Heredity
By: Tina Dinh
Traits
All living things inherit a set of characteristics or traits from their parents. Members of any given species transfer traits from one generation to the next. The passing of traits from parent to offspring is called heredity and causes the offspring to resemble the parent. Some traits differ among members of a population, and these variations may help a particular ​species to survive better in a given environment in getting food, finding shelter, protecting itself, and reproducing. These variations give the individual a survival advantage over other individuals of the same species.
What are traits?
A Recipe for Traits Hands-on Activity
Objective:
Students will be able to show their dog will inherit a unique combination of traits and compare variations in the DNA with their classmate's dogs.
Materials:
- copies of student pages,
- drawing paper,
- crayons or colored pencils,
- tape,
- envelopes,
- colored paper for preparing DNA strips (4 colors needed)
Directions: You will create and decode a "DNA recipe" for man's best friend to observe how variations in DNA lead to the inheritance of different traits. You will randomly select strips of paper representing DNA to assemble a DNA molecule. Then read the DNA recipe to create a drawing of your pet, and compare it with others at your table to note similarities and differences.