Campers can think about organisms as systems in which coded information is shared in genes.
Many genetics books and curricula ask students to create and analyze their own family trees. Given the complexities of modern families, single parent households, step-families, adopted families, etc. The activity outlined here enables children to model inheritance patterns in a more sensitive way. Background and Introduction Genetics is the study of how characteristics of living things are passed from one generation to the next. Until 150 years ago, people believed that parents' characteristics blended together in their children.