1. The eyes of my mother, the ears of my father, and my grandma’s nose…
It Runs in the Family
The eyes of my mother, the ears of my father, and my grandma’s nose…
Let’s discuss the expectations that you all have about your baby. Who thinks it’s a boy? Who thinks it’s a girl? How do you think they are going to look like? Right now, we are going to talk about how all this happens and the factors that determine if your baby is a boy or a girl, how they are going to look like and what sort of traits moms and dads can pass on to their child.

2. Traits are family business…
Family traits:
- Height
Hair
Eye color
Ear lobes
Rolling your tongue
Because of our genes, everybody carries traits that were passed on from our parents to us…

3. Can you tell which traits these parents passed down to their children?

4. Traits are family business
What traits…
did my parents pass on to me? -
did I pass on to my children? -
did my children’s father pass on to them? -
What traits you think YOU have from your parents? Let’s fill the blanks in the power point right now.

5. What are traits?
Traits come from the mother and father and are passed on through genes:
Genes work like a code inside our bodies.
Genes tell how your baby is going to look.
Genes tell how your baby’s body will work.
Any questions? Can you think about examples of things that are determined by genes? That people are born with it.

6. What are traits? Dad’s traits Mom’s traits
- Tall - Darker skin - Brown eyes - Stubborn - Curly hair
- Tall - Lighter skin - Green eyes - Easy-going - Curly hair
Baby’s genes: - Tall - Darker skin - Brown eyes - Easy-going - Curly hair
We can include illustration of the divisions of the traits forming the genes… to explain the previous slides and this one.
“Those are examples of things that we are born with. We can’t change the color of our eyes, the shape of our body or how tall we are... These are all determined by which traits our parents passed down to us.”

7. Babies and family traits: Baby girl
Father XY
Mother XX
Baby girl XX
The sex of the baby is also determined by traits passed down from parents to the child.

8. Babies and family traits: Baby boy
Father XY
Mother XX
Baby boy XY
The sex of the baby is also determined by traits passed down from parents to the child.

9. Babies and family traits: Rolling your tongue
Father ROLL
Mother ROLL
Child can roll tongue ROLL
The sex of the baby is also determined by traits passed down from parents to the child.

10. Babies and family traits: Rolling your tongue
Father No roll
Mother No roll
Child cannot roll tongue No roll
The sex of the baby is also determined by traits passed down from parents to the child.

11. Some diseases are also passed from parents to their children
Genetic diseases:
You can’t “catch” them.
You are born with them.
They are passed down from your parents.
Examples: - Color blindness - Cystic fibrosis - Sickle cell disease
“…There are some diseases that also work in the same way. They are determined by the person’s genes, as people are born with them. These diseases happen because of traits parents pass down to their child. They are called genetic diseases…”

12. Sickle cell disease AS AS A S A S A A A S A S S S AA AS AS SS
“… Sickle cell disease is a genetic disease. People are born with it when both parents pass sickle cell trait down to them.
…When parents have sickle cell trait, they can pass it down to their children. When only one parent has the trait, children of that couple will only carry the trait.
In this case (picture), both parents have the trait, so their children can receive trait from both mother and father. So if both parents actually pass down the trait, the child will have the disease. That’s why it is important that both father and mother get tested for sickle cell trait.” AA AS AS SS

13. Sickle cell trait and disease
If both parents have sickle cell trait, every time a pregnancy happens, there is a 1 in 4 chance the baby will have sickle cell disease.
“…When both parents have the trait, both parents can pass down the trait, so there is a 1 in 4 chance the child will have the disease every time time this woman gets pregnant.”

14. How sickle cell disease and trait different?
Sickle cell trait
Symptoms
Genes
You can have many health problems:
Getting tired and sick easily
“Severe pain episodes” in all parts of your body
Swollen hands and feet with a fever
Strokes
Spleen that’s too big
Hard time breathing
Growing slowly
1 sickle gene and 1 sickle gene
Usually, none. But you sometimes feel sick when:
• You exercise really hard and
don’t drink enough water.
• You fly in an airplane or visit the
mountains, where the altitude is higher.
• You are deep underwater, like
when scuba diving.
1 normal gene and 1 sickle gene
Sickle cell trait is not usually associated with any specific health problems. But people with sickle cell trait DO need to drink a lot of water when they exercise really hard. Some athletes with sickle cell trait have even died after not drinking enough.

15. Father and mother have sickle cell trait
More examples/ explanations as needed, time permitting…

16. What about Keisha?
What about you here in the class? What you think you should do now?
(review importance to get tested and get father tested too).