Who was this Mendel and what the heck is he doing in a monastery? born in 1822 trained himself to be a naturalist early in life worked as a substitute science teacher failed the qualifying exams to be a regular high school teacher! joined a monastery in Brunn, Austria sent to Vienna U. to study science and math

Mendel’s first published work: "Versuche über Pflanzen-Hybriden“ or Experiments in Plant Hybridization was a landmark in clarity and insight! Trained as a mathematician and a biologist, he figured out the laws of inheritance… mathematically!! MendelWeb

The work of Gregor Mendel …he called them his children! worked with pea plants… Why pea plants??? There was a long-standing tradition of breeding pea plants at the monastery where Mendel lived and worked

So…they were readily available grew fast and they come in lots of varieties! …there were plants with different flower colors, seed color, flower position etc..

What is Genetics? Genetics is the study of heredity, a study of how certain characteristics are passed on from parents to children.

What are Genes? Genes A GENE is a segment of a chromosome that produces a particular trait. For example, in humans, there’s a gene on the chromosome that holds the code for hair color.

What is a Trait? A trait is a specific characteristic that varies from one individual to another.  Examples: Brown hair, blue eyes, tall, curly

What is an Allele? Alleles are the different possibilities for a given trait.  Every trait has at least two alleles (one from the mother and one from the father) Dominant and Recessive ALLELES: an allele can be DOMINANT or RECESSIVE. A DOMINANT allele – takes over. Written with a CAPITAL letter. Example :T A RECESSIVE allele – hidden by the dominant. Written with a lowercase letter. Example t

Dominant & Recessive Practice TT - Represent offspring with straight hair Tt - Represent offspring with straight hair tt - Represents offspring with curly hair T – straight hair t - curly hair

Homozygous vs. Heterozygous Homozygous / Purebred– Term used to refer to an organism that has two identical alleles for a particular trait (TT or tt) Heterozygous / Hybrid - Term used to refer to an organism that has two different alleles for the same trait (Tt) RR Rr rr

Genotype vs. Phenotype Genotype – The genetic makeup of an organism; The gene (or allele) combination an organism has.  Example: Tt, ss, GG, Ww Phenotype – The physical characteristics of an organism; The way an organism looks  Example: Curly hair, straight hair, blue eyes, tall, green

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