7.5.2 Genes and HeredityWhy do you look a little like your mom, and a little like your dad? How come some traits skip generations? Why can't Mr. Lee ever have a blue eyed baby? I know these questions keep you up at night, so learn about genes and heredity to figure it out!

Dominant and recessive alleles, genotypes and phenotypes, inherited vs. learned traits (nature vs. nurture), Punnett Squares, homozygous and heterozygous genotypes, there are lots of new terms you must know to fully understand genetics.

But the short of it all is, we inherit genes (on chromosomes) from each of our parents. That determines much of who we are!

Activities:

Making Punnett Square:http://www.siskiyous.edu/class/bio1/genetics/monohybrid_v2.html

Genetics WebLab Directory:http://www2.edc.org/weblabs/WebLabDirectory1.html
(Try out the Mendel's Peas and Punnett Squares)

Genetics (The University of Utah):http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/
  
Transcribe and Translate a Gene
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/molecules/transcribe/

Play the "DNA-The Double Helix" replication game!
http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/dna_double_helix/dnahelix.html

Dog Breeding
http://pbskids.org/dragonflytv/games/game_dogbreeding.html

Zoo Matchmaker
http://www.mnzoo.org/education/games/matchmaker/index.html 

Human Genome Project
http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/BrowseGenes