Year 6 · Science · Evolution and inheritance · Lesson 2

Inheritance and variation

Inheritance and variation: offspring inheriting a mix of parental characteristics, inherited vs environmental traits, twins, and why variation matters.

13-minute video lesson

Teaching, worked examples and 20 practice questions solved step by step.

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What your child will learn

Explain inheritance
Explain variation
Classify inherited and environmental traits
Explain why offspring differ

The method

Born with it?
From parents?
From life?
Both?

Key words: inheritance, variation, offspring, inherited, environmental.

Worked examples

The first three practice questions from the lesson, with every step.

Question 1

What are offspring?

Step 1: Young

Answer: the young of a living thing

Question 2

What does ‘inherit’ mean?

Step 1: Parents

Answer: to receive characteristics from parents

Question 3

What is variation?

Step 1: Differences

Answer: differences between individuals of the same kind