2. Essential Questions
• How are characteristics passed from
parent to offspring?
• What are some of the traits passed from
parent to offspring?
• What is an inherited trait?
• What is an instinct?
3. Do you see any ways that these children are
similar to their parents or brothers and
sisters?
4. •Look around. Is anyone just like
you? You and everyone else are
unique. No two people are exactly
alike, including identical twins.
•People in a family may have things in
common. They can share traits.
•A TRAIT is simply a characteristic
that one possesses
– Ex. freckles, green eyes, etc.
Inherited Traits
5. What is Heredity?
• Heredity is the passing of traits from
parent to offspring. This includes your
gender.
6. • A packet of coiled up DNA
• Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes
• There are 23 pairs of chromosomes
found in the nucleus of any one of
your cells
What are Chromosomes?
7. How are Traits Passed?
• When organisms reproduce, traits are
passed from parent to offspring.
• These traits are carried in DNA, the
genetic material found in a cell’s ________
• DNA acts like a blueprint.
Nucleus
8. Inherited Traits
• INHERITED TRAITS are those traits that
are passed down from parents to their
offspring.
– EX. In humans- eye color, hair color, skin
color, freckles, dimples, etc. are all examples
of inherited traits
– EX. In animals- eye color, fur color and
texture, facial shape, etc. are examples of
inherited traits.
9. Inherited Traits- BIG IDEA!
•Inherited traits are passed
down from your parents!
– Have you ever heard someone say “you look
like your father” or “you have your mother’s
eyes?”
– Some inherited traits are not so easily seen-
they affect structures inside your body.
10. Examples of inherited traits
• This family has an inherited trait. Can you tell
what it is?
They have brown hair.
11. Examples of inherited traits
• Some people have a genetic trait that creates
indentations on their cheeks called dimples.
12. Inherited Traits in Plants
•Plants also pass on traits to their
offspring. This could include:
flower color,
shape,
leaf shape, and
plant height.
13. What are some inherited traits?
• What are some inherited traits in animals?
– A tiger has stripes.
– A giraffe has a long neck.
– An elephant has a trunk.
– A snake has no legs.
14. Examples of inherited traits
•Look at the elephants. What traits do
they have in common?
15. Instincts
– Inherited traits include instincts.
– An INSTINCT is a behavior that has been
passed on from the parents that is ready to
use without learning and that does not
require practice
•Ex. A lion’s instinct to catch prey
•Ex. Sea turtles laying eggs on the beach
•Ex. Bird migration
•Ex. Making a nest- birds just KNOW how to build
a nest correctly time after time
16. Let’s Review
• Which is not an inherited behavior?
– A. dimples
– B. reading
– C. freckles
– D. brown eyes
17. Let’s Review
• What are inherited behaviors called?
– A. old behaviors
– B. recessive traits
– C. environments
– D. instincts
18. Let’s Review
• How is hunting both learned and
instinctive in animals?
– A. Animals learn to hunt.
– B. Animals have the instinct to hunt.
– C. Animals have the instinct to hunt but must
learn hunting skills.
– D. Animals have the instinct to teach their
young how to hunt.
19. Let’s Review
• What kind of behaviors do organisms
inherit from their parents?
• A. acquired traits
• B. learned behaviors
• C. instincts
• D. eye color
20. Let’s Review
• Plants make their own food through
photosynthesis. Photosynthesis in plants
is an example of _______.
• A. an inherited trait
• B. a learned behavior
• C. an acquired trait
• D. a life cycle
21. Your assignment:
Write a paragraph about at least three
traits you share with your parents,
brothers or sisters.
