Homework Activity – Famous Family Inheritance

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Famous Family Inheritance –
a homework task about inheritance for KS3 students

 Here is a simple but fun activity that your students can complete during a topic on inheritance.

 

Each student will need:

•   Access to the internet/newspapers/magazines

 

Student instructions

  1.  Take a look through some newspapers, magazines or use an internet search to find an image of a famous family which includes Mum, Dad and at least one child. You may even be able to find a family that also includes a grandparent.
  2. Cut out, print out or place the image into a document on the computer.
  3. Label the characteristics of Mum and Dad that you can see. This might include hair colour, if they have pierced ears or not, length of their hair.
  4. Put a tick next to each characteristic that is inherited.
  5. Now, we will think about inheritance. Label the inherited characteristics that the children have. Say which parent they inherited each from.
  6. You may be able to find out some further information about your family by doing an internet search. Try and find out any characteristics that are not visible e.g. blood type, if they have any inherited conditions.

 

Famous actor Russell Crowe and his family

Try to explain:

Why you have some characteristics that you have inherited, for example eye colour, and others that are not, like the length of your hair.

Why the children have some of the same inherited characteristics as their parents. Think about what genes are and how they are passed from parent to offspring.

 

The students should be able to explain that some characteristics are due to your genes. These are inherited. Other characteristics are due to the environment. These are not passed from parent to child.

Genes are sections of DNA which code for characteristics. These are found in the nucleus of the egg and sperm cell which fuse during fertilisation. The resulting embryo will have a mixture of genes from each parent, therefore a mixture of their characteristics.

Your students might like to find out more about DNA and inheritance by watching this Explaining DNA video.

What is Smart Science?

Written for the new 2014 Science Curriculum, Smart Science provides a flexible scheme of work that can be used to deliver either a 2 or 3 year Key Stage 3. If you’d like to see more, then check out these free Smart Science resources.

Exploring DNA this term with your students? Here are some more free resources: