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Science at key stage 3    (Year 9)

Unit 9A: Inheritance and selection
Section 1: What characteristics can be inherited?

QCA

Objectives
Children should learn:
  • that offspring are similar but not identical to their parents
  • that some characteristics are inherited
  • that these variations occur in both plants and animals

Activities

Outcomes
Children:
  • Review pupils' ideas on variation from earlier work by asking them about ways in which humans differ from each other. Ask pupils which of these variations are likely to have been inherited from their parents, prompting them initially by showing pictures of large family groups used in unit 7D 'Variation and classification'. Extend the work to other organisms, eg farm animals, garden flowers, and ask pupils to identify characteristics that might be inherited.
  • describe similarities between parents and offspring
  • identify some inherited characteristics in plants and animals

Points to note
  • This activity is designed to find out what pupils know about inheritance and variation. Teachers will need to bear this in mind in later work.
  • Pictures of large family groups in which inherited characteristics can be identified are available in many textbooks.

Sections in this unit

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This unit is divided into sections. Each section contains a sequence of activities with related objectives and outcomes. You can view this unit by moving through the sections or print/download the whole unit.
1. What characteristics can be inherited?
2. Why are offspring of the same parents similar but not identical?
3. a. How do differences between offspring with the same parents compare with differences between offspring of different parents?
4. b. How do differences between offspring with the same parents compare with differences between offspring of different parents?
5. How are new breeds of animal produced?
6. Checking progress
7. Why do farmers produce new breeds of animals?
8. a. How are new varieties of plant produced?
9. b. How are new varieties of plant produced?
10. Are varieties produced by selective breeding different from each other?
11. What is a clone?
12. Reviewing work