Correctly rephrase the following famous quote from J. B. S. Haldane. "I would lay down my life in order to save two brothers or __________________."

Question

A.  one son or daughter
B.  four cousins
C.  three uncles
D.  two nephews and one son or daughter
E.  two grandsons or granddaughters


Clarify question:
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?


Gather Content:
What do you already know about kin selection? What other information is related to the question? 

Choose Answer:
  Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?


Reflection on Process:
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?

Answer 1

D.  two nephews and one son or daughter


Clarify question:
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
This question is about family relationships and kin selection.

What type of thinking is required?
This is an apply question. You are being presented with a situation. You need to apply what you know about inclusive fitness to determine which of the choices is correct.


Gather Content:
What do you already know about kin selection? What other information is related to the question? 
This question comes from the section of the textbook that discusses kin selection and inclusive fitness. Inclusive fitness is the concept that copies of your genes reside with yourself and your close relatives. A full sibling has on average 50% of the genes that you have. This is why you look like your brother or sister. If you were killed before reproducing then 0% of your genes would be passed on. However if your death saved the lives of two brothers and they reproduced then 100% of your genes would be passed on (50% from each brother). A niece or nephew is a mixture of your full sibling (50% of your genes) and an unrelated individual (0% of your genes). That means that a niece or nephew shares 25% of your genes. A son or daughter is a mixture of your genes (100%) and an unrelated individual (0%) thus a son or daughter shares 50% of your genes. Uncles share 25% (half of the genes from one of your parents), grandchildren share 25% (half of your child’s half), and cousins share 12.5% (half of your aunt or uncle and an unrelated individual)


Choose Answer:
  Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Knowing this, the question becomes a math problem
         1 son or daughter = 50%
         4 cousins = 50%
         3 uncles = 75%
         2 nephews (50%) plus 1 son or daughter (50%) = 100%
         2 grandchildren = 50%


Reflection on Process:
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
Were you able to select the correct choice? You needed to take what you know about inclusive fitness and calculate the different percentages for each combination. The one that equals 100% accounts for all of your genes.