Final answer:
The statement that the affected father passed down color blindness is false. Color blindness is a sex-linked recessive trait which is passed from the mother to son via her X chromosome since the father can only pass his Y chromosome to his sons. Option b is correct, it is false.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that 'the individual in the pedigree who passed down the trait of color blindness to his or her children is the affected father' is false. Color blindness is a sex-linked recessive trait, meaning it's carried on the X chromosome. Males (XY) have only one X chromosome, so if they possess the allele for color blindness on their X chromosome, they will display the trait. Females (XX), on the other hand, have two X chromosomes and must inherit the allele from both parents to express the trait.
Because the father can only pass his Y chromosome to his sons, he cannot pass on the trait of color blindness to them. Sons who are colorblind would have inherited the recessive allele from their mothers. Therefore, an unaffected daughter would not inherit color blindness from her father, and an affected son must have inherited the allele from his mother.