Name: __________________________________                            Section: ____________

Genetics Unit - Vocabulary practice

Fill in the blanks using the words in the word bank.

1. ________________________ is the study of how traits are passed from one generation to the next.

2. ___________________________ is a process that produces a new generation of offspring.

3. _____________  ______________ is the “father of genetics”, because he discovered most of principles of heredity while studying pea plants.

4. A _______________________ is an observable characteristic that is passed from one generation to the next.

5. _________________________  is passing traits from parent generations to offspring generations.

6. A _________________________ is a thread-like structure in the nucleus of a cell that controls heredity.

7. A _________________________ (Allele) is part of a chromosome that carries the genetic information to control one trait.

8. ___________________  ___________ or DNA is the chemical in chromosomes that contains the genetic code for heredity.  It is shaped like a double helix (a twisted ladder shape).

9. The___________________________ is a cell organelle that stores chromosomes.

10. A ____________________________ gene is the stronger form of a gene.  It will show up in an offspring that gets that gene.  It is represented by a capital letter.

11. A ___________________________ gene is the weaker form of a gene.  It will get masked in a hybrid offspring with that gene.  It is represented by a lower case letter.

12. A ___________________________ is an offspring that has two genes for a trait that match.

      They are both dominant or both recessive.

13. A _____________________________ is an offspring that has two genes for a trait that don’t

      match. One will be the dominant gene & the other will be recessive.

14. A _____________________________ is a  sex cell (sperm or egg cell).

15. _____________________________ occurs when a sperm cell unites with an egg cell.

16. ________________  _______________________ requires two sets of DNA, one set from each of two parents, combining to produce an offspring.

17. _______________  ________________________ only requires one set DNA from one parent to produce an offspring.

18. ____________  _______________________ is the process by which cells reproduce.

19. ___________________________ is cell division where one cell splits into two cells.

20. ___________________________ is cell division where one cell splits into four gametes.

21. _________________________ is the genetic differences between individuals of the same species that are caused during sexual reproduction, by mutation or as a result of natural selection.

22. _____________  ______________________ control the trait related to the gender of an offspring.

23. A _______________________________ is variation caused by miscoded DNA.

24. _____________________________ occurs when the last of species dies because it didn’t adapt to change in the environment.

25. _____________________________ is trying hard to fulfill needs from limited resources over rival organisms in an effort to ensure survival.

26. ____________________  ________________________ is the process where nature eliminates organisms that don’t adapt to a changing environment or can’t compete for limited resources.

27. A ___________________  _______________ is a graphic family history that shows  how a trait has been passed from one generation to later ones.

28. A ___________________  ________________ uses parent’s genes to help predict the chances of

a trait being exhibited in an offspring.

29. A ___________________________is a description of the gene pair that an offspring inherits for a trait. One of the pair comes from the mother & one from the father.

30. A ___________________________ is a description of what a trait looks like for an offspring.