Bingo Chips are haploid, so each chip represents only one allele. The initial phenotype ratios are recorded for you already in the table below but you will need to record them yourself in future generations.

    Generation 1 Green Blue Pink Yellow
    Mainland 2 / 8 = 0.25 2 / 8 = 0.25 2 / 8 = 0.25 2 / 8 = 0.25
    Island 0 0 0 0

    Discuss

    • Bingo Chips are haploid, so how many alleles does a single Bingo Chip have for the Color Gene?
    • How many total alleles for the color gene exist in the population during generation 1?

    Generation 2: The Founder Effect

    A rare low tide has exposed a temporary sandbar. Some curious Bingo Chips take this opportunity to explore the nearby island, but they’re stuck there once the sandbar is covered.

    Task:

    • Move a few Bingo Chips of any color to the island (no more than three).
    • After this tragic separation, each Chip will clonally reproduce one time. For each Bingo Chip on the island and the mainland, add another Bingo Chip of the same color to that same population.
    • Record your new allele frequencies in the table below, considering the two populations separately.
    Generation 2 Green Blue Pink Yellow
    Mainland        
    Island        

    Discuss:

    • After reproduction, how do the mainland phenotypic frequencies of Generation 2 compare to those on the mainland in Generation 1?
    • After reproduction, how do the island phenotypic frequencies of Generation 2 compare to those on the mainland in Generation 1?

    Generation 3: Gene Flow

    Every so often the currents are favorable and allow some Bingo Chips to move from the island to the mainland or vice versa.

    Task:

    • One member of your group will choose up to five intrepid Bingo Chips to move from one population to the other. Some can move from the island to the mainland, while others can move from the mainland to the island.
    • After the migration, each Bingo Chip reproduces clonally one time. For each Bingo Chip on the island and the mainland, add another Bingo Chip of the same color to that same population.
    • Record your new allele frequencies in the table below.
    Generation 3 Green Blue Pink Yellow
    Mainland        
    Island        

    Discuss:

    • Does evolution occur if a Bingo Chip migrates from the island to the mainland, but then dies without reproducing? Why or why not?

    Generation 4: Genetic Drift

    You and your team have gone to get more supplies to continue your work at the field site, so several generations go by before you can make an observation of these populations.

    Task:

    • Choose another group member to act out the effects of genetic drift. They will close their eyes and point to the screen, open their eyes and remove the closest two Chips from the mainland population, and do it again to remove two Chips from the island population. These unfortunate Bingo Chips have perished before they are able to reproduce.
    • All the remaining Bingo Chips will reproduce clonally one time.
    • The same group member will close their eyes and now remove eight Chips from the mainland population and eight from the island population.
    • All the remaining Bingo Chips will reproduce clonally once again.
    • Record your new allele frequencies in the table below.
    Generation 4 Green Blue Pink Yellow
    Mainland        
    Island        

    Discuss:

    • Which color, if any, has become more prevalent in the mainland population? Which color has become more rare?
    • Which color, if any, has become more prevalent in the island population? Which has become more rare?
    • Which population looks most different from your original population at Generation 1?

    Generation 5: Natural Selection

    A dreaded flying predator has entered the area and is eating many of the bingo chips!

    Task:

    • Choose a group member to act as a predator of the Bingo Chips. This group member will choose their two favorite colors of Chips to eat. This group member will “fly” between the island and the mainland, removing ten Bingo Chips of these two colors in total (decide how many to eat from each population).
    • All the remaining (and relieved) Bingo Chips will reproduce clonally one time.
    • Record your new allele frequencies in the table below.
    Generation 5 Green Blue Pink Yellow
    Mainland        
    Island        

    Discuss:

    • What characteristics of Bingo Chips or their environment might help one color of Bingo Chip survive better than another?
    • Does evolution happen if a Bingo Chip is better at surviving, but would not reproduce?

    Generation 6: Population Bottleneck

    An event of mass destruction (hurricane? earthquake? zombies?) causes Bingo Chips to die in alarming numbers! Which ones die depends on the event but not on their phenotype (color). Will it be proximity to the ocean? Disease susceptibility? Completely at random?

    • Decide as a group what the event of mass destruction will be.
    • Choose a group member to become a force of nature. This person will remove all but ten Bingo Chips (split the survivors between the two populations).
    • These (extremely shaken) Bingo Chips are grateful to have survived and begin to rebuild their lives. They reproduce clonally one more time.
    • Record your final allele frequencies in the table below.
    Generation 6 Green Blue Pink Yellow
    Mainland        
    Island        

    Discuss

    • Have any colors disappeared in either population? Will there be any Bingo Chips of this color in future generations?
    • Now that you have completed your field season, describe what happened to each color of Bingo Chip over the generations you’ve observed. You will report this back to the entire class.

    This page titled 4.4: Bingo Chip Evolution (Worksheet) was last modified on Fri, 03 Jul 2026 01:59:50 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Cara Ocobock via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.