When a gene has two versions, the dominant one shows up in the offspring while the recessive version stays hidden. Each dragon chromosome stick has two sides — one dominant, one recessive — and the side that lands facing up is the gene passed to the offspring. You decode each gene pair to find out which traits actually appear.

Each parent passes one copy of every gene to its offspring — that's the core of Mendelian inheritance. In this experiment, each dragon chromosome stick has a dominant side and a recessive side, and the side that lands face-up determines which gene version the baby receives. When you decode each resulting gene pair, you see directly how paired genes from two parents combine to produce visible traits like wing shape or tail type.

A genotype is the pair of gene codes an organism carries for a trait, while the phenotype is the visible result. When you drop each chromosome stick on the table, the side facing up decides the gene passed to the baby — dominant or recessive. You decode each gene pair to find out what the baby looks like, translating a hidden genotype into a phenotype you can see.

Each trait a parent passes down gets sorted on its own, separate from every other trait. When you drop each chromosome stick on the table, the side facing up determines one gene — and that outcome has no influence on the others. As a result, the baby dragon ends up with a unique mix of traits, each inherited separately according to Mendel's law of independent assortment.

Offspring inherit one version of each gene from each parent, and those different versions are alleles. Each dragon chromosome stick has two sides — one dominant, one recessive. The side that lands face-up determines which allele is passed on, and the resulting pair decides the baby dragon's visible traits.

Each chromosome is a tiny thread carrying genes that determine specific traits, and offspring receive one copy from each parent. You and a partner each pick up a set of dragon chromosomes, then drop each stick to randomly select which gene passes to the baby. Decoding every gene pair to find out what the baby looks like shows how chromosomes shape the appearance of living things.