Biology Topic B1.1: Classification, variation and inheritance Flashcards
What are the five kingdoms?
- animalia (all multicellular animals)
- plantae (all green plants)
- fungi (moulds, mushrooms, yeast)
- prokaryotae (bacteria, blue-green algae)
- protoctista (Amoeba, Paramecium)
What is a species?
a group of interbreeding organisms that produce fertile offspring
What is variation?
The presence of differences between living things of the same species
What is the difference between continuous and discontinuous variation?
- Continuous variation is the type of variation where there is a range of values. It is shown with a line graph
- Discontinuous variation is the type of variation where there are clear cut differences. It is shown with a bar graph
Give 5 examples of continuous variation
- height
- weight
- heart rate
- finger length
- leaf length
Give 4 examples of discontinuous variation
- tongue rolling
- finger prints
- eye colour
- blood group
What is inherited variation?
Variation in a characteristic that is a result of genetic inheritance from the parents.
How does the parents’ egg and sperm cell impact the genetic inheritance?
Because Each egg cell and each sperm cell contains half of the genetic information needed for an individual. When these join at fertilisation a new cell is formed with all the genetic information needed for an individual.
Give 4 examples of inherited variation
- eye colour
- hair colour
- skin colour
- lobed or lobeless ears.
- Gender
What is environmental variation?
Variation caused by the surroundings
What are examples of environmental variation?
- Climate
- Diet
- Culture
- your language and religion
- flower colour in hydrangeas - these plants produce blue flowers in acidic soil and pink flowers in alkaline soil.
Give an example of how some features vary because of a mixture of inherited causes and environmental causes
Identical twins: they inherit exactly the same features from their parents. But if you take a pair of twins, and twin ‘A’ is given more to eat than twin ‘B’, twin ‘A’ is likely to end up heavier.
Explain Natural Selection
- Within each species the individuals with the variations best suited to the environment will survive better than the others.
- More of them will survive to reproduce than the others.
- When they do, they pass on the genetic information for these variations to their offspring.
Explain Artificial Selection
Artificial selection is when people use selective breeding to produce new varieties of a species.
When talking about species what is a ‘VARIETY’?
A variety is a type of a particular species that is different in some clear way from other varieties of that species.
Give an example of a Variety in species
DOGS: pedigree dogs come in lots of different varieties, called breeds of dog.
- They may be different colours and sizes, but they are all still dogs.
- They are all still the same species. Different varieties of dog have been produced by selective breeding.
