GRADE 8 GENETICS AND HEREDITY

At the conclusion of this unit you will understand that…

• All organisms pass along genetic information to offspring

Inquiring scientific minds will be able to answer these essential questions...

• How is your body able to heal a cut?
• How do organisms reproduce?
• Why don’t we all look alike?
• How did the study of genetics begin?
• What is the significance of recent advances in genetics?

Key Scientific Concepts/Vocabulary…

cell nucleus	DNA	trait	homozygous
heterozygous	dominant	recessive	Punnett square
sexual reproduction	asexual reproduction	form and function of flower	mitosis
meiosis	chromosome	phenotype	genotype
pedigree chart	budding	cloning	fermentation
fertilization	mutation	zygote	hybrid
heredity	haploid	diploid	gene

Young geneticists will be able to….

• Accurately use microscopes.
• Label the stages of mitosis/meiosis.
• Dissect a flower.
• Construct and solve Punnett squares.
• Draw a pedigree chart