Inherited Traits 5 th Grade Science Ms. Felisha Harper Marshall Elementary School

Objectives Traits are observable characteristics that are passed down from parent to child. An individual will have many traits they share in common with others. An individual’s overall combination of traits makes them unique. Some traits are more common in a population than others.

What are some inherited traits? Inherited traits are things that are passed on from parents to offspring. A tiger has stripes. A giraffe has a long neck. An elephant has a trunk. A snake has no legs. A plant has flowers.

What are some inherited traits? Some people have a genetic trait that creates indentations on their cheeks called dimples.

These two images show the difference between a regular thumb and a “Hitchhiker’s thumb.” Because of a genetic difference, one can bend farther backwards.

Tongue rolling is a genetic trait certain people have that allows them to curl their tongue.

Some people have toes that decrease (get smaller) in size from the big toe to the small one. Others have a second toe that is longer than their big toe.

Are you right or left thumbed? Put your hands together, interlocking your fingers. Which thumb is on top?

Are your earlobes attached or unattached? A person with attached ear lobes will have the lowest point of the ear lobe attached to the face.

Widow’s Peak A widow's peak is a distinct point in the hairline in the center of the forehead; it is a dominant inherited trait, and typically does not skip generations. There are varying degrees of the peak. People who don't have a widow's peak have a hairline that is truly straight across, almost like following a circle or almost like a curved line.

Widow’s Peak

Can you make a Vulcan hand sign?

Which of the following is an inherited trait? –Right handedness –Curly hair –Runs fast –Blue eyes –Likes to play baseball –Long fingers –Likes the color red –Chews on a pencil –Long skinny feet

What are some inherited traits? Look at the elephants. What traits do they have in common?

What are some inherited traits?

Traits –Scales –Fins –Gils –Tail

What are some inherited traits?

Hatches from an egg Has feathers and wings Has hollow bones

What are some inherited traits?

A tree has- –Leaves –Branches –Bark –Roots –Sometimes flowers or nuts

What are some inherited traits?

A flower has- –Petals –Stem –Leaves –Roots

What are some inherited traits? This family has an inherited trait. Can you tell what it is?

What are some inherited traits? Did you guess that they all had brown hair?

Right / left dominance is the tendency to favor one side of the body over the other. People generally have a dominant eye, meaning the brain chooses between images perceived by the right eye and the left eye. If neither eye is dominant, the image jumps from one eye to the other. There is no accepted correlation between hand dominance and eye dominance. Procedure Hold an index card with a small hole in the center at arm's length. Look through the hole with both eyes at a distant object. Close one eye, then the other. The eye that keeps the object centered in the hole is the dominant eye.