1. Genetics and Evolution
What I know What I Want to Know
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2. Date: ___________________________________
Traits
L.O. Determine the traits you show.
Trait Possibilities Yours
Hair Colour
Brown
Black
Blonde
Red
Eye Colour
Green
Blue
Brown
Other
Earlobes
Free
Attached
Fingerprint
What causes us to have different traits?
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3. Date: ___________________________________
DNA
L.O. Learn what DNA is and what it looks like.
Your _______________ (also known as deoxyribonucleic acid) contains all of the
information required to build you. DNA is twisted into a spiral pattern known as a
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Pupil Criteria Teacher
I know that everything required to make a person is in
the DNA
I can describe the shape of DNA.
I know the term double helix.
Is there anywhere I can improve or areas of
difficulty?
____________ and
_____________ got the
Nobel Prize in 1962 for
discovering the shape of
DNA in Cambridge.
_______________ was an
X-ray cryastallographer,
their discovery would not
have been possible
without her.

4. Date: ___________________________________
DNA Packing
L.O. learn how DNA is packed into cells.
Every cell in your body contains several metres of DNA, how does it all fit?
Humans have _________ pairs of chromosomes. Other species have different numbers.
A segment of DNA that codes for a particular trait is called a ____________.
Within a species, there is many similarities in DNA. For example, all humans have a gene
that codes for growing hair; however they vary in what colour hair they grow.
Half of these come from your mother and half from your father.

5. Date: ___________________________________
Pupil Criteria Teacher
I know that DNA is tightly coiled to fit in my cells.
I can refer to “packages” of DNA as chromosomes.
I know that chromosomes come in pairs.
Is there anywhere I can improve or areas of
difficulty?

6. Date: ___________________________________
Heredity
L.O. understand how traits are passed on from one generation to the next.
Traits that are passed from parents to offspring are
said to be hereditary.
Think about your parents, which did you inherit your
hair colour from? ___________________________
Just because your hair is one colour though, does
not mean that it is the only hair colour gene your
body contains. The trait that your body displays is
the ___________________ gene. If your body
carries a gene for another hair colour that it does
not display, this gene is recessive.
Dominant genes are represented by capital letters and
recessive genes are represented by lowercase; if they are
genes for the same trait, they use the same letter.
Example) B represents brown hair and b can represent
red hair. A baby is born with brown hair, what possible
genes does it have?
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If two parents with hybrid dominant brown hair, have
a baby, what colour might the baby’s hair be?
Circle all of the quadrants that would result in a brown haired baby.
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7. Date: ___________________________________
If these two pythons were to reproduce, what might the babies look like?
This python also displays a recessive trait;
what makes this one different?
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How would we decide if a baby of this python
and the albino python could lack pigment and
scales?
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Pupil Criteria Teacher
I can use a table to compare the likelihood of a baby
displaying a particular trait.
I only compare two possibilities for a single gene at a
time.
I know that if someone has a dominant gene, it will be
shown.
I know it takes two identical genes to show a recessive
trait.
Is there anywhere I can improve or areas of
difficulty?

8. Date: ___________________________________
Natural Selection
L.O. understand how natural selection leads to evolution.
Variation within a species is caused by random mutations in
genes. This differences mean that as the environment changes,
some members of a species are better equipped to survive or
make them more preferable mates.
What is the name of the mechanism that says genes can change
randomly as cells (or organisms) reproduce?
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What is the name of the theory that states that all living may
have had a common ancestor?
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How were the tortoises on the smaller islands of the Galapagos differently adapted than
those on the larger island?
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In the video, how were the lighter green beetles naturally selected? Use the image at the
bottom for help.
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Why are albino animals more prominent in captivity
than in the wild?
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Why are peacock tails getting larger with new
generations?
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9. Date: ___________________________________
Darwin’s Finches
L.O. study how rainfall affects the beak size of finches in the Galapagos.
(use Gizmo: Rainfall and Bird Beaks and accompanying student sheets)
Intro and Activity A Day 1
Activities B and C Day 2
Work in partners
Half do B and half do C
Class discussion on differences