00:04Oh, hey, hi, I'm Chrissy Chris, and welcome to So Cool Science, science you can do right at home.
00:11I'm just getting a solar melanin makeover, ha ha, and going over today's science file, and today's science file is
00:19to us.
00:20What is the difference between phenotype and genotype?
00:25Well, that's a super awesome question. I'm thinking, try this!
00:37You will need a pen, a friend or a book, and a measuring tape.
00:44Okay, here's what you are going to do as soon as you get out of bed.
00:50Okay, all right, no, not the first thing you do, but, you know, try to make it as close as
00:54you can to the time you get out of bed.
00:56Okay, here's what you're going to do. You're going to measure yourself up against the wall.
01:01Ha ha, here we go!
01:10Okay, first thing in the morning, I'm 183 centimeters.
01:13Okay, now we've got to wait, because you can't do the second half of this science file until later tonight.
01:18So, you know, you're going to have to go find something, you know, to do.
01:20You know, like, you know, riding your bike, play video games all day, gardening, playing frisbee at the park,
01:26because you've got, you know, 12 hours here to pass.
01:28And that's a long time!
01:34Okay, now you've got to measure yourself again, just before you've got a bed!
01:44Whoa! Would you look at that!
01:45Before I go to bed, I'm 182 centimeters!
01:50Whoa! Now this morning, I was 183!
01:53So if my genes say that I'm supposed to be 183 centimeters,
01:58why did I shrink...
01:59Well, don't look at me!
02:01Take a closer look at this!
02:04The reason you are shorter at night is because throughout your day of doing activities,
02:09your body has to fight gravitational forces.
02:12Gravity pulls your body down,
02:14which causes the cartilage in your knees, spine, and other areas to get compressed and lose fluids,
02:18causing you to shrink down one centimeter.
02:21The reason you are taller in the morning is because while you're lying down asleep,
02:25the cartilage in your knees, spine, and other places reabsorbs synovial fluids that are needed.
02:30This absorption process causes tiny amounts of expansion,
02:34which cause you to regain that one centimeter,
02:37making you one centimeter taller in the morning than you are at night.
02:41A genotype is the genetic blueprint for an organism,
02:45such as your body's genetic height.
02:47However, all living organisms are affected by the environment,
02:50such as gravity affecting your height.
02:52We call these changes phenotypes.
02:55The major difference between phenotype and genotype is that your genotypes will never change.
03:01The environment can change your body,
03:03such as causing you to shrink or darken your skin,
03:06but the genetic information for your height and skin will always stay the same.
03:09Wearing high heels or adding socks to your shoes to increase your height is also a phenotype.
03:16So now you know more about geno and phenotypes.
03:20You know, being taller in the morning than you are at night is why science is so cool.
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