Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
← Science
ScienceVariation, adaptation and survival30 min★★★ difficulty

Heredity: how traits pass to the next generation

Cubs resemble their parents because information, not features, is inherited. The instructions are copied; the animal is built from them.

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand heredity as the process by which genetic information is transmitted from one generation to the next

Key learning points

  • • Information, not features
  • • Halving and combining
  • • Breeding programmes use this
  • • Selective breeding, deliberately

This lesson at a glance

  • 30 minutes
  • 19 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

heredityprocessgeneticinformationtransmitted

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 19 · Discover5%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 19

Watch first

Heredity: how traits pass to the next generation

An English teaching video on this topic from The Science Break. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Understand heredity as the process by which genetic information is transmitted from one generation to the next

2

What you already know

Part 2 of 19

Before we start

What you already know

You should already know that offspring vary from their parents, and that variation can be inherited.

3

Key words

Part 3 of 19

Key words

Words you'll need today

Gene
A section of DNA carrying the instructions for a characteristic.
Chromosome
A long DNA molecule found in the nucleus of a cell.
Gamete
A sex cell — egg or sperm — carrying half the genetic information.
Fertilisation
The joining of two gametes to form a new individual.
Inbreeding
Breeding between close relatives, which reduces genetic variation.
4

Learning cycle

Part 4 of 19

Learning cycle 1 of 2

The route from parent to offspring

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

5

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 19

Learn

Information, not features

DNA in the nucleus is organised into chromosomes, and a gene is a section carrying instructions for one characteristic. Offspring inherit copies of genes, not the parent's actual traits, which is why a scar or a learned behaviour is never passed on.

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 19

Learn

Halving and combining

Gametes carry half the usual number of chromosomes, so fertilisation restores a full set with a new combination — half from each parent. That reshuffling is why siblings differ, and why no two cubs in a litter are identical.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 19

Quick check

A gene is

8

Quick check

Part 8 of 19

Quick check

Gametes contain

9

Reset break

Part 9 of 19

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
10

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 19

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Why variation matters for populations

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 19

Learn

Breeding programmes use this

Zoos keep studbooks to record who is related to whom, then pair animals to keep genetic variation high. Without that care, inbreeding raises the chance of inherited health problems and reduces the population's ability to cope with disease.

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 19

Learn

Selective breeding, deliberately

Humans have used heredity for thousands of years, choosing parents with wanted characteristics to breed dogs, cattle and crops. It works fast, but narrowing variation on purpose brings the same risks: breeds with inherited breathing, hip or eye problems.

13

Quick check

Part 13 of 19

Quick check

Why do zoos keep studbooks?

14

Quick check

Part 14 of 19

Quick check

Which is NOT inherited?

15

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 19

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • Characteristics gained during life, such as an injury, are not inherited.
  • Offspring inherit genes from both parents, not mostly from one.
  • Selective breeding is not the same as genetic modification.
16

Challenge round

Part 16 of 19

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

17

Challenge round

Part 17 of 19

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

Zoos keep studbooks to record who is related to whom, then pair animals to keep ____ variation high.

Humans have used ____ for thousands of years, choosing parents with wanted characteristics to breed dogs, cattle and crops.

18

Mastery quiz

Part 18 of 19

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Heredity: how traits pass to the next generation

6 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Chromosomes are found in the

  2. 2. Siblings differ because fertilisation produces

  3. 3. Inbreeding tends to

  4. 4. Selective breeding chooses

  5. 5. Learned hunting behaviour passes to cubs by

  6. 6. Heredity is best described as the transmission of

19

Lesson round-up

Part 19 of 19

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Case study

Why the school greenhouse failed

A science club grew tomato plants in the school greenhouse. In June the plants grew well: leaves were dark green and the fruit set quickly. In July the club went away for two weeks and left the greenhouse door shut. When they came back, the leaves were curled and pale and most of the fruit had dropped.

The club had a data logger inside. It showed the temperature reached 46 °C on several afternoons and the soil moisture fell close to zero. The club knew photosynthesis needs light, water and carbon dioxide, and that enzymes in a plant work best in a narrow range of temperature. Above that range the enzymes stop working properly.

The club repeated the summer with the door propped open and a water bottle drip on each pot. Temperature peaked at 31 °C and the plants survived.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Name the variable the club changed the second time, and one variable they kept the same.
  2. Explain, using the words photosynthesis and enzymes, why the plants were damaged in July.
  3. Write a conclusion for the club's report, saying how far the evidence supports it.

  • Method and results

    Writing

    Write the aim, what you changed, what you measured and what you kept the same, then record your results in a table.

    1 page + results table

  • Conclusion

    Writing

    Explain what your results show and why, using the scientific words from the lesson. Say how you know you can trust them.

    6–8 sentences

  • Labelled diagram

    Diagram

    Draw the apparatus or the process in pencil, label it fully, and photograph it.

    1 labelled diagram

  • Reading and notes

    Reading

    Read the lesson text again and write the key ideas in your own words.

    Half a page of notes

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 19 · Watch & discover

Good Learning Co. — personalised UK curriculum learning, built around what each learner loves.