NATURE VS NURTURE

All individuals are different, even identical twins. It can sometimes be difficult to decide whether characteristics of living things are determined by genetic information or environmental factors or both. Tongue rolling is obviously inherited, but what about intelligence, musical ability or sporting excellence?

Let’s look at some evidence:

Bob is an excellent football player. His mother says that this is a gift he was born with. His father argues that he is skilled because he trains hard.

Q1 What do you think controls his sporting ability?

J.S Bach was a brilliant German composer and organist who came from a large musical family. His father taught him to play the violin and viola. His uncle was a famous organist. When Bach was left as an orphan, he went to live with his uncle and aunt. Bach had 20 children altogether (music was not all he was good at!). Three of his children grew up to be respected composers also.

Q2 Do brilliant musicians get their talent from their parents, or is it due to the environment they grow up in?

Bob has an identical twin brother, Bill. At first people cannot tell them apart. However, it does not take long to notice slight differences in their faces. Identical twins have identical genetic information. Therefore any differences between them should be due to the environment.

Q3 What environmental factors, do you think could cause these differences?

Bob bought a packet of sunflower seeds. The packet says that the plants will grow to about 2m in height. He planted half the packet in his garden and gave the rest to Bill who lives in the next village. Bill complained that her sunflowers grew much shorter than in Bob’s garden.

Q4 What explains the difference between the flower height in the 2 gardens?