WS / HW / / RS / 833: 2022 - 2023: TERM: I / II

NAME: _________________________ CLASS: 8 DIV: ABCDEF ROLL NO.: ____ DATE: __________

SUBJECT: SCIENCE TOPIC: U 7 LB Answer key TEACHER’S NAME: Ms. Priyanka G.

Note: This sheet can be assessed. MARKS / GRADE: __________

____________________________________________________________________________

Unit 7 Genes and inheritance

Topic 7.1 Chromosomes, genes and DNA
Getting started
1. Both are in the centre of a large structure.
2. . The nucleus of a cell is much, much larger than the nucleus of an atom.
3. The nucleus of a cell controls the activities of the cell.
4.
Questions
1. Chromosomes do not usually become visible until just before a cell divides, so unless
you are looking at a cell that is going to divide you will not be able to see them. Also,
they need to be coloured with a stain before they are visible.
2. Red blood cells do not contain any chromosomes. Chromosomes are only found in a
nucleus. (Red blood cells do have a nucleus when they are first formed, but they lose it
as they become fully functioning red blood cells, full of haemoglobin.)
3. A chromosome is a long thread of DNA. A gene is part of a chromosome that helps
to control a particular characteristic. Each chromosome contains many genes.
4.The fruit flies have different versions of the gene for wing shape. The DNA in the
different versions of the genes is slightly different.

Topic 7.2 Gametes and inheritance

Getting started
1. Learners might think of red and white blood cells, nerve cells and sex cells (gametes).
2. They all have a nucleus, a cell membrane and cytoplasm.

Questions
1.A gamete is a sex cell – one of two cells that fuse together at fertilisation to begin a new
life.
2. For example:

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3. Yes, the sex of a baby is determined by the sperm cell, which can carry either an X
chromosome or a Y chromosome.
4. There are equal numbers of sperm cells with an X chromosome and a Y chromosome.
If an X sperm fuses with an egg, the baby will have chromosomes XX and will be a girl. If
a Y sperm fuses with an egg, the baby will have chromosomes XY and be a boy. The
chances of these two events happening are equal.

Topic 7.3 Variation

Questions
1. For example, they all have four legs, two ears.
2. Differences include size, age, coat colour, presence of horns, size of horns.
3. 5 + 2 + 3 + 9 + 3 = 22
4. yellow
5. This will depend on the learner’s perception of which form is easier to understand.
Reasons should be given.
6. Answers will depend on the features that learners chose to investigate. For the
examples given in the sample table:
• natural hair colour is determined mostly by genes; however, it can also be affected by
hair products such as hair dye
• eye colour is determined by genes alone
• shoe size is determined mostly by genes but also partly by environment, such as how
much food the person ate as they were growing up and how their feet were treated
• height is determined partly by genes and partly by environment such as diet during
the growing years.

Think like a scientist: Investigating variation in leaves

1, 2 and 3 depend on the learners’ results.
4 All the leaves on the same tree must have the same genes. So any differences between
them cannot be caused by genes.

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 Topic 7.4 Natural selection
Questions
1. The bacteria are not killed by the antibiotic.
2.When an antibiotic is used, bacteria with varieties of genes that make it resistant to
the antibiotic are more likely to survive and reproduce. Over many generations, this
variety of the gene becomes more common, resulting in whole populations of bacteria
that are not killed by the antibiotic.
3. Whenever an antibiotic is used we give an advantage to bacteria that are resistant to
it. The gene for resistance becomes more common in the population. If we do not use
the antibiotic then there is no advantage for the resistant bacteria, so natural selection
does not produce a resistant population. By not using antibiotics we can help to stop
resistance developing, meaning that when we really do need to use an antibiotic to cure
a serious infection, the antibiotic works.

4 Event 1:
Most peppered moths were pale, but some were dark.
Event 2:
The differences in colour were caused by having different varieties of the gene that
determines wing colour.
Event 3
Before the industrial revolution, pale moths were most likely to survive, because they
were better camouflaged from birds. After the industrial revolution, dark moths were
most likely to survive because the pale lichens on the tree trunks were killed or
covered in soot.
Event 4:
During the industrial revolution, dark moths were more likely to reproduce, passing on
their genes for dark wings to the next generation.
Event 5:
In each generation the variety of the gene that produced dark wings became more
common and the variety of the gene producing pale wings became rarer.

Check your progress

7.1 The nucleus of every cell contains several long threads, called chromosomes.
In most cells, there are two copies of each thread.
Each thread contains many genes. The threads are made of a chemical called DNA.

7.2

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7.3 a Sum = 112; 112 ÷ 20 = 5.6

c. suitable scale on x-axis; suitable scale on y-axis; all bars correctly drawn.

7.4 a A substance that kills bacteria (but does not harm humans).

b. The percentage of cases of penicillin- resistant pneumonia has increased.

c. Any two from:

• This happened because penicillin was used to treat infections.
• Any bacteria that happened to be resistant to penicillin survived and
reproduced.
• Their offspring inherited the genes that made them resistant.
If penicillin continues to be used over time, the proportion of bacteria that are resistant
to penicillin increases.

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