CHAPTER 8

Heredity
ASSIGNMENT
Heredity and Significance of Chromosomes
1.What is gene? (CBSE 2014)
2.What is heredity? (CBSE 2015)
3.What is DNA ?Where is DNA found in a cell? (CBSE 2015)
4.Name the information source for making proteins in the cells. No two individuals are absolutely
alike in a population." Why?
5.What is DNA copying? State its importance . (CBSE 2015)
6.What are chromosomes? Explain how in sexually reproducing organisms the number of
chromosomes in the progeny is maintained. (CBSE 2015) Or The chromosomal number of the
sexually reproducing parents and their offspring is the same." Justify this statement. (CBSE
2013,2014)
7. What is the effect of DNA copying, which is not perfectly accurate, on the reproduction process?
How does the amount of DNA remain constant though each new generation is a combination of DNA
copies of two individuals (CBSE 2014)
8. How do organisms, whether reproduced asexually or sexually maintain a constant chromosome
number through several generations? Explain with the help of suitable example. (CBSE 2016)
Contribution of Mendel –“ laws of inheritance
9. A Medelian experiment consisted of breeding pea plants bearing violet flowers with pea plants
bearing white flowers. What will be the results in F1, progeny? (CBSE 2018)
10. Name the plant Mendel used for his experiment and mention the reason also. What type of
progeny was obtained by Mendel in F1 and F₂ generations when he crossed the tall and short plants?
Write the ratio he obtained in F₂ generation plants. (CBSE 2019)
11. If we cross pure-bred tall (dominant) pea plant with pure-bred dwarf (recessive) pea plant we will
get pea plants of F₁ generation. If we now self-cross the pea plant of F1, generation, then we obtain
pea plants of F₂ generation.
(a) What do the plants of F1, generation look like? (b) State the ratio of tall plants to dwarf plants in
F₂ generation. (c) State the type of plants not found in F₁ generation but appeared in F2 generation,
mentioning the reason for the same. (CBSE 2012)
Check - In an experiment with pea plants, a pure tall plant (TT) is crossed with a pure short plant (tt).
The ratio of pure tall plant to pure short plants in F₂ generation will be (CBSE 2023)
(a) 1:3 (b) 3:1 (c) 1:1 (d) 2:1
12. A blue colour flower plant denoted by BB is crossbred with that of white colour flower plant
denoted by bb. (a) State the colour of flower you would expect in their F₁ generation plants. (b) What
must be the percentage of white flower plants in F₂ generation if flowers of F₁ plants are self-
pollinated? (c) State the expected ratio of the genotypes BB and Bb in the F2 progeny. (CBSE 2012,
2013, 2015)
Check -A cross between pea plant with white flowers (vv) and pea plant with violet flowers (VV)
resulted in F2 progeny in which ratio of violet (VV) and white (vv) flowers will be: (CBSE 2023)
(a) 1:1 (b) 2:1 (c) 3:1 (d) 1:3
13. A cross was made between pure breeding pea plants, one with round and green seeds and the
other with wrinkled and yellow seeds.
(a) Write the phenotype of F1, progeny. Give reason for your answer.
(b) Write the different types of F₂ progeny obtained along with their ratio when F1, progeny was
selfed. [2014]
14. A green stemmed rose plant denoted by GG and a brown stemmed rose plant denoted by gg are
allowed to undergo a cross with each other. (a) List your observations regarding (i) Colour of stem in
their F1 progeny. (ii) Percentage of brown stemmed plants in F2 progeny if F1, plants are self
pollinated. (iii) Ratio of GG and Gg in the F2 progeny. (b) Based on the findings of this cross, what
conclusion can be drawn? [2020]
Check -Assertion (A): In humans, if gene (B) is responsible for black eyes and gene (b) is responsible
for brown eyes, then the colour of eyes of the progeny having gene combination Bb, bb or BB will be
black only.
Reason (R): The black colour of the eyes is a dominant trait. (CBSE 2023)
(a) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true and Reason (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
(b) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true but Reason (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
(c) Assertion (A) is true, but Reason (R) is false.
(d) Assertion (A) is false, but Reason (R) is true
15. (a) Mendel in one of his experiments with pea plants crossed a variety having round seeds with
one having wrinkled seeds. Write his observations, giving reasons, of F1 and F₂ progeny.
(b) List any two contrasting characters other than roundness of pea plants that Mendel used in his
experiments with pea plants. (CBSE 2014)
16. In one of his experiments with pea plants Mendel observed that when a pure tall pea plant is
crossed with a pure dwarf pea plant, in the first generation, F₁ only tall plants appear.
(a) What happens to the traits of the dwarf plants in this case?
(b) When the F1 generation plants were self-fertilised, he observed that in the plants of second
generation F₂ both tall plants and dwarf plants were present. Why it happened? Explain briefly. (CBSE
2016)
17. In a monohybrid cross between tall pea plants (TT) and short pea plants (tt) a scientist obtained
only tall pea plants (Tt) in the F1, generation. However, on selfing the F, generation pea plants, he
obtained both tall and short plants in F₂ generation. On the basis of above observations with other
angiosperms also, can the scientist arrive at a law? If yes, explain the law. If not, give justification for
your answer. (CBSE 2016)
18. How do Mendel's experiments show that the (a) traits may be dominant or recessive, (b) traits
are inherited independently
19.‘‘It is possible that a trait is inherited but may not be expressed.’’ Give a suitable example to justify
this statement.
Factors Responsible for Sex Determination and blood groups
20. How many pairs of chromosomes are present in human beings? Out of these how many are sex
chromosomes? How many types of sex chromosomes are found in human beings? "The sex of a
newborn child is a matter of chance and none of the parents may be considered responsible for it".
(CBSE 2015) Or
With the help of a flow diagram, how would you establish that in human beings the sex of a newborn
is purely a matter of chance and none of the parents may be considered responsible for a particular
sex of a newborn child. (CBSE 2019)
Check -Which pair of sex chromosomes will determine a male? [2023]
(a) XO (b) XX (c) XY (d) XY
Case Study Based Questions
21.The most obvious outcome of the reproductive process is the generation of individuals of similar
design, but in sexual reproduction they may not be exactly alike. The resemblances as well as
differences are marked. The rules of heredity determine the process by which traits and
characteristics are reliably inherited. Many experiments have been done to study the rules of
inheritance.
(i) Why an offspring of human being is not a true copy of his parents in sexual reproduction?
(ii) While performing experiments on inheritance in plants, what is the difference between F1, and F2
generation?
(iii) Why do we say that variations are useful for the survival of a species over time?
OR
(iii) Study Mendel's cross between two plants with a pair of contrasting characters.

He observed 4 types of combinations in F₂ generation. Which of these were new combinations? Why
do new features which are not present in the parents, appear in F₂ generation?
22. All human chromosomes are not paired. Most human chromosomes have a maternal and a
paternal copy, and we have 22 such pairs. But one pair called the sex chromosomes, is odd in not
always being a perfect pair. Women have a perfect pair of sex chromosomes. But men have a
mismatched pair in which one is normal sized while the other is a short one.
(a) In humans, how many chromosomes are present in a Zygote and in each gamete?
(b) A few reptiles rely entirely on environmental cues for sex determination. Comment.
(c) "The sex of a child is a matter of chance and none of the parents are considered to be responsible
for it." Justify it through flow chart only.
Or
(c) Why do all the gametes formed in human females have an X chromosome?