Questions: What Is Heredity?

Question 1

Why do children resemble their parents but are not identical to them?

• A. Because children eat different food than their parents
• B. Because children receive a mix of DNA from both parents, creating a unique combination
• C. Because children's traits are determined by the environment, not genes
• D. Because DNA changes completely every generation

Answer: (B)

In sexual reproduction, each child receives half of their DNA from their mother and half from their father. The specific combination of genes each child gets is unique (except in identical twins), which is why siblings share family resemblances but look different from each other. The mixing of parental DNA creates variation.

Question 2

Learned behaviors like speaking a language are passed from parents to children through DNA.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

DNA passes on inherited traits like eye color, blood type, and hair texture — not learned behaviors. A child born to English-speaking parents but raised by Spanish-speaking parents will speak Spanish. Language is learned from the environment, not inherited through genes. However, the capacity for language (the ability of the brain to learn language) is inherited.

Question 3

What is DNA, and what role does it play in heredity?

Model answer: DNA is a molecule found in the nucleus of every cell that contains the genetic instructions for building and running the organism. In heredity, DNA is passed from parents to offspring, carrying the instructions that determine the offspring's traits. Each parent contributes DNA, and the combination of instructions creates a unique individual.

DNA is the physical basis of heredity — it is the molecule that stores genetic information and gets copied and passed on during reproduction. Understanding that traits are carried by a physical molecule (not by blood, spirit, or abstract 'inheritance') is a key conceptual shift in learning biology.