Genetics of Green Eyes Explained for 11-Year-Olds

What Are Genes?

Genes are like tiny instructions inside our bodies that decide how we look, including our eye color. We get genes from our parents—half from our mom and half from our dad.

How Do Genes Affect Eye Color?

Eye color depends mainly on a pigment called melanin, which gives color to our eyes. Darker eyes have more melanin, and lighter eyes, like green or blue, have less.

Why Are Green Eyes Special?

Green eyes are rare and happen when a person has a small amount of melanin combined with other color factors. This mix makes the eyes look green.

How Do Parents Pass on Green Eyes?

Each parent has genes for eye color, which can be for brown, blue, green, or other colors. Since brown is a strong color gene, if one parent has brown eyes, it’s more likely the child will too, but not always.

If both parents carry the gene for green eyes, even if they have brown eyes, their child might have green eyes. This is because the child can inherit the green gene from both parents.

Summary

• Genes from parents decide eye color.
• Green eyes happen with a mix of melanin and color genes.
• Both parents need to pass on green-eye genes for a child to have green eyes.

So, green eyes are a cool mix of genes and pigment working together!