Pedigree Family Tree!
A pedigree is used, both by animal breeders to help produce the most favorable
offspring, or by genetic counselors to help investigate possible genetic diseases in a family.
Females are always represented as circles and males as squares. Mating pairs are joined by
a “relationship line”. From that line, you have a line down to the offspring of that partnership
(“line of descent”). See below for details.
Build your own family tree in the form of a pedigree on the back of this sheet! First,
place yourself at the bottom of the page. You will be in the shape of a circle, if you are
female, and a square, if you are male. Place your siblings (brothers and sisters) in the same
row as you. Now draw a short line up from you (“individual line”) and your siblings to connect
to a line above you (“sibship line”). Try to see how many family members you can represent
on this pedigree chart (aunts, uncles and cousins, if you have space). Put the initials or
names of the family members in their circle/square, to help you keep track. You may want to
start with the page in the landscape position (short and wide), since you will likely have more
family members in that direction.