When a scientist has finished her fieldwork, she always writes up her notes and analyzes her data. Write your analysis here, starting with a few simple questions. If you took pictures, organize them in sequence and give each photo a title that relates to what you were looking for and what you observed.
Did you detect any patterns or notice any trends on your family tree?
Can you trace a trait through your family tree? Which one?
Do you think the trait is recessive or dominant? Why do you think so?
What was the most interesting thing you observed?
Did you learn anything about your family's traits that surprised you?
What else do you want to find out about your family or about genes?
Dominant or Recessive?
A dominant gene or trait will give you a physical characteristic (like dimples, free earlobes, or tongue rolling) even if you only inherited the gene from one parent. You will not see the physical characteristics of a recessive copy of the gene unless you inherited two copies, one from each parent. If you inherited two copies of the dominant brown eye gene, you will have brown eyes. If you inherited two copies of the recessive blue eye gene, your eyes will be blue. But if you get one brown and one blue gene, you will have brown eyes—the dominant gene wins!