This biography text for year 6 and P7, linking to the topic evolution and inheritance, describes how Gregor Mendel discovered the basic laws of genetics – long before we even knew genes existed! He worked tirelessly for eight years breeding pea plants, to dispel the theory that characteristics were passed from parents to their children by ‘blending’. He worked out that characteristics like pea colour and shape were passed on in sets of two. He found some invisible factors that, nearly 80 years on, scientists would discover were genes that are carried in our DNA.
This downloadable reading pack includes:
