Punnett squares are a graphical tool used in genetics to predict possible genetic combinations of offspring by visualizing the inheritance of specific traits based on the alleles contributed by each parent. They consist of alleles arranged in a grid format, where each cell represents a potential genotype resulting from the combination of parental alleles. This tool is essential for understanding inheritance patterns and predicting genotypes and phenotypes in both monohybrid and dihybrid crosses.

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Punnett squares are a cool way to help us figure out how traits can be passed down from parents to their kids in genetics. It's like a special chart that shows different possible combinations of genes, which we call alleles. You draw a big box and split it into smaller squares. Each parent’s alleles go on the top and side of the box, and then we fill in the smaller squares to see what the kids might be like! This helps us understand how traits, like using a certain eye color or if someone is tall or short, get inherited. It’s super useful for studying both simple traits (monohybrid crosses) and more complex ones with two traits (dihybrid crosses).