Summarize the aspects of Mendel(TM)s work that suggests his results stood a good chance of being accurate and valid.

1. Each parent contributes one factor of each trait shown in offspring.
2. The two members of each pair of factors segregate from each other during gamete formation.
3. The blending theory of inheritance was discounted.
4. Males and females contribute equally to the traits in their offspring.
5. Acquired traits are not inherited.
   
   

The information that he collected was all due to what he witnessed from him pea plants. At first, Mendel studied the inheritance of the pea’s seed shape first. Mendel crossed pure- breeding smooth seeded plants with a variety which had always produced wrinkled seeds. When he found out the results, all the seeds were smooth. The following year, Mendel planted these seeds and allowed then to self fertilize, without him doing anything, such as cross breeding. The pea plant produced 7,324 seeds, in which 5,574 were smooth and 1,850 were wrinkled. In order to help with record keeping of the plants, the generations were labelled and numbered. The parental generation was named P1, while the offspring of the P1 generations are the F1 generation (first filial). When the self- fertilizing F1 generation produced peas, they were called the F2 generation.

Mendel studied seven traits which appeared in two forms, rather than continuous characters which are difficult to find out. When the true breeding tall plants were crossed with the same breed short plants, all the offspring were tall plants. The trait was referred to as dominant, while the short was recessive. According to Mendel, recessives were those which skipped a generation and are only expressed while the dominant trait is absent. When the plants of the F1 generation were crossed, Mendel recovered a majority of tall offspring, yet with some slight short ones occurring. Upon statistically analyzing the F2 generation, Mendel determined the ration of tall to short plants was approximately 3:1. The short plants have skipped the F1 generation, and show up in the F2 and succeeding generations. In conclusion, Mendel understood that the traits under study were governed by different factors. Each of the factors was inherited in pairs, with each generation having a pair of trait factors, which are alleles.

Summary of Mendel's Results:

1. The F1 offspring showed only one of the two parental traits, and always the same trait.
2. Results were always the same regardless of which parent donated the pollen (was male).
3. The trait not shown in the F1 reappeared in the F2 in about 25% of the offspring.
4. Traits remained unchanged when passed to offspring: they did not blend in any offspring but behaved as separate units.
5. Reciprocal crosses showed each parent made an equal contribution to the offspring.

Mendel's Conclusions:

1. Evidence indicated factors could be hidden or unexpressed, these are the recessive traits.
2. The term phenotype refers to the outward appearance of a trait, while the term genotype is used for the genetic makeup of an organism.
3. Male and female contributed equally to the offspring’s' genetic makeup: therefore the number of traits was probably two.
4. Upper case letters are traditionally used to denote dominant traits, lower case letters for recessives.

The reason why Mendel’s experiment is completely valid and accurate is because he used variety in order to find out the conclusion. For example, he used many pea plant varieties instead of just one. He also used selective breeding and natural breeding for the plants to show different types of genetic varieties. In addition, the breeding occurred during a very long period of time which helped to make his conclusion concrete and secure.