Heredity is the passing of genes and traits from parents to offspring. A person receives half of their chromosomes from their mother and half from their father, which can determine inherited traits like hair color or handedness. The Punnett square is a chart that helps parents determine what genes may be passed down based on each parent's genetic makeup. Traits are either dominant or recessive, where dominant traits only require one parental gene to be expressed in the child, while recessive traits require two matching genes. In contrast, learned behaviors are actions acquired through learning rather than heredity.