Download What is asexual reproduction?

Lesson 1 Summary
Name
Use with pp. 55–57
Lesson 1: What is asexual reproduction?
Vocabulary
heredity the passing of traits from parents to their offspring
asexual reproduction producing offspring from a single parent
Heredity is the passing of traits from
parents to their offspring. Parents and
offspring look like each other because they
share traits. An organism can grow to be
bigger or smaller, or lighter or darker, than
its parents. But the basic pattern is the same.
All organisms inherit traits. Heredity
gives a tiger stripes. Heredity gives a
leopard spots. Humans inherit eye color
from their parents.
Environment also affects an organism’s
characteristics. For example, a tree may
inherit the ability to grow 12 meters tall.
But the tree may not grow this tall if it does
not get the nutrients it needs.
Learned traits also influence an
organism’s characteristics. For example,
you might have inherited athletic ability.
But you have to practice to be good at
basketball. Playing basketball well is a
learned trait. A parent cannot pass learned
traits to its offspring.
Asexual Reproduction
To survive, a species needs to pass traits
from parents to offspring. The traits that
help a parent survive in its environment
can be passed to its offspring. Then the
offspring can live and reproduce too.
Offspring come from a single parent in
asexual reproduction. Because there is
only one parent, the offspring will have the
same DNA as that parent.
14
Chapter 3, Lesson 1 Summary
Fission, budding, spores, and forming
new individuals from body parts are four
kinds of asexual reproduction. During
fission, a parent cell splits into two
offspring cells. Each offspring cell has
the same traits as the parent. Bacteria
reproduce very quickly by fission.
A hydra is an organism that reproduces
by budding. During budding, a cell in the
parent’s body produces a small copy of the
parent. Many buds can form on a parent.
Each bud has the same DNA as the parent.
Mushrooms, ferns, moss, and molds
make spores. Spores are reproductive cells.
Most spores have a hard coat that protects
them. A spore grows into a new organism
with the same DNA as its parent. Spores
are light. The wind can spread them easily.
Asexual reproduction also takes place
when pieces of a plant or an organism
form a new individual. Have you ever seen
a potato that has begun to grow sprouts?
Buds form on the plant. Each bud can be
cut from the plant and planted. It will grow
into a new potato plant.
Sea stars also reproduce this way. Sea
stars can be chopped into pieces. The pieces
will then grow into new sea stars.
© Pearson Education, Inc. 6
Heredity
Quick Study
Name
Lesson 1 Checkpoint
Use with pp. 55–57
Lesson 1 Checkpoint
1. What factors influence an organism’s characteristics?
2. What are four ways that organisms reproduce asexually?
© Pearson Education, Inc. 6
3. Why does asexual reproduction produce offspring with identical DNA?
Quick Study
Chapter 3, Lesson 1 Checkpoint
15