1. ACQUIRED VS. INHERITED TRAITS

2.  What are inherited characteristics?  An inherited trait or characteristic is one that is determined by the organism’s DNA and was inherited from their parents.

3.  Examples of inherited characteristics in humans:  eye color, handedness, blood type  Can you think of other examples? INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS

4.  Examples of inherited characteristics in animals:  Patterns of stripes or spots location of eyes, number of limbs.  Can you think of other examples?

5.  Examples of inherited characteristics in plants:  Flower color, leaf shape, patterns of leaves.  Can you think of other examples?

6.  What are acquired characteristics?  A trait/characteristic that an organism gets or acquires throughout their lifetime (not related to their DNA).

7.  Examples of acquired characteristics in humans:  Language spoken, knowledge learned, tastes in food, scratches/scars.  Any other examples? ACQUIRED TRAITS

8.  Examples of acquired characteristics in animals:  A dog learns to sit on command, an animal learning where to hide from predators.  Any other examples?

9.  What are environmentally influenced characteristics?  A characteristic that is determined by DNA but can easily be influenced by environmental conditions.

10.  Examples of environmentally influenced characteristics in humans:  Height of a plant: generally encoded for by the DNA, however amount of available water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight can influence this.  Hair color: Encoded for by DNA but can be changed by chemicals or exposure to sunlight.  Skin color: natural color encoded for by DNA but can easily be influenced by exposure to sunlight.