Freshman Biology Mystery Cache

This cache has been archived.

MattressGnome: I meant July, but the effect is the same. This one had a good run, but I'm making space for new caches. Thanks to all who found this.

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Hidden : 5/26/2010
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

There is No Cache at the Listed Coordinates!

The actual cache can be found by solving the following puzzle, which has to do with concepts of inheritance taught in freshman biology classes!

This is a Freshman class, so think like Mendel and only focus on the phenotypes!

This biology themed puzzle revolves around little known facts about how geocaches reproduce in the wild. Scientists have just recently found that geocaches will 'mate' and produce new caches, with both the location of the new hide and what it looks like based on the parents. To help you understand this concept, I'm giving you an old quiz from when I took this class.

As you can see, the parent plants are Plant 81, X and Plant 19, Y. Scientists have found that when they code certain traits of the plants (color, number of petals, number of leaves, and number of caches it will produce) they can predict where a new hide will grow when two plants are mated! This also predicts what the new plant will look like. In this case, X (Plant 81,coded 43032) and Y (Plant 19, coded 04055) were bred yielding Z, which was found to be growing at N 81 43.032, W 19 04.055. When researchers went to that spot, they found a green, petal-free 15 leaved plant with 6 little geocaches, just as expected!

Your task now is to determine where the cache for this puzzle can be found growing. The parents are R and S, and the family trees of each are given. Determine how the traits are passed down from one generation to the next, get the phenotype/coordinates of the hide, and go find this rare wild geocache!


Next plant.


Note: Geoplants use GNA (Geoxyrubbonalgenic Acid) for reproduction, which does not follow any textbook inheritance pattern, but know that all four traits are independent. Also, since this is a Freshman class we are only focused on what the plant looks like, there is no underlying genetics to discover! (For you science types, consider them haploid if you must)

You can check your answers for this puzzle on Geochecker.com.

This is part of series of 9 'Freshman' caches on the Pennsylvania State University campus. As they are hidden on campus stealth will be required for any and all finds, but they are hidden in unique locations so minimal searching will be required once you've determined GZ. Please be mindful of your surroundings when finding and rehiding the container.

The Series:
Freshman Physics - GC28YB5
Freshman Biology - GC297PY
Freshman Mathematics - GC29KWZ
Freshman English - GC2KY5X
Freshman Music - GC2KY5Z
Freshman Chemistry - GC2KY69
Freshman Kinesiology - GC2KY5T
Freshman Art - GC2KY62
Freshman ??? - In Progress

Congrats to r.e.s.t.seekers for the FTF!!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Va cynva fvtug qbja ybj.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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