Name: _____________________
Per:______ Date: ____________
Living Things Inherit Traits in Patterns
1. Use your book to define the following vocabulary words:
a. Gene:
b. Heredity:
c. Allele:
d. Phenotype:
e. Genotype:
f. Dominant:
g. Recessive:
Use your book to answer the following questions.
2. Fill in the blanks:
a. Parents and offspring are similar.
i. Traits are characteristics of an individual.
ii. Many traits are _______________.
iii. Examples of inherited traits include ___________________.
iv. An acquired trait is a trait that is ____________________.
v. Examples of acquired traits include ____________________.
3. In the table below, write “yes” if the trait is the result of heredity or “no” if it is not.
Trait
Result of Heredity
Blonde hair
Able to speak English
Able to ride a bicycle
Green eyes
4. What function do genes serve?
5. What is the function of the X and Y chromosomes in humans?
6. In the table below, write one example for phenotype and one for genotype.
Name
Phenotype
Genotype
Description
Actual physical
characteristics
Genes an organism has,
the genetic makeup
Example
7. What type of alleles are expressed only if two identical copies exist in the chromosomes
of the offspring?
8. What is the difference between a genotype and phenotype?
9. Explain why a person with an allele for a particular trait may not have a phenotype that
shows the trait.
10. In guinea pigs, the allele for black fur is dominant over the allele for brown fur. If you
had two parent guinea pigs, each with brown fur, what color fur might the offspring have,
and why?