Variation

Contents Environmental Variation Environmental Variation Genetic Variation Genetic Variation

Environmental Variation Causes: Causes: climate, diet, lifestyle, culture, accidents Environment affects how our inherited characteristics develop Environment affects how our inherited characteristics develop Twins who grow up separately might become very different: Twins who grow up separately might become very different: e.g. fashion, taste, hair colour, build, personality, aptitudes e.g. fashion, taste, hair colour, build, personality, aptitudes

Genetic Variation Causes: Causes: - Mixing of parent information during meiosis - Gamete forms from a unique combination of genetic information Siblings can have both similar and very different traits Siblings can have both similar and very different traits They are mixtures of their parents, each sibling can receive different characteristics of their parents They are mixtures of their parents, each sibling can receive different characteristics of their parents e.g. natural hair colour, eye colour, blood type e.g. natural hair colour, eye colour, blood type

Continuous vs. Discontinuous Continuous Variation Continuous Variation - Small differences between individuals - Greatly affected by environment - e.g. height, shoe size, length of hair - plotted on a line graph Discontinuous Variation Discontinuous Variation - Differences that are classed or categorised - Not greatly affected by environment - e.g. blood group, sex, hair colour, eye colour - plotted on a bar chart or pie chart

Summary Environmental Variation Environmental Variation - Variation due to an individual’s environment - e.g. scars, fashion, taste, aptitude Genetic Variation Genetic Variation - Variation due to inherited characteristics from parents - e.g. blood type, eye colour, inherited diseases Continuous Variation Continuous Variation - small differences between individuals e.g. height Discontinuous Variation Discontinuous Variation - Classes or categories of differences e.g. sex, blood group