CONNECT

Why do offspring tend to look similar to their parents but not exactly the same? Generations of living things often look similar to one another due to the inheritance of traits or characteristics, as offspring inherit certain traits from their parents. This passing of traits from parents to offspring is called heredity. When organisms reproduce, genetic information from each parent is passed to their offspring, as genes carry the “instructions” for the traits of offspring. Since offspring inherit half of their genetic information from each parent, variations in traits can be seen in the offspring generation; offspring are not clones of their parents! In this lesson, students will engage in a hands-on activity in order to explain how genetic variations occur in offspring through the inheritance of traits.