Allele

High school (ages 12+)
Human Body

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/allele

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the mechanism of inheritance?Segregate during meiosis and combine during fertilization, determining offspring genotypes
2. What is the significance in evolution?Provide the genetic variation that drives natural selection and adaptation
3. How do alleles make people have different eye colors?Alleles for the MC1R gene can change how much pigment is made in skin and hair. If you inherit a blue‑eye allele, the gene makes a different protein that lets blue pigment show up. That’s why some people have blue eyes and others brown.
4. Why do some alleles change a person's traits while others don't?Most alleles don’t change the protein much, so the trait looks the same. Some alleles change the protein’s shape or how much of it is made, which can change a trait you can see, like hair color or disease risk.

Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP): A variation in a single base pair of DNA, representing a common type of allele.
Diploid: An organism or cell having two sets of chromosomes, one from each parent.
Phenotype: The observable physical or biochemical characteristics of an organism, determined by genotype and environment.