What is heredity and how does it work?
Heredity is the passing of traits to offspring (from its parent or ancestors). This is the process by which an offspring acquires the characteristics similar to its parents. Note that offspring are not the same as their parents but tend to be more like their parents than other parents. The strength of this similarity depends upon the the heritability of the trait.
What is a phenotype?
A phenotype is any observable characteristic or trait of an organism: such as its morphology, development, biochemical or physiological properties, or behaviour. Phenotypes result from the expression of an organism’s genes as well as the influence of environmental factors and possible interactions between the two.
What is a genotype?
The genotype of an organism is the inherited instructions (recipe) it carries within its genetic code.