Biology / Unit 5 Bio 1007 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Mendel's Model System: the Garden Pea
Captions available
The idea
Mendel studied the garden pea, Pisum sativum, because it grows quickly, produces many offspring, and shows traits in sharply distinct classes rather than a continuous range.
In practice
Pea flower color appears as either violet or white, never intermediate, making each cross's outcome easy to score.
Where people slip
Mendel deliberately chose discontinuous traits — this choice, not luck, is why his ratios came out so clean.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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