Gregor Mendel

Gregor Mendel is known as the father of genetics. He was born in 1822 in what is now the Czech Republic. He was a monk who studied pea plants. His experiments showed how traits like eye color are passed from parents to children.

Early Life

Mendel grew up on a farm and loved nature. His family was poor, so he joined a monastery to get an education. He became a monk and a teacher. He set up a garden to study plants.

Big Discoveries

Mendel grew thousands of pea plants and tracked their traits. He noticed patterns in how tall or short plants were and what color flowers they had. He figured out the basic laws of heredity. Sadly, no one paid attention to his work until after he died.

Fun Facts

• Mendel grew about 28,000 pea plants during his experiments.
• He also studied bees and weather patterns.
• His work was forgotten for about 35 years before other scientists rediscovered it.

Did You Know?

Mendel tried to become a high school science teacher but failed the exam twice. Yet he went on to make one of the biggest discoveries in all of biology.