Key Words For Genetics And Variation

Question 1

Allele

Answer 1

Different forms of the same gene

Question 2

Chromosome

Answer 2

Thread-like structures made of DNA

Question 3

Continuous variation

Answer 3

Variation with no limit for the population e.g. height. We use a line graph to plot these data.

Question 4

Discrete variation

Answer 4

Variation with no limit for the population e.g. eye colour. We plot these data on a bar chart

Question 5

DNA

Answer 5

Material that genes are made of

Question 6

Dominant

Answer 6

Characteristic expressed in both homozygous and heterozygous condition

Question 7

Environmental variation

Answer 7

Variation caused by the environment in which an offspring is brought up

Question 8

Evolution

Answer 8

Process by which organisms have developed from earlier forms of life on Earth

Question 9

Extinction

Answer 9

The complete disappearance of a species from Earth.

Question 10

Fossil

Answer 10

The remains or impression of a prehistoric plant or animal embedded in rock or preserved in petrified form

Question 11

Gene

Answer 11

Section of DNA that codes for a particular characteristic

Question 12

Genotype

Answer 12

The two alleles that an organism ha e.g. app

Question 13

Heterozygous

Answer 13

Two different alleles e.g. Aa

Question 14

Homozygous

Answer 14

Two copies of the same allele e.g. aa

Question 15

Inherited variation

Answer 15

Variation caused by the genes offspring inherit from their parents

Question 16

Invertebrate

Answer 16

Animal without a backbone

Question 17

Natural selection

Answer 17

Process where organisms better adapted to their environment survive to breed and pass on their genes

Question 18

Phenotype

Answer 18

Physical appearance due to your genotype

Question 19

Recessive

Answer 19

Characteristics only represented in the homozygous condition

Question 20

Vertebrate

Answer 20

animal with a backbone