Why are my eyes the color they are?
1. Choose one side of your family on which to focus to begin, either your mother?s side or your father?s side. You can add on the other side later if you choose to do so. You will be designing a family tree similar to the one shown in the Background section of this experiment. Remember, connecting a line between a circle and square means a couple is married. For siblings, be sure that you first draw a vertical line above each shape then connect the vertical lines with a horizontal line above the shapes.
2. Turn an 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper the long way (horizontally). Starting at the bottom of the sheet, leaving room for three rows above, draw yourself and any siblings as circles for girls and squares for boys. Leave about ? inch in between each shape. Color in each circle or square brown, green or blue. Hazel is a subset of brown, so color all family members with hazel eyes brown.
3. Draw a short (about a 1/4 inch tall) vertical line above each sibling. Connect siblings, if any, with a horizontal line that is attached to the vertical line. Label this line "Great-Grandchildren". Inside the circle or square representing you, write the word "ME".
4. Above you and any siblings, draw a circle and a square to represent your parents. Leave about ? inch space between each shape. Color in the shape brown, blue or green to represent their eye color. Connect your parents with a horizontal line (about ? inch wide) from the center of each shape. Inside your mother?s circle, write "mom" and inside your father?s square write "dad".
5. If you?ve picked your mother?s side, add her siblings next to her as circles or squares and color their shapes the corresponding color. If you?ve picked your father?s side, do the same as you would for your mother. Again, leave about ? inch spacing between shapes. Connect the siblings with a horizontal line from the center of each shape. Label this line "Grandchildren".
6. Repeat this process by adding your grandparents (chose only your grandmother or grandfather) and their siblings to the right or left of your parents. Label each shape grandma and grandpa. Label this line "Parents".
7. Repeat again by adding the last of four generations, which would be your great-grandparents. Label this line "Grandparents".
8. Using the chart below, analyze why you have brown, blue or green eyes. Write a statement determining why your eye color is brown, blue or green.