Practice
Think about how traits express themselves in genetically diverse organisms. Complete the activity.
Now you will use a coin and the graphic organizer below to model genetic variation in a fictional character as seen in the video on Page 7. You will come up with five traits for a character of your choosing, and then flip the coin to determine which variation of each trait they will possess. In the first column, you will list the traits of your character that will be determined genetically. In the second column, you will name two possible variations for that trait, assigning “heads” or “tails” to each one. And finally, you will flip your coin to determine the resulting variation of the trait the character will inherit. Once you have determined the resulting variation of all five traits, draw a picture of your character showing these traits and add it below the chart.
Character:
Trait Variation 1 Variation 2 Result
Eye color Blue (Heads) Brown (Tails) Tails (Brown)
Hair texture Straight (Heads) Curly (Tails) Heads (Straight)
Height Tall (Heads) Short (Tails) Heads (Tall)
Skin tone Dark (Heads) Light (Tails) Heads (Dark)
Freckles Many (Heads) Few (Tails) Heads (Many)