Sexual reproduction involves the fusing of two gametes. Gametes are sex cells, the sperm and the egg. The gametes carry genes, this means that an offspring will get half of each parents genes.

 Many plants reproduce sexually. Flowers are the reproductive structures for the flowering plants.  They have both male and female structures that are involved in producing seeds  Flowering plants rely on insects, birds and the wind to assist with pollination

 Pollen from the anther moves down the pistil where it fertilizes the ovum and produces seeds

 Austrian monk who studied mathematics and science  As a boy he could predict the possible types of flowers and fruits that would result from crossbreeding two plants in his father’s garden

 Curiosity about the connection between the color of a pea flower and the type of seed that same plant produced inspired him to begin experimenting with garden peas in  Made careful use of scientific methods, which resulted in the first recorded study of how traits pass from one generation to the next.

The study of how traits are inherited through the interactions of genes.

 The material that controls which traits are expressed in an organism  Genes come in pairs and offspring inherit one copy of each gene from each parent  It is a segment of DNA located on each chromosomes in the nucleus.

The passing of traits from parent to offspring

 Traits are controlled by alleles on chromosomes  An allele’s effect is dominant or recessive  When a pair of chromosomes separate during meiosis the different alleles for a trait move into separate sex cells

 The different forms of a trait that a gene may have

 Ways of looking, thinking, or being  Traits that are genetic are passed down through the genes from parents to offspring

 A trait that is covered over, or dominated, by another form of that trait and seems to disappear  Hidden when the other copy of the gene contains the dominant allele.  A recessive allele shows up only when there is no dominant allele present  Shown with a lower-case letter

 A trait that covers over, or dominates, another form of that trait  Trait that always shows up, even when only one of the two alleles is in the dominant form  Shown by a capital letter

 Both alleles [forms of the gene] are the same  When offspring inherit two dominant genes, (one dominant gene from each parent) they are said to be homozygous dominant  When offspring inherit two recessive genes, (one recessive gene from each parent) they are said to be homozygous recessive

 When alleles occur in different forms  When offspring inherit one dominant gene and one recessive gene, they are said to be heterozygous  Since the dominant gene will be expressed, they are said to be heterozygous dominant

 When an organism has two different alleles for a gene that does not follow the dominant/recessive pattern  The organism shows a trait that is a blend of the traits represented by the two alleles  Also called INCOMPLETE DOMINANCE

An organism's genetic makeup

Outward physical appearance and behavior of an organism