Explore, Wonder, Experience our World
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Have people ever said to you, "It's in your genes"? They were probably talking about the physical characteristic, personality trait, or talent that you share with other members of your family.
Genes are section of DNA that are carried on the chromosomes and determine specific human characteristics, such as eye and hair color. Because you have a pair of each chromosome, you have two copies of every gene. Some characteristics or traits come from a single gene, whereas others come from gene combinations. Because every person has about 25,000 different genes, there is an almost endless number of possible combinations! Heredity is the passing of genes from one generation to the next. You inherit your parents' genes. Heredity helps to make you the person you are today: short or tall, with black hair or blond, with brown eyes or blue. |
Core Standard: Observe, describe and ask questions about structures of organisms and how they affect their growth and survival. 4.3.1 Observe and describe how offspring are very much, but not exactly, like their parents or one another. Describe how these differences in physical characteristics among individuals in a population may be advantageous for survival and reproduction. 4.3.2 Observe, compare and record the physical characteristics of living plants or animals from widely different environments. Describe how each plant or animal is adapted to its environment. 4.3.3 Design investigations to explore how organisms meet some of their needs by responding to stimuli from their environments. 4.3.4 Describe a way that a given plant or animal might adapt to a change arising from a human or non-human impact on its environment. |