What color is your hair? Now, think about your classmates. Do you all have the same hair color? No! Traits, or characteristics like hair and eye color, are determined by genes, sections of DNA information. Traits are your physical characteristics, like your hair or eye color. Every living thing has traits that make it unique.
For each trait, we inherit two copies of a gene: one from our mom and one from our dad. Each of these copies can be different, and these different copies of the same gene are called alleles. The louder alleles that are expressed over others are called dominant. On the other hand, alleles that aren’t expressed if a dominant allele is around are called recessive.
Explore the world of genetics and distinguish between dominant and recessive genes.
This video satisfies the 3-LS3-1 requirement for third-grade science proficiency.
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
3-LS3-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exists in a group of similar organisms.
