Genetic Variation and Change
Here's a cute video and quiz from BBC Bitesize to check what you remember of Year 11 Genetics.
What is DNA?
Find out what it is and what it's for in this very nice video. While you're at it, get to know what genes are in this video.
Mutations
What's the difference between a point and a chromosomal mutation? Are all mutations bad? Find out in this cool Amoeba Sisters video (then go check out all their other sweet Bio vids too). Gregor Mendel
Introducing Gregor Mendel, the father of modern genetics. |
Part 1: Sources of Variation
Find the first set of notes here, covering mutations, meiosis and sexual reproduction.
Try your luck at this Natural Selection Game.
Don't underestimate the value of diversity and mutation as a source of new alleles. Oh, and watch out for humans! You can also have a play with the cool rabbits and wolves simulation we did in class here.
Part 2: Inheritance
Do you know your incomplete dominance from co-dominance? How do you build a dihybrid cross grid? What is a linked gene and how does crossing over affect the offspring phenotype ratio? Check your knowledge against the notes here. Hint: these questions are very likely to come up in exams. Make sure you can do the crosses for every type of inheritance and explain what the implications are.
Part 3: Population Genetics
Here's where we get to think about why genetics and variation are important and how selection has shaped the very unique individuals we are today, within our strange, brainiac species. This is very important foundation learning for next year's Speciation and Human Evolution topics. Make sure you remember that the changes we're talking about happen over a loooooooooooong period of time. 15,000 years of wolf domestication and dogs can still interbreed and retain many wolfy behaviours.
Having trouble getting your head around Natural Selection? Fear not! Here it is, Stated Clearly.
And if you think you've got the hang of that, take the next logical step to seeing the big picture (this way Excellence answers lie), Evolution.
Summing it all up (at a million words a minute) are our good buddies from Crash Course Biology. Don't panic if this seems a little overwhelming the first time around - by exam time it will make perfect sense.
LEARN GENETICS
To recap what you've learned and extend your understanding to include some really amazing real-life applications, check out Learn Genetics by the University of Utah. It includes some neat tours and interactives to make sure you can visualise some very tricky concepts and cool examples you can whip out to impress friends, family and exam markers. |