Heredity

I. Heredity- passing of traits from parents to offspring

II. Gregor Mendel
A. father of genetics
B. Studied pea plants
C. Asked the question: Why don’t the offspring look just like their parent pea plants?
Why don’t the brother/sister pea plants all look exactly the same?
III. Traits-Characteristics of an individual that can be inherited from parents.
A. Inherited- all living things receive characteristics from their parents
1. Plant examples
a) Tall v short
b) Round leaves v pointed leaves
c) Purple flowers v pink flowers
2. Animal examples
a) White fur v brown fur
b) Ears stick up v ears lay flat
c) Long snout v short snout
3. Human examples
a) Eye color
b) Height
c) Right-handed v left-handed
B. Gene- the instructions for making you
C. Different classifications of traits
1. Physical
2. Personality
3. adaptable
B. Adaptations- inherited characteristics that help an organism survive
1. Competition- 2 or more living things need the same resource to survive
2. Predator- An animal that eats other animals.
3. Prey- An animal that is eaten by other animals.
4. Advantage- a characteristic that can help an organism compete in its
environment
5. Plant examples
a) Sharp thorns on roses (to keep animals from eating them)
b) Deep roots for trees (can get water deep in the soil)
c) Waxy coating on cactus (helps hold in moisture)
d) Migration and hibernation (survive changing weather conditions)
6. Animal examples
a) Camouflage- A pattern, color, or shape that helps a living thing
blend into its environment. (chameleon)
b) Color of skin allows sunlight to be absorbed (Dark alligator)
c) Body shape (Giraffe's long neck to reach leaves at top of trees)
7. Human examples
a) Sweating (can control body temperature)
 b) Different shape teeth (ability to eat a variety of foods)
c) Opposable thumbs (ability to hold tools)
8. Certain traits help predators acquire food and certain traits help prey
escape predators.
C. Environment-
1. can influence traits
2. Plants examples
a) Too little water, yellow leaves
b) Certain nutrients in soil, different color flower
c) Too little sunlight, small fruit
3. Animals examples
a) Too little food, smaller size
b) No shelter, sickness
4. Humans examples
a) Pollution, weaker lungs
b) Lack of exercise, greater chance of heart problems
c) Unhealthy food, overweight
D. Graphs will be used to compare and contrast traits amongst classmates

Standards

PA Academic Grade 4 3.1.4.B1 Describe features that are observable in both

Standards parents and their offspring.

PA Academic Grade 4 3.1.4.B5 Identify observable patterns in the physical

Standards characteristics of plants or groups of animals.

PA Academic Grade 4 3.3.4.C.2 identify physical characteristics that appear in

Standards both parents and offspring and differ between
families, strains or species.

M03.D-M.2.1.4 Translate information from one type of display to another. Limit to

pictographs, tally charts, bar graphs, and tables. Example: Convert a tally chart to a bar
graph.