Question

In the virtual apple orchard, farmers are trying to produce sweet, large, bright red apples. If two apple trees with those traits are bred to produce a new tree, can we be sure that the new tree will also have sweet, large, bright red apples? Justify your answer.

make it sound like a 7th grader

Answer 1

Short answer: No — you can't be sure.

Why not (in simple terms):
- Every trait (like sweet, big, red) comes from genes. Each tree gives one copy of each gene to its baby tree (seed).
- If both parent trees have a copy that makes sweet apples and a hidden copy that doesn't (like Ss and Ss), the baby could get the "not-sweet" copy from both parents and make not-sweet apples. That can happen by chance.
- Example: If S = sweet and s = not sweet, two Ss parents can make SS (sweet), Ss (sweet), or ss (not sweet). There's a chance of not-sweet.
- Also, things like apple color, size, and sweetness often depend on many genes plus the environment (soil, water, sun). So even if the genes are right, a baby tree might not grow the same apples if conditions change.

When can you be sure?
- If both parents have only the good genes (like SS for sweetness, LL for large, RR for red) then all babies will get the good copies and show the traits. But this is not always the case in real orchards.

So: sometimes yes, but usually no — you need to know the parents' genes (and the growing conditions) to be sure.