What is inheritance?

The Royal Family

Inherited Characteristic or Not?Hair Colour Left or Right Handed

Eye Colour Ability to roll tongue

Height Blood Group

Weight Sex

Freckles Hair Length

Attached Ear Lobes Ability to play football

Allergies Ability to play computer games

Tatoos Dimples

Inheritance

Many characteristics of living things are determined by genes inherited from our parents.

But a gene can have different forms; these are called alleles.

https://www.glowscience.org.uk/mindmap/#!/biology/cells_and_dna/genetics

AllelesDifferent forms of the same gene…

Gene Alleles

Eye colour

Fur colour

Flower colour

Ear shape

Wing shape

Chromosomes: chromosomes are large pieces of DNA. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes in most cells.

Genes: genes are sections of chromosomes, each codes for a different characteristic e.g. blood type, eye colour, etc.

Alleles: different forms of the same gene

Gene AllelesEye colourBlood typeEar shape

Flower colour

PhenotypeThis is what an organism looks like…

Green eyesGreen eyes

Brown hairBrown hair

Short heightShort height

Lobbed earsLobbed ears

GenotypeThis is the forms of a gene an organism carries in its DNA

Dad: Blue Eyes Mum: Green Eyes

Me: Green eyes

Phenotype: Green EyesGenotype: I carry a green and blue eyed gene

Eye Colour – Freaky Baby

http://www.abpischools.org.uk/lib/liInteractiveAnim/471/eyecolour.swf

Dog Genotype and Phenotype Activity

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Links• http://www.abpischools.org.uk/lib/liInteractiveAnim/133/cystic-fibrosis-rollover

-tree.swf

• http://www.abpischools.org.uk/lib/liInteractiveAnim/471/eyecolour.swf• http://www.abpischools.org.uk/lib/liInteractiveAnim/138/genetic-diagram-for-bl

oodgroups.swf• http://www.abpischools.org.uk/lib/liInteractiveAnim/134/diagram-for-sex-of-

offspring.swf• http://www.abpischools.org.uk/lib/liInteractiveAnim/139/genetic-diagram-

tongue-rolling.swf • http://www.abpischools.org.uk/lib/liInteractiveAnim/140/humtingtons-disease-

rollover-tree.swf