CSI Wildlife: Analyzing Genetic Evidence

INTRODUCTION

Click & Learn Student Worksheet

This worksheet walks through Case One and Case Two of the CSI Wildlife Click & Learn, except for the
Frequency Primer section at the end of Case One. A separate document, entitled “Frequency Primer,”
may be used for that section.

In this Click & Learn, you will analyze genetic evidence to solve two cases of elephant poaching based on
real events.

PROCEDURE

As you go through the Click & Learn, follow the instructions below and answer the questions in the
space provided.

CSI Wildlife Introduction

Read the introduction and watch the opening video.

1. What is a keystone species? Keystone species are species that are key to the ecosystem.
2. Dr. Wasser states that approximately 50,000 African elephants are killed each year. According to
the video, it is estimated that there are around 470,000 African elephants. If these numbers are
correct, approximately what percentage of African elephants are killed each year? Show your
work. 5/47 ~ .10204 so approximately 10.204% of African elephants are killed each year.
3. In one or two sentences, summarize Dr. Wasser’s research and how it is being used to conserve
elephants. Dr. Wasser’s research is used to identify where the elephants came from. This means
that law enforcement can better prevent poaching from happening in those areas.

Case One
Watch the video and read the introduction on the first slide (“The Crime Scene”).

4. Explain the goal of the case. The goal of the case is to identify the national park that these tusks
came from.
5. Look at the map on the screen. List the region or countries the majority of African elephants
inhabit. It seems like the Republic of the Congo, but the southern Angola region seems pretty
green as well.

CSI Wildlife: Analyzing Genetic Evidence

Go to the next slide (“How DNA Profiling Works”) and read through the Background section.

6. Look at the gel on the screen. What do the bands on the gel represent? DNA fragment
7. DNA profiling is also called DNA fingerprinting. A common misconception about DNA
fingerprinting is that the analysis has to do with actual fingerprints. Explain one similarity and
one difference between a human being’s pattern of bands on an electrophoresis gel and a
 human fingerprint. All fingerprints are different than those of other beings like DNA fragments.
A difference is that DNA and fingerprints are not the same thing.

Read through the Technique section.

8. A scientist makes primers specific to a particular STR fragment. These primers are then used to
amplify the STR fragment from 10 different elephants. Would you expect the fragments to be
the same size in all the elephants? Explain your answer. No, because everyone is different.
9. What is the relationship between the size of a DNA fragment and the distance it migrates in the
gel? The longer the DNA fragment the slower it moves (i.e. it doesn’t move as far as shorter DNA
fragments do).

Run the gel on the screen by pressing the Start button.

10. Which elephant (left or right) has both the largest and smallest fragments? Right
11. Approximately what sizes (in bp) are the largest and smallest fragments? 190 and 65

Read through the Application section.

12. Look at the gel on the screen. For Marker C, are the two elephants shown homozygous or
heterozygous? Both individuals are heterozygous

How do you know? because there are 2 strands representing 2 alleles.

13. Why do you think scientists use multiple markers to identify individual elephants? I think it’s
easier to see what alleles each marker represents, hence increasing visibility and readability.

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Click & Learn Student Worksheet 1

CSI Wildlife: Analyzing Genetic Evidence

Answer the questions in the Review section.

14. Show how you calculated the number of base pairs in the 10-repeat unit. I took the 41 and added 8.

Go to the next slide (“Finding a Match”) and answer the question, then watch the video on the “Case
Solved” slide.

15. Name two properties of a good marker and explain why good markers are important. A good marker
must be precise and be properly named. A good marker is important because they are key components
in analyzing genetic evidence.

Case Two

Watch the video and read the introduction on the first slide (“The Crime Scene”).
16. In Case One, you were looking for a match with an individual elephant. How does Case Two differ
from Case One? In Case One I was looking for a perfect match between the ivory and an individual. Here
I will be looking for the presence or absence of alleles in the ivory sample across elephant populations.

Go to the next slide (“Building a Reference Map”). Read through the Background, Technique, and
Applications sections.

17. For the gel in the Applications section, why does the lane for the ivory sample contain only two
bands while the other lanes (A and B) have multiple bands? Because the alleles can be
homozygous or heterozygous.
18. If an ivory sample has two alleles that are also found in a population sample, does that tell you
with certainty that the ivory sample came from that population? Explain your answer. No
because it can still be found in other places.

Answer the questions in the Review section.

19. If the scientist had collected 20 dung samples, would you expect more bands, fewer bands, or the
same number of bands on the gel? Explain your answer. More because 20 is more than 5.

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Click & Learn Student Worksheet 1

CSI Wildlife: Analyzing Genetic Evidence

Go to the next slide (“Finding a Location”). Answer the questions until you reach the Eliminating North,
East, or South section.

20. The three populations that were chosen for further analysis are geographically distant from one
another. Why does this approach make more sense than choosing three populations that are
geographically close to one another? Because then you can zoom into one area.
21. In the “Eliminating North, East, or South” section, which population did you eliminate, and
which marker(s) helped you make this choice? North due to Marker FH103
22. In the next section, which population did you eliminate, and which marker(s) helped you make
this choice? South due to Marker FH129

Read through the last slide of Case Two (“Case Solved”).

23. By analyzing many more markers and all the populations, Dr. Wasser linked these seized ivory tusks
to which country? Tanzania

Ivory Trade
Watch the video and read through the final slide (“Stopping Illegal Poaching”).

24. Name two reasons elephant populations are threatened. More deaths than reproduction rate
and loss of habitat.
 25. The introduction to the Click & Learn mentioned that elephants are a keystone species. Based
on your knowledge of this term, explain in your own words why it is important to the
ecosystems of Africa to save the elephant populations. Elephants are important consumers of
the growth and are key in many different ways.

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Click & Learn Student Worksheet 1