Heredity
I can describe what is meant by heredity and why offspring usually look similar to their parents.
Heredity
I can describe what is meant by heredity and why offspring usually look similar to their parents.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Reproduction (having offspring) is part of the life cycle of all organisms.
- When organisms reproduce they make offspring of the same kind (species resemblance).
- Heredity is the process of organisms passing on features to their offspring.
- Offspring inherit features from both parents, so they look similar to them and one another (family resemblance).
- Usually offspring vary and are not identical to their parents or one another (except for identical twins).
Keywords
Reproduction - Reproduction is the process of making offspring.
Offspring - The offspring of a living organism are the young produced following reproduction.
Inherit - Offspring inherit a combination of features from both their parents.
Heredity - Heredity is the process of passing features from individuals to offspring, through reproduction.
Variation - Differences between individuals of the same species are called variation.
Common misconception
Offspring (esp. daughters) inherit all features from mum; parents can control inherited features.
Show examples of offspring inheriting features from both parents. Inherited features that are inherited in genetic material, not chosen.
To help you plan your year 7 science lesson on: Heredity, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 7 science lesson on: Heredity, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
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Explore more key stage 3 science lessons from the Heredity and DNA unit, dive into the full secondary science curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
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Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
