Professional Documents
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Boardworks Ltd 2003
Variation
Look closely at the picture below. Do the children share any features or characteristics with their parents?
Variation
In general we can see that children are similar, but not identical, to their parents. Differences occur because children inherit characteristics from both their parents and they can be affected by their environment. This is true for both animals and plants. Variation can come about for two reasons: 1. Some features can be inherited. That means that you get them from your parents.
Remember back to the photo of the group of people. They are in fact all RELATED. So you might notice things about them that are quite similar. That is because some of their features were inherited from their parents. But do they look exactly alike?
Genes
Secondly some features are caused by conditions in your surroundings. For example your parents might be tall, but, if you dont get all the food you need you might not be tall at all!
Additionally think of a runner. They need speed and stamina. These things are not inherited they are improved by training and diet.
These features are called environmental.
Environmental or Inherited?
The activity on the previous page might have brought up a bit of discussion. The truth is that it made it all seem very simple. It is in fact really a lot more complicated. Scientists have now decided that only 4 features are truly inherited and not affected by environment at all. Can you guess what they are?
1. 2. 3. 4. Eye colour Natural hair colour Blood group Some inherited diseases
Investigation
Variation Investigation
Eric bought a particular variety, called beefsteak, of tomatoes for his restaurant. All the tomatoes were weighed and the results (measured in grams) are given in the following table:
78.5 113.2 83.2 118.1 110.8 99.6 84.8 98.4 100.4 102.3
108.3 100.2 106.4 105.6 105.2 109.4 91.9 97.5 98.6 87.4
111.3 95.7 102.1 112.7 112.6 99.8 97.1 109.0 103.7 97.3
102.1 109.7 99.8 103.8 93.8 109.4 91.7 92.1 109.3 119.3
94.4 113.5 102.4 89.2 88.9 108.8 111.8 99.2 104.6 96.1
Boardworks Ltd 2003
Results
If the weight of the tomatoes is made into a frequency histogram by counting how many tomatoes weigh between 78 and 82, 82 and 96, etc. What does this type of graph show?
Distribution of Beefsteak Tomato Mass
10 8
Frequency
Investigation
Variation Investigation
Eric also bought a ray of plum tomatoes from the local farm, these were also weighed. Their masses (in grams) are listed in the table below:
40.0 74.4 59.0 60.5 56.3 59.4 49.7 58.6 43.1 57.2
62.2 61.3 63.9 71.1 55.7 68.3 71.9 60.6 58.2 63.1
65.3 71.0 64.4 62.0 50.2 61.8 71.2 63.7 60.1 48.5
58.1 48.1 44.9 64.4 55.6 54.7 46.5 64.5 68.3 64.5
73.0 71.6 59.8 65.7 52.3 59.4 42.0 59.6 72.5 47.7
Boardworks Ltd 2003
Results
If the weight of the plum tomatoes is made into a frequency histogram as in the previous example, etc. What does this type of graph show?
Distribution of Plum Tomato Mass
12 10
Frequency
8 6 4 2 0 40.0 44.0 48.0 52.0 56.0 60.0 64.0 68.0 72.0 76.0 Mass (g)
Discussion
The previous slides showed the results of a simple experiment. Are there any differences between the two sets of results? What can you say about the variation of mass within each species of tomato and the variation between the two sets of results? Are there any other quantities which can be measured immediately and which would show a similar set of results. Some quantities cannot be immediately measured but are important to the people who grow and buy the crop of, in this case, tomatoes. These are:
Resistance to disease.
Time taken to ripen. Can you think of any more?
Boardworks Ltd 2003
Selective breeding
This is a process used by humans to produce different breeds of animals or varieties of plants.
wheat
Farmers may choose individual cows to mate which will produce a newer generation of cows that are better at producing milk. Apple growers would like to produce a type of apple which is tasty but also resistant to disease. They could do this by crossing a variety of apple known for taste with another type which shows strong resistance to disease.
Boardworks Ltd 2003
Selective breeding