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medium difficulty6 min

Heredity

Heredity is the passing of traits from parents to their children through genes.

In one line: Heredity means family traits travel forward.

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Understand it

Heredity is the basic reason family members often look similar. A child receives genetic information from both parents, so some features such as eye colour, hair type, or seed shape can be passed on. Heredity does not make children exact copies of their parents; it passes the basic instructions, while variation still appears among individuals.

Example

A pea plant producing offspring with the same flower colour pattern is an example of heredity. In humans, a child may inherit dimples or attached earlobes from a parent.

Rule to remember

Traits are inherited from parents to offspring through genes; heredity is the transfer of genetic information across generations.

See it worked out

Follow the example line by line, then use the same method on new questions.

Worked example

  1. 1If a child has the same blood group pattern as one parent, the feature is inherited.
  2. 2The child gets one set of genes from the mother and one set from the father, so the trait can reappear in the next generation.

Method you can reuse

  1. 1Identify the trait in question.
  2. 2Link the trait to parents and offspring.
  3. 3Mention genes as the carriers of information.
  4. 4Add one example from plants or humans.
  5. 5State that heredity passes traits but does not always produce identical children.

Visual tip

A simple family tree or pedigree-style chart helps show how a trait moves from parents to children.

Check yourself

Answer the question in your head before opening the answer.

Try it yourself

Why do children often resemble their parents in some features?

Think first, then show answer
Children often resemble their parents because traits are passed from parents to offspring through heredity. Genes carry the instructions for these traits, so some family features are seen again in the child.

Common wrong answer

Heredity means exact similarity.

Why it loses marks: This is incomplete because heredity works along with variation.

Don't mix this up

Students often think heredity means the child must look exactly like one parent. That is wrong because inherited traits can combine with variation.

Exam tip

In answers, mention both inheritance and parent to offspring transfer. If the question asks for resemblance, connect it directly to genes.

Write it in the exam

Each point is worth about one mark. Write point 1 for a 1-mark question and keep adding points as the marks go up.

How CBSE asks it

Explain heredity with an example, or state how traits are passed from parents to offspring in humans or plants.
  1. 1

    Enough for 1 mark

    Heredity is the passing of traits from parents to their children through genes.

  2. 2

    Add for 2 marks

    Example: A pea plant producing offspring with the same flower colour pattern is an example of heredity. In humans, a child may inherit dimples or attached earlobes from a parent.

  3. 3

    Add for 3 marks

    Heredity is the basic reason family members often look similar.

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