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9th grade Mendel's laws of segregation and independent assortment worksheet

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Mendel's laws of segregation and independent assortment

Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  1. Bo crosses a round plant with a wrinkled plant (rr). If the round plant is Rr, what is the chance that three offspring in a row are all round?

    • 1 in 8
    • 1 in 4
    • 3 in 4
    • 1 in 2
  2. Read this first

    Two genes on different chromosomes (model)

    geneeach parent's alleleswhere the gene sits
    flower positionAaone chromosome
    pod colorGga different chromosome
  3. Esme crosses two AaGg plants (A for axial flowers, a for terminal; G for green pods, g for yellow). What is the chance one offspring has terminal flowers and yellow pods?

    • 1 in 4
    • 9 in 16
    • 1 in 16
    • 1 in 2, since 1/4 + 1/4
  4. Mendel's real counts, flower position (real data: Mendel)

    generationwhat the plants showed
    F1100 percent axial
    F2651 axial and 207 terminal
  5. The F2 plants came from F1 plants crossed with themselves (A for axial flowers, a for terminal). Jun works backward. What were the letters of the F1 plants?

    • aa (two terminal alleles), since terminal flowers appeared
    • Aa (one axial, one terminal allele), since the F2 is near 3 : 1
    • AA (two axial alleles), since the terminal allele disappeared in the F1
    • Half Aa and half AA, since the F2 is not exactly 3 : 1
  6. Cross card

    A cross of two tall plants (model data), 1 row. Columns: parents, offspring. Row 1: two tall plants, letters unknown, 30 tall and 10 dwarf.

  7. Kira reads a cross card for two tall pea plants. What are the parents' letters, most likely?

    • Tt × tt (one parent has two dwarf alleles)
    • Tt × Tt (each parent has one tall, one dwarf allele)
    • TT × Tt (one parent has two tall alleles)
    • TT × TT (both parents have two tall alleles)
  8. Cross card

    A surprise dwarf plant (model data), 1 row. Columns: parents, one offspring. Row 1: two tall plants, letters unknown, a dwarf plant.

  9. Two tall pea plants have one dwarf offspring. Luz asks what must be true of both parents.

    • Neither has a dwarf allele; the heights blended into a small plant
    • Both are TT, since a tall plant has lost its dwarf allele
    • Both carry a dwarf allele, so both are Tt
    • One needs a dwarf allele, so TT × Tt could do it
  10. Notebook

    Notes on two Vv plants (classmate's notebook), 4 lines. Columns: line, entry. Line 1: Each Vv parent passes on one of its two alleles, chosen at random. Line 2: So the four boxes are VV, Vv, Vv and vv. Line 3: The three kinds of genotype are in the ratio 3 : 1. Line 4: The phenotypes are 3 violet to 1 white.

  11. Milo reads a classmate's notebook about two Vv pea plants. Which line has the mistake?

    • Line 2: the two Vv boxes should be counted as one
    • Line 4: the phenotypes are in the ratio 1 : 2 : 1
    • Line 3: the genotypes are in the ratio 1 : 2 : 1
    • Line 1: a parent should pass on both of its alleles
  12. Notebook

    Notes on a class seed count (classmate's notebook), 4 lines. Columns: line, entry. Line 1: A class crossed Rr × Rr and planted 400 seeds (model data). Line 2: A 3 : 1 ratio predicts 300 round and 100 wrinkled. Line 3: The class counted 293 round and 107 wrinkled. Line 4: These are not exactly 300 and 100, so the 3 : 1 idea is wrong.

  13. Pia reads a classmate's notebook about a class seed count. Which line has the mistake?

    • Line 1: Rr × Rr cannot give wrinkled seeds
    • Line 2: a 3 : 1 ratio predicts 100 round and 300 wrinkled
    • Line 3: the class should have counted exactly 300 round
    • Line 4: counts near 300 and 100 still fit 3 : 1
  14. Ren says: two Vv parents with four offspring will have exactly 3 violet and 1 white. Do you agree?

    • Yes, because a 3 : 1 ratio fixes the numbers in a family of four
    • No, because the ratio of looks is 1 : 2 : 1, not 3 : 1
    • No, because each offspring has a 3 in 4 chance of violet, so four can differ
    • Yes, because the square has 3 violet boxes and 1 white box
  15. Mendel's real counts, flower color (real data: Mendel)

    generationwhat the plants showed
    F1100 percent violet
    F2705 violet and 224 white
  16. Tala claims that the F1 plants lost the white allele. Do you agree?

    • No, because the F1 flowers were pale violet, a blend
    • Yes, because 705 : 224 is not exactly 3 : 1
    • Yes, because 100 percent of the F1 plants had violet flowers
    • No, because 224 white F2 plants show the allele was still there
  17. Two Vv parents have three violet offspring so far. Zee says the next one must be white to make 3 : 1. Do you agree?

    • Yes, because the square has one white box left
    • No, because the next offspring is violet with chance 3 in 4, as before
    • Yes, because a family has to match the 3 : 1 ratio
    • No, because the next offspring is Vv, which blends violet and white
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9th grade Mendel's laws of segregation and independent assortment worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

Mendel's laws: segregation, independent assortment and monohybrid ratios. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can say what true-breeding, P, F1 and F2 mean in a pea cross, and place a box of a cross diagram in its generation.
  • I can say what dominant and recessive mean, and why a plant with one dominant and one recessive allele shows the dominant trait.
  • I can state the law of segregation (the two alleles of a gene separate, so each offspring gets one from each parent), the law of dominance, and the law of independent assortment (alleles of genes on different chromosomes are passed on separately), and match each to a case.
  • I can fill a 2 by 2 square for two heterozygous parents and give both ratios: genotypes 1 : 2 : 1 and phenotypes 3 : 1, and say which one a question asks for.
  • I can turn a ratio into an expected count out of a total (3/4 of 400 is 300) and know that a real count lands near the expected count, not on it.
  • I can read a test cross: all offspring show the dominant trait points to a homozygous dominant parent, and about half showing the recessive trait points to a heterozygous parent.

Standard: HS-LS3-3

Words to know

true-breeding: A plant line that always gives offspring like itself when crossed with itself

P, F1, F2: The parent plants, their offspring, and the offspring of those offspring

allele: One form of a gene, such as V or v

dominant, recessive: The allele that shows when present, and the one that shows only as a pair

genotype, phenotype: The pair of letters, and the look or trait you can see

homozygous, heterozygous: Two same letters (VV, vv), and two different letters (Vv)

Punnett square: A grid of every equally likely way two parents' alleles can pair up

law of segregation: The two alleles of a gene separate, one to each offspring from each parent

Common mistakes

Your child thought real counts must match a ratio exactly, so a count near 3 : 1 looked like a failure. Counts that come from chance land near the ratio, not on it. Ask your child how close 705 and 224 are to a 3 : 1 split.

Your child expected the two alleles of a hybrid to blend into an in-between look, such as pale violet. In Mendel's peas the dominant trait shows and the traits stay separate. Ask your child what color a Vv flower is.

Your child thought a recessive trait is lost when it does not show in the F1. The allele is still there, hidden, and it can show again in the F2. Ask your child where the 224 white plants came from.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with mendel's laws of segregation and independent assortment?

Your child thought real counts must match a ratio exactly, so a count near 3 : 1 looked like a failure. Counts that come from chance land near the ratio, not on it. Ask your child how close 705 and 224 are to a 3 : 1 split.

Are these 9th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

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