AQA KS3 Genes 1: Variation

Key Question: Why is variation important in understanding why we look the way we do?
Duration – 5 lessons
Why this? - It is important that students understand that as humans we share 99.9% of the same DNA and that we have variation due to many factors. Students will learn about the
variation between and within species, and the causes and types of variation. They will learn about the importance of variation within a species to prevent extinction of the species. This
links very well to reproduction, where students use their understanding of inherited and environmental variation to explain why reproduction leads to inherited variation.
Why Now? – This is the first physics topic that students will encounter as they begin their science learning journey. The idea of forces is needed when students move onto study circuits
and magnetism, which is studied later on Y7 and in Y8. Without this prior knowledge that forces can cause and object to change direction or shape, students will not have the knowledge
to access the learning that this builds upon.
What substantive knowledge (facts) will students learn? What disciplinary and procedural knowledge (knowing what to do with the facts, e.g.
Variation occurs naturally within a species. Genes that code for specific traits are passed on inference, source analysis) will students learn?
to offspring from both the mother and the father. Some genes are dominant, others are
There are lots of opportunities for developing graph skills, including plotting and analysing
recessive. These inherited characteristics cause some of the variation within a species.
both bar charts and line graphs. Students also have the opportunity to critique claims and
Environmental variation is caused by the conditions under which an organism lives or, for
explore what is meant by bias in sources of information using the context of the effects of
humans, the changes they might make to themselves.
smoking in pregnancy. They are encouraged to use information to form a reasoned opinion.
Keyword Meaning Please see enquiry processes booklets attached or refer AQA KS3 specification:
Species A group of living things that have more in common https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/science/specifications/AQA-SCIENCE-KS3-
with each other than with other groups SYLLABUS.PDF
Variation The differences within and between species
Continuous Where differences between living things can have any
variation numerical value
Discontinuou Where differences between living things can only be
s variation grouped into categories
Extinction When a species has totally disappeared from the
planet
Inherited Variation caused by genes (DNA) and passed on from
variation parents to offspring
Bar chart Used to show discontinuous variation data
Line graph Used to show continuous variation data
Possible Misconceptions: Meaning links:
There are three causes of variation (genetic, environmental and both) but only two types of
data (continuous and discontinuous).
Give clear instructions when asking students to draw a graph, histogram or bar chart.
Students will often present data in the wrong format.

Scaffolding Strategies Deepening Knowledge

1. Evaluate the importance of genetic and environmental variation in the survival of giant
 Knowledge organiser provided at the start of the new topic (chunking of pandas.
information) 2. Suggest what is meant by ‘survival advantage’. Suggest what the survival advantage could
 Keywords and definitions with visuals provided at the start of the new topic. have been in dodos and what the survival advantage was in the rabbits that survived.
 DARTs (directed activities related to text)
 Criteria checklist questions for answering questions including sentence structures.
 Modelling/dual coding
 Worked examples
 Direct instruction (especially during practical activities)

How will students be assessed?

 Low Stakes Test at the start of each lesson – recorded in their Low Stakes Test Tracker.
 Prior knowledge check
 Whole class questioning using MWB/RAG planners
 Low stakes tests
 Hinge questions
 Exit tickets
 Please also refer to the ‘Formative assessment ideas pack’ for further details and instructions.

Component Breakdown for Autumn 2

Component Question(s) Knowledge covered in component – students will learn that:
What is variation? All people are human. They belong to the same species. Your friends and classmates may have different eye colour and hair colour. Some will
be boys and some will be girls. Some will be tall and some will be shorter. The presence of differences between living things of the same
 species is called variation. Humans, dogs and goldfish are examples of species.
Different species have very different characteristics from each other. For example, dogs have tails and humans do not. Dogs have fur, but
goldfish have scales. The individual members of a species also have differences in characteristics.
For example, humans have different coloured eyes, and dogs have different length tails. This means that no two members of a species are
identical. The differences between the individuals in a species is called variation.
Variation between different species is usually greater than the variation within a species.
Human height is an example of continuous variation. It ranges from that of the shortest person
in the world to that of the tallest person. Any height is possible between these values. So it is
continuous variation.
For any species a characteristic that changes gradually over a range of values shows continuous
variation. Examples of such characteristics are:
 height
 weight
If you record the heights of a group of people and draw a graph of your results, it usually looks
something like this:

A characteristic of any species with only a limited number of possible values shows
discontinuous variation. Human blood group is an example of discontinuous variation. In the ABO blood group system, only four blood groups
are possible (A, B, AB or O). There are no values in between, so this is discontinuous
variation.
Here are some examples:
 blood group
 sex (male or female)
 eye colour

What are the differences between Variation in a characteristic that is a result of genetic information from the parents is called inherited variation.
inherited and environmental variation? Children usually look a little like their father, and a little like their mother, but they will not be identical to either of their parents. This is because they
get half of their DNA and inherited features from each parent.
 Each egg cell and each sperm cell contains half of the genetic information needed for an individual. When these join at fertilisation a new cell is
formed with all the genetic information needed for an individual.
Here are some examples of inherited variation in humans:
 eye colour
 hair colour
 skin colour
 lobed or lobeless ears
 ability to roll your tongue

Characteristics of animal and plant species can be affected by factors such as:
 climate
 diet
 accidents
 culture
 lifestyle
For example, you will become heavier if you eat too much food, and you will become lighter if you eat too little. A
plant in the shade of a big tree will grow taller as it tries to reach more light.
Variation caused by the surroundings is called environmental variation. Here are some other examples of features
that show environmental variation:
 your language
 your religion
 flower colour in hydrangeas (these plants produce blue flowers in acidic soil and pink flowers in alkaline soil)
Some features vary because of a mixture of inherited causes and environmental causes. For example, identical twins inherit exactly the same features
from their parents. However, if you take a pair of twins, and twin 'A' is given more to eat than twin 'B', twin 'A' is likely to end up heavier. Weight and
height are common examples of characteristics that are influenced by both genetic and environmental factors.
How does variation help with the survival Variation helps a species to survive, by causing individuals of a species to be genetically and physically different.
of a species? If all the individuals of a species were genetically identical they would be vulnerable to the same diseases. If this were the case a single disease could
wipe out an entire species!
As a result of their genes, some individuals of a species might have better camouflage, or be able to run faster.
These individuals are more likely to survive. This is called the survival of the fittest.
The members of a species that survive may reproduce. Their offspring are likely to have the desirable characteristics of their parents. This is how
species change in evolution.