This document is a learning module that discusses heredity and variation. It explains that genes and the environment both influence an organism's appearance and behavior. Genes are passed from parents to offspring during reproduction, influencing traits, but the environment can also affect how genes are expressed. The module uses the example of identical twins Jennifer and Karen, who have genetic risk for obesity, to illustrate how their different environments led to differences in expression of that genetic risk - Jennifer avoided obesity due to a healthy lifestyle while Karen became obese due to an unhealthy lifestyle. It introduces the concept of heritability estimates, which quantify the relative effects of genes versus environment on a given trait.