This genetic information is passed on from generation to generation. Sometimes this genetic information skips generations. For example, both of my parents have blue eyes and brown hair. My sister has blue eyes and brown hair. I on the other hand have blond hair and green eyes just like my relatives’ 2 generations’ back on my fathers’ side. This brings up the idea of dominant and recessive genes. Since all traits are made up of a pair of genes, one gene can hide the trait of the other. The dominant is the stronger gene that makes the recessive trait. You would need two recessive genes in order to see that recessive trait. Gregor Mendel, in 1865, did experiments with pea plants. He saw that when a pure tall plant was crossed with a pure short plant the result was all tall plants. He then crossed these hybrid offspring, with a result of 3 tall plants and 1 short. This led Mendel to believe that the gene for tallness in pea plants was dominant and shortness was recessive. Using a punnett square you could actually see the genes that make the plants tall or short. Karl Correns, in 1900, worked with flowers other than pea plant to discover that heredity is not always tall or short. He discovered that a pair of traits could combine to make yet even a different trait. This is called incomplete dominance or the blending of traits. Using four o’clock flowers, Correns, crossed a pure red and a pure white flower only to get all pink offspring. These pink offspring were then crossed to produce 1 pure red, 2 pink and 1 pure white. Using the punnett square below you would be able to see how the crosses were made.