Name_________________

The Genetics of Parenthood

Procedure:

1. First determine which partner is the father and which partner is the mother.

2. Determine the gender of your child. Remember, the mother always donates an X
chromosome so only the father needs to flip a coin to determine the child’s gender. If the
coin comes up heads the child will be male and if it comes up tails the child will be
female. Enter the gender on the data table.

3. Name your child. Enter the name on the data table.

4. Determine the genotypes for the rest of your child’s traits following the directions on
the reference guide. Assume that both parents are heterozygous for all traits. If you flip a
coin and a HEAD comes up then that parent has passed along the dominant allele (capital
letter). If you flip the coin and a TAIL comes up then that parent has passed along the
recessive allele (lower case letter). ENTER ALL OF YOUR INFORMATION INTO
THE DATA TABLE.

CHILD’S TRAITS (ENTER EACH INTO THE DATA TABLE)

1. Face Shape
Round (AA or Aa) or Square (aa)

2. Chin size (THIS TRAIT MAY AFFECT THE NEXT TWO TRAITS)
Very Prominent (BB, Bb) or Less Prominent (bb)

3. CHIN SHAPE: Only flip coins for this trait if chin size is
very prominent. The genotype bb prevents the expression
of this trait.
Round (CC, Cc) or Square (cc)
 Name_________________

4. CLEFT CHIN: Only flip coins for this trait if chin size is
very prominent. The genotype bb prevents the expression
of this trait.
Present (DD, Dd) Absent (dd)

5. SKIN COLOR: To determine the color of skin or any other trait controlled by more
than 1 gene, you will need to flip the coin for each gene pair. Dominant alleles represent
color; recessive alleles represent little or no color. For example, if there are 3
gene pairs...
a. First coin toss determines whether the child inherits E or e.
b. Second coin toss decides F or f inheritance.
c. Third coin toss determines inheritance of G or g.

6 dominant alleles - black

5 dominant alleles - very dark brown
4 dominant alleles - dark brown
3 dominant alleles - medium brown
2 dominant - light brown
1 dominant - light tan
0 dominant – white

6. HAIR COLOR: Determined by 4 gene pairs.

a. First coin toss determines whether the child inherits H or h.
b. Second coin toss decides I or i inheritance.
c. Third coin toss determines inheritance of J or j.
d. Fourth coin toss determines inheritance of K or k.

8 dominant - black
7 dominant - very dark brown
6 dominant - dark brown
5 dominant - brown
4 dominant - light brown
3 dominant - brown mixed w/blonde
2 dominant - blond
1 dominant - very light blond
0 dominant - silvery white

7. RED COLOR TINTS IN THE HAIR: This trait is only visible if the hair color is
light brown or lighter (4 or less dominant alleles for hair color).
Dark red tint (LL), Light red tint (Ll), No red tint (ll)

8. HAIR TYPE:
Curly (MM), Wavy (Mm), Straight (mm)
 Name_________________

9. WIDOW'S PEAK:
Present (OO, Oo) Absent (oo)

10. EYE COLOR: Flip twice for eye color.

a. First coin toss determines whether the child inherits P or p.
b. Second coin toss decides Q or q inheritance.

PPQQ - black
PpQq - brown
ppQQ - green
PPQq - dark brown
PPqq- violet
ppQq - dark blue
PpQQ - brown with green tints
Ppqq - gray blue
ppqq – light blue

11. EYE DISTANCE:

Close (RR), Average (Rr), Far apart (rr)

12. EYE SIZE:

Large (SS), Medium (Ss), Small (ss)

13. EYE SHAPE:

Almond (TT, Tt) Round (tt)

14. EYE SLANTEDNESS:

Horizontal (UU, Uu) Upward slant (uu)

15. EYELASHES:
Long (VV, Vv) Short (vv)
 Name_________________

16. EYEBROW COLOR:

Darker than hair color (WW), Same as hair color (Ww), Lighter than hair color (ww)

17. EYEBROW THICKNESS:

Bushy (ZZ, Zz) Fine (zz)

18. EYEBROW LENGTH:

Not connected (AA, Aa) Connected (aa)

19. MOUTH SIZE:

Long (BB), Medium (Bb), Short (bb)

20. LIP THICKNESS:

Thick (CC, Cc) Thin (cc)

21. DIMPLES:
Present (DD, Dd) Absent (dd)

22. NOSE SIZE:

Large (EE), Medium (Ee), Small (ee)

23. NOSE SHAPE:

Rounded (FF, Ff) Pointed (ff)

24. NOSTRIL SHAPE:

 Name_________________

Rounded (GG, Gg) Pointed (gg)

25. EARLOBE ATTACHMENT:

Free (HH, Hh) Attached (hh)

26. DARWIN'S EARPOINT:

Present (II, Ii) Absent (ii)

27. EAR PITS:

Present (JJ, Jj) Absent (jj)

28. HAIRY EARS: Males Only

Present (KK, Kk) Absent (kk)

29. FRECKLES ON CHEEKS:

Present (LL, Ll) Absent (ll)

30. FRECKLES ON FOREHEAD:

 Name_________________

Present (MM, Mm) Absent (mm)

The Genetics of Parenthood Data Sheet

Parents _____________________and __________________________

Child's gender _____ Child's name_____________________________

Fill in the data table as you determine each trait described in the Guidebook. Do not
simply flip the coin for all traits before reading the guide, because some of the traits have
special instructions.

DATA TABLE

TRAIT # TRAIT Allele Allele Child’s Child’s

from from Genotype Phenotype
Dad Mom
1 Face Shape A or a A or a
2 Chin Size B or b B or b
3 Chin Shape C or c C or c
4 Cleft Chin D or d D or d
5 Skin Color E or e E or e
F or f F or f
G or g G or g
6 Hair Color H or h H or h
I or i I or i
J or j J or j
K or k K or k
7 Red Hair Tint L or l L or l
8 Hair Type M or m M or m
9 Widow’s Peak O or o O or o
10 Eye Color P or p P or p
Q or q Q or q
11 Eye Distance R or r R or r
12 Eye Size S or s S or s
13 Eye Shape T or t T or t
14 Eye U or u U or u
Slantedness
15 Eyelashes V or v V or v
16 Eyebrow W or w W or w
Color
17 Eyebrow Z or z Z or z
Thickness
18 Eyebrow A or a A or a
Length
19 Mouth Size B or b B or b
 Name_________________

20 Lip Thickness C or c C or c
21 Dimples D or d D or d
22 Nose Size E or e E or e
23 Nose Shape F or f F or f
24 Nostril Shape G or g G or g
25 Earlobe H or h H or h
Attachment
26 Darwin’s I or i I or i
Earpoint
27 Ear Pits J or j J or j
28 Hairy Ears K or k K or k
29 Freckles on L or l L or l
Cheeks
30 Freckles on M or m M or m
Forehead

ANALYSIS QUESTIONS:

1. What percentage does each parent contribute to a child’s genotype?

2. Explain how/what part of your procedures represents the process of meiosis. (Hint:
Meiosis determines what genes are in the gamete)

3. Using examples from this activity, explain your understanding of the following
inheritance patterns:

d. dominant

e. recessive

f. incomplete dominance

g. polygenic
 Name_________________

4. Compare the predicted phenotype ratio (Punnett squares) to the actual ratio (class data)
for the following traits:

j. trait # 2 (chin size)

k. trait #8 (hair type)

5. Does the predicted ratio match the actual results? Why or why not?

6. All the children had 2 heterozygous parents. Why were there no identical twins created
in your whole class?