BINDER BULLETIN AND UNIT STUDY OUTLINE
UNIT 4: DNA and Genetics
The Big Picture…
Understanding that many of a person’s characteristics are determined by an interaction between
genes (DNA) and the environment is key to understanding how we inherit our traits. Scientists have
mapped out and determined the location of most of our genes, including those that are responsible
for genetic disorders.
 Why might family members resemble one another?
Prerequisite Knowledge…You should be able to:
1. Students should know that DNA is the molecule of heredity.
2. Students should be able to recognize that humans and other organisms resemble their
parents.
3. DNA is the genetic material
4. The genetic material is organized into chromosomes
5. Sexual reproduction is responsible for producing genetically different offspring due to the
special process that produces sperm and egg
Suggested Resources:
Homework and Classwork Assignments
Laboratory Activities and Quizzes
Textbook pages: pp. 95-102, 110-137 and 144-162
Websites:
http://comelearnmore.com/websites-by-topic/genetics-games/
http://www.sciencespot.net/Pages/kdzbiogen.html
http://pbskids.org/dragonflytv/games/game_dogbreeding.html
Key Terms: DNA and Cell Division
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Cell cycle
Interphase
Replication
Mitosis
Chromosome
Heredity
Trait
Genetics
Fertilization
Purebred
Gene
Alleles
Dominant allele
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Cytokinesis
Messenger RNA
Transfer RNA
Mutation
Multiple allele
Sex chromosomes
Sex-linked gene
Carrier
Meiosis
Incomplete dominance
Codominance
Recessive allele
Hybrid
 Selective Breeding
 Clone
 Genetic engineering
 Genome
 Gene therapy
 DNA fingerprinting
By the conclusion of this unit, students will know:
_____1. DNA is stored as structures called chromosomes.
_____2. Chromosome number is unique to each species.
_____3. Each chromosome contains many genes along its length.
_____4. Genes are hereditary units that control the expression of characteristics.
_____5. Human characteristics can be in three categories; structural (anatomical), physiological, and
behavioral.
_____6. When organisms reproduce, they pass on this hereditary material to their offspring.
_____7. Reproduction can be sexual or asexual.
_____8. Sexual reproduction requires the production of separate sex cells.
_____9. Sperm and egg are produced through a special type of cell division and have half the normal
number of chromosomes of the organism. (23 total chromosomes, one of each pair from the
original 46)
_____10. Egg and sperm come together during fertilization.
_____11. Sexual reproduction produces offspring that are genetically different from either parent but
have some of the characteristics of both parents’ lineages.
_____12. Organisms that are sexually reproducing are from the
Animal, Plant, some members of the Fungal and some Protist Kingdoms.
_____13. Asexual reproduction does not require the production and fusion of sperm and egg.
_____14. Asexual reproduction requires only one parent and results in offspring that are genetically
identical to that parent.
_____15. Heredity is the passage of characteristics from parent to offspring.
_____16. Another word for characteristic is trait.
_____17. Genes control the expression of traits.
_____18. An allele is an alternate form of a gene (Gene = eye color, allele = blue, brown, green, etc.)
_____19. Purebred organisms are those that produce offspring with the same form of the trait
(purebred plant with red flowers will always have offspring with red flowers).
_____20. Traits are controlled by the alleles (two alleles) it inherits from its parents.
_____21. Mendel discovered the dominant/recessive inheritance pattern after performing many
crosses of garden peas.
_____22. Some alleles are dominant, some are recessive, and some have other inheritance patterns.
_____23. A dominant allele is one whose trait always expressed in the organism when the allele is
present.
_____24. A recessive allele is hidden whenever a dominant allele is present; the only time a
recessive allele is expressed is when there are two recessive alleles alone.
_____25. Scientists use symbols to represent the different alleles for a trait (T = tall is dominant, t =
short is recessive).
_____26. Traditionally, the letter of the dominant trait is used to create the symbol for the allele
(except in the case of genetic disease, in which case the first letter of the disease is used –
example cystic fibrosis is a recessive disease, but C = indicates the normal phenotype, and
c = cystic fibrosis)
_____27. Genotype is the allele combination for that trait found in the organism (TT, Tt, tt)
_____28. Phenotype is the expression of the genotype (TT and Tt are tall, and tt is short)
_____29. Hybrid indicates an organism with two different alleles (Rr, Ss, Tt)
_____30. Homozygous individuals have two of the same alleles (TT or tt).
_____31. Heterozygous individuals are also known as hybrids, and contain one of each allele (Tt or
Rr).
_____32. A Punnett Square is a simple diagram that is used to predict the possible combinations of
alleles in offspring that result from a specific
_____33. Selective breeding, cloning and genetic engineering are three methods for developing
organisms with desirable traits.
_____34. Example of applied genetics is DNA fingerprinting and the Human Genome Project
By the conclusion of this unit, you should be able to do
_____1. Explain the function of DNA and its role in the reproduction of organisms..
_____2. Calculate the probability of genetic crosses and explain their results.
_____3. Predict the possible results of genetic crosses by modeling the combination of alleles in a
genetic cross.
_____4. Interpret data from models of genetic crosses (from item #2 above) to express what is
actually meant by the phrases ‘dominance in a species’, ‘recessive in a species’, AND ‘other
inheritance patterns in a species’.
_____5. Distinguish between a ‘purebred’ organism and one that is not a ‘purebred’ organism.
_____6. Understand why the work of Gregor Mendel was important to modern-day genetics.
_____7. Identify two major causes of mutations in humans.
_____8. Explain how geneticists trace the inheritance of traits.
_____9. Describe how genetic disorders are diagnosed and treated.
_____10. Compare and contrast the genetic technologies