STAAR Vocabulary #3

Question 0

Recessive Trait

Answer 0

The trait that appears when two non-dominant alleles are inherited.

Question 1

Allele

Answer 1

Form of a gene that controls a characteristic.

Question 2

Chromosome

Answer 2

Structure in a cell’s nucleus that contains DNA.

Question 3

Sex Chromosome

Answer 3

Human males have and XY combination while females have an XX combination.

Question 4

Phenotype

Answer 4

Organism’s expressed appearance based on its genotype.

Question 5

Mendelian Genetics

Answer 5

Laws of genetics that describe independently segregated and recombined alleles.

Question 6

Punnett Square

Answer 6

Diagram that illustrates the possible genetic outcomes of offspring based on parents’ genotype.

Question 7

Non-Mendelian Genetics

Answer 7

Inheritance patterns that express incomplete dominance.

Question 8

Genotype

Answer 8

Inherited combining of alleles that is represented by two letters.

Question 9

Homozygous

Answer 9

Occurs when two copies of the allele are the same.

Question 10

Trait

Answer 10

An organism’s specific characteristic.

Question 11

Heterozygous

Answer 11

Occurs when two copies of the same allele are different.

Question 12

Dominant Trait

Answer 12

Trait that is expressed over a recessive trait.

Question 13

Evolution

Answer 13

Scientific explanation for the diversity we see in the natural world and how it has changed over time; natural selection is the action mechanism.

Question 14

Diversity

Answer 14

The differences seen between individuals of the same species and between themselves.

Question 15

Biogeography

Answer 15

Geographic distribution of organisms; species living within the same region are more likely to be closely related.

Question 16

Natural Selection

Answer 16

Process by which organisms with a certain set of favorable traits survive and reproduce other individuals with the same set of traits.

Question 17

Anatomical Homology

Answer 17

Structural similarities between different species like the bones in bird’s with being similar to the bone in a human’s arm.

Question 18

Common Ancestry

Answer 18

Theory that all organisms descended from a mutual species.

Question 19

Adaptation

Answer 19

A particular trait that helps an organism survive in its environment.