Study Guide for Growth and Inheritance
Vocabulary:
life cycle: The stages that a living thing passes through as it grows and changes.
mitosis: The process by which most cells divide and make an exact copy of itself.
meiosis: The process by which gametes are formed.
gametes: Cells that contain only half the number of chromosomes of body cells.
zygote: a fertilized egg
chromosome: A threadlike structure in the nucleus, made up of DNA.
inherited trait: A characteristic passed from parents to their offspring.
dominant trait: A trait that appears even if an organism has only one factor for the trait.
recessive trait: A trait that appears only if an organism has two factors for the trait.
gene: The part of a chromosome that contains the DNA code for an inherited trait.
instinct: A behavior that an organism inherits.
learned behavior: A behavior that an animal acquires through experience.
environment: All the living and nonliving things that surround and affect an organism.
What I need to know and be able to apply…





Each vocabulary word
Some behaviors are a result of environmental influences p.346-347
Regeneration is the process of replacing tissue through mitosis. p.316-317
Examples of instincts p.342-343
o Eating
o Sleeping
o Building nests
o Cats grooming
o Caring for babies
o Finding/storing food
o Migration
o Hibernation
Examples of inherited traits p.328-329
o Eye color
o Hair/fur color
o Dimples
o Skin color
o Freckles
o Hair texture
o Earlobe shape
o Right handed/left handed




If an organism has one (Bb) or two factors (BB) for a dominant trait, that trait appears. A recess
trait appears only if an organism has two factors (bb) for the trait.
A behavior can be a combination of instinct and learned behavior.
A single celled organism reproduces by dividing through the process of mitosis. This is called
asexual reproduction. When mitosis takes place the cell makes a copy of its chromosomes and
then divides creating a new cell.
When one parent has a dominate trait and the other parent has a recessive trait, the first
generation (their children) shows the dominate trait, but about ¼ of the second generation (their
children’s children) will show the recessive trait.
*****You may access the online text book by going to www.henry.k12.ga.us/le, click on teachers, click on
Odle, click on science links.