Science: 4 Variation and inheritance

Year 7 Science: Variation and Inheritance (Short Answers)1. What’s the difference between inherited and environmental variation?Inherited variation comes from your parents’ genes (like eye colour).Environmental variation is caused by your surroundings (like a suntan or scars).2. How can you spot variation between organisms?By looking at how they’re different, even if they are the same species (like people having different hair colour).3. What is continuous and discontinuous variation?Continuous: changes gradually (e.g. height, weight).Discontinuous: set categories (e.g. blood type, eye colour).4. What do species, habitat, and community mean?Species: a group of living things that can reproduce.Habitat: where an organism lives.Community: all the living things in a habitat.5. What affects survival in an environment?Things like temperature, light, water, and food.6. What is an adaptation?A special feature that helps an organism survive in its environment (e.g. polar bears have thick fur).7. Examples of inherited variation:Eye colour, fur colour, nose shape.8. Examples of environmental variation:Scars, dyed hair, muscle from exercise.9. How does inherited variation happen?It comes from genes passed from parents to offspring.10. Why are adaptations useful?They help an organism survive better in its environment (e.g. cactus stores water in desert).11. Examples of environmental changes:Floods, droughts, wildfires, pollution.12. How do organisms respond to changes?They might move, adapt, grow differently, or die.13. How do seasons and day/night affect organisms?Animals may hibernate, migrate, or change activity levels.14. How does the environment cause variation?Things like diet, weather, or injury can change how an organism looks or acts.15. What is a food chain or food web?A food chain shows who eats who.A food web links lots of chains together in a habitat.16. How do changes in a food web affect others?If one animal or plant disappears, it can harm others that rely on it for food.17. Why do organisms compete?For food, water, light, space, and mates.18. What is a predator–prey relationship?A predator hunts and eats another animal (the prey). It helps control populations.19. How can humans damage food chains?By using pesticides, polluting water, or cutting down habitats — this can harm or kill animals and plants.