Given the long history of human interest in and selection on particular traits of agricultural species, it is perhaps unsurprising that some of the first directed experiments on biological inheritance were conducted in an agricultural species: the pea. Many high school and college courses touch on the work of Gregor Mendel to discover the rules of inheritance for flower color and other traits. Readers wishing to learn more about Mendel himself may consult Daniel Fairbanks’s engaging biography Gregor Mendel: His Life and Legacy. The Nature Education guide on Mendel and inheritance at the Scitable website includes an online version of Ilona Miko’s “Gregor Mendel and the Principles of Inheritance,” which summarizes broad themes from Mendel’s work in a style appropriate for middle and high school students.
