SCIENCE VOCAB

TRAITS

• Definition: distinct variant or “option” of a phenotypic characteristic of an organism that may be inherited Exampler: eye color is the phenotypic characteristic and oblue, brown or hazel are traits

HEREDITY

• Definition: passing on of characteristics from parents to offspring

SEXUAL REPRODUCTION

• Definition: reproduction which involves the fusion of male and female sex cells and produces genetic variation in offspring

ASEXUAL REPRUDUTION

• Definition: offspring form from only one parent and it a clone of that parent

DNA

• Definition: deoxyribonucleic acid; hereditary material in humans

GENES

• Definition: deoxyribonucleic acid; hereditary material in humans

CHROMOSOMES

• Definition: Compact structure of tightly coiled DNA within the nucleus containing the genetic information that is passed from one generation of cells to the next. Humans have 46 chromosomes; 23 pairs

ALLELE

• Definition: alternative forms of a gene for each variation of a trait of an organism

GENOTYPE

• Definition: combination of genes in an organism
• Definition: outward appearance of an organism; regardless of genotype

PHENOTYPE

• Definition: outward appearance of an organism; regardless of genotype

HOMOZYGOUS

• Definition: outward appearance of an organism; regardless of genotype

HETEROZYGOUS

• Definition: outward appearance of an organism; regardless of genotype

DOMINANT GENE

• Definition: The gene that shows up or “covers” the other; represented by a capital letter Round Face - R

RECESSIVE GENE

• Definition: The gene that gets covered up; represented by a lower case letter Square Face - r