Mendel First Geneticist Mendel 1 st Geneticist 3

Mendel, First Geneticist

Mendel, 1 st Geneticist 3 -5 -13 Key Question: How can you tell if a trait is dominant or not? Initial Thoughts:

Video Clip Gregor Mendel 1822 - 1884

Evidence: Cornell Notes Questions to be written on the left side: 1. What personal qualities do you think Mendel must have had that helped him in his work? 2. What were the advantages for Mendel in using pea plants for his breeding investigations 3. Why did Mendel Perform so many crosses? 4. Explain how the model of flipping pennies works exactly like Mendel’s explanation for his results. 5. What does dominant trait and recessive trait mean?

Analysis Questions 1. Based n Mendel’s results, what trait for each pea characteristic is dominant? Characteristics Dominant trait Recessive Trait Flower Color Seed Surface Pod Color 2. Look at figure 1 (pie chart) which shows the ratio of green-seeded and yellow-seeded offspring. Explain why a 1: 3 ratio of green to yellow seeded plants is the same as a fraction of ¼ green-seeded plants.

Analysis Questions contd. 3. Why is it important for Mendel to look at more than one characteristic?

Summary • What did you think about the inheritance of dominant and recessive traits before? • What did you learn from your evidence about the inheritance of dominant and recessive traits ? • What are some further thoughts or questions you have about the inheritance of dominant and recessive traits?

Reflection • People often think of mathematics as important to physics and chemistry, but not to life science (biology). What is your opinion?

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