Heredity — Revision Notes | KS3 Biology

Quick recap

6 clips

Short clips from the lesson video. Watch a couple to jog your memory, then try the Brain dump below.

Brain dump

Before you look at anything else, write down everything you can remember about this lesson: key words, facts, examples. Spelling doesn't matter. Then see which of the 7 key terms you remembered.

2:00

Everything you remember

Key terms

Heredity: The biological process of passing features from parents down to their offspring through reproduction
Reproduction: The process by which living things make new living things (offspring), serving as one of the seven life processes (MRS GREN)
Offspring: New living organisms produced by parent organisms of the same species
Nucleus: The control centre inside a cell where genetic material controlling inherited features is stored
Inherited features: Characteristics passed down from parents to offspring, which can be visible (like eye colour or hair type) or invisible (internal processes)
Variation: The differences between individual organisms of the same species, such as why siblings look like individuals rather than identical copies
Identical twins: Twins who grow from the same fertilised egg, so they inherit exactly the same genes and look almost the same

What this lesson covers

How well do you know each one? Be honest: red means go back over it.

Define heredity and explain how features pass from parents to offspring
Explain the difference between inherited features and ones you acquire
Explain where genetic material is found in a cell
Explain what variation is and why siblings differ from each other
Explain why identical twins are genetically the same but siblings are not
Use examples such as crossbreeds to explain how inherited features combine

Test yourself

Cover the answer, say it out loud, then check the full quiz on the lesson page.

Where in a cell is the genetic material that controls features stored?
A tadpole looks nothing like its frog parents. Is it their offspring?
Which of these is NOT a reason that siblings look different from each other?

Topic quiz

11 questions on this topic only — not mixed with anything else, one at a time.

Question 1 of 11

Spelling challenge

Read the definition, then type the correct spelling of the term. Uses the same terms as above.

Score: 0/0