Selective Breeding

Question 1

What is selective breeding?

Answer 1

a process where humans choose the organisms with desirable traits, such as high yield or disease resistance, and breed them together to produce offspring with those desired traits

Question 2

What are the 5 steps a farmer may follow to selectively breed organisms?

Answer 2

1. Decide which characteristics of the species is desirable
2. Select parents with high levels of the characteristics
3. Breed from these organisms
4. Select the best offspring and breed again
5. Repeat for many generations

Question 3

What are the characteristics of wild wheat plants?

Answer 3

• Small ears with few seeds
• Brittle stalks that ears often fall off of
• Ears ripen at different times
• Stalks grow to different heights

Question 4

What are the characteristics of modern wheat plants?

Answer 4

• Larger ears with many seeds
• Stronger stalks that ears stay on
• Ears ripen at the same time
• Stalks grow to the same height

Question 5

What are the disadvantages of selective breeding?

Answer 5

• Reduces the gene pool of a species which reduces variation which means if a new disease arises there may not be an organism which is resistant and the species may become extinct
• Increases the chance of inheriting a genetic disease