Download Acquired vs. inherited Traits

ACQUIRED VS.
INHERITED TRAITS
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.
INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS
Examples of inherited characteristics in
humans:
eye color, handedness, blood type
Can you think of other examples?
Examples of inherited characteristics
in animals:
Patterns of stripes or spots location of
eyes, number of limbs.
Can you think of other examples?
Examples of inherited characteristics
in plants:
Flower color, leaf shape, patterns of
leaves.
Can you think of other examples?
What are acquired characteristics?
A trait/characteristic that an organism
gets or acquires throughout their
lifetime (not related to their DNA).
ACQUIRED TRAITS
Examples of acquired characteristics
in humans:
Language spoken, knowledge learned,
tastes in food, scratches/scars.
Any other examples?
Examples of acquired characteristics
in animals:
A dog learns to sit on command, an
animal learning where to hide from
predators.
Any other examples?
What are environmentally influenced
characteristics?
A characteristic that is determined by
DNA but can easily be influenced by
environmental conditions .
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.