Name: ____________________________________________________
Pedigree Word Problems
Directions: Draw the pedigree for each family. You must have the correct shapes and lines. Include the names of
individuals in their shape if the names are provided. You might also have to shade in some of the shapes if the
question asks you to
PEDIGREE TIPS:
Use pencil
Start at the bottom of the tree (most recent generation) and work upwards (oldest generation)
Connect siblings by brackets BEFORE connecting them to parents
Males are squares; females are circles
People with a trait are shaded in
People who do not have the trait’s phenotype BUT are carriers of that gene are half-shaded
Griffin Family
Stupidity is a recessive trait. Peter is very stupid, but his wife Lois is intelligent. Their son Chris is stupid, but their
daughter Meg and son Stewie are intelligent. Draw the pedigree for the family below and shade in those affected by
this recessive trait.
Jackson Family
Janet is the youngest of nine children. She lives with her mother Katherine, her father Joseph, and all of her siblings.
Janet has seven brothers (Michael, Tito, Jermaine, Randy, Jackie, and Marlon) and two sisters (LaToya and Rebbie).
Except for Janet’s sister LaToya, all of her siblings have the trait for gold records. Draw the pedigree below and
shade for the golden record trait.
Simpson Family
Lisa has a brother named Bart and a sister named Maggie. They live with their parents Homer and Marge. Homer's
father Abe visits frequently as do Marge's sisters Patty and Selma. Draw the pedigree for this family.
Name: ____________________________________________________
Brady Family
Here’s a story of a lovely lady who was bringing up three very lovely girls. All of them had hair of gold, like their
mother, the youngest one in curls. Here’s the story of a man named Brady who was living with three boys of his own.
They were four men living all together, yet they were all alone. Till the one day when the lady met this fellow, and they
knew that it was much more than a hunch, that this group must somehow form a family. That’s the way we all became
the Brady bunch. Draw the pedigree for this family assuming that the lovely lady and the man named Brady formed a
family by getting married.
Your Family
Draw your family tree below including the following:
Your full blood brothers and sisters (full blood = have the same mother AND father)
Your biological parents
Your biological parents’ full blood siblings
Your biological grandparents
Record the first names of the individuals in your tree. If you are unsure of someone’s name, put a question
mark.