Question

Students model the inheritance of genes with marbles. For a certain trait

they use pairs of marbles to represent the genes of the mother and the
father. Light and dark marbles represent different versions of the gene,
and the combinations of marbles from the mother and father represent
the combinations the offspring may end up with the sex of the offspring
is determined by a random flip of a coin. What combination will the
stlidents never be able to create with this method?*
Mother
Father
Mole
Offspring

Answer 1

Any offspring with two light color marble

Step-by-step explanation:

The student can never be able to create an offspring with two light color marble.

The combination of marbles from the mother and father represents the combination the offspring may end up with. The mother and the father contribute one marble each to arrive at the combination of the offspring and in this case, only one light color marble exists between both mother and father. Hence, there is no way an offspring with two light color marble can be produced.

In order to produce an offspring with two light color marbles, both the mother and the father must have, at least, a light color marble in their combinations and each must donate this marble to form the offspring's combination. However, this is not the case as only the mother has one light color marble and the father does not have any.

From the model, a male and a female with one light and one dark marble combination can be produced while offspring with two dark marbles can also be produced.