Great end to a great honor

This week at Pathfinders I finished up the genetics honor with my group.  We started off the night by first finishing up a worksheet that I had made.  The last question, what are some genetically inherited disorders, was the only thing that we had left to fill in on the sheet.  After that we then went in to some fun and scientific genetics.  With the help of my mentor I was able to buy some Genetic Taste Paper from the school's science supplier.  Don't worry, its not toxic.  If the paper was toxic then why would they sell it to those who would taste it? Anyway, I had two types of genetic taste paper: Sodium Benzoate and Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC).  Sodium Benzoate is a paper that appeals to different tastes.  A person who tastes Sodium Benzoate will either get a distinct sweet, salty, bitter, sour, or no taste.  The dominant trait for the group seemed to be the bitter taste.  The next paper, PTC Paper, has only two possibilities: either you taste it or you don't (and believe me you don't want to be able to taste it).  PTC is a common chemical found in broccoli and kale.  The ratio of tasters to non-tasters is about 3:1, meaning that 75% of people can taste and 25% cannot.  We did have 3 people in our group who could not taste it.  Everyone else welcomed the horrible taste of the PTC with a grimace.
 The final activity of the night was actually a project that my mentor does in her Biology classes.  The basic idea is to make a baby (I know what you are thinking and no not that way).  We divide the group into pairs, one boy and one girl, and they flip coins to see which traits their fictional "baby" would have.  Since this was just a quick activity we only flipped for eye color, hair type, hair color, nose shape, and ear attachment.  Below are some pictures of some of the "babies" and how they would look.  All in all a great class and a great way to end this honor.