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Many traits are inherited from parents. Some traits are not. Some traits are learned. Do you know a dog that knows how to beg? Think of a dog that can get on his hind legs and beg when asked to do so. Did the dog inherit that trait? Or did the dog learn the trait? Dogs learn tricks, like begging, shaking hands or playing dead. Doing tricks is a learned trait, not an inherited trait. Do you know how to ride a bike? Riding a bicycle is a learned trait, NOT an inherited trait. You were not born knowing how to ride a bike. |
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Some traits are instinct. Instinct is something that a species does naturally. It is NOT learned. For example, salmon leave the ocean and swim up rivers to lay their eggs. They do not learn to do this. They do it naturally. |
Some traits occur because of the environment. Environment
is the place you live. Organisms get some traits because of the place
where they live. For example if you go outside without shoes often the
bottoms of your feet may become tough because it is hot in Utah. So,
if you play outside with bare feet, your feet get hard on the bottom.
Fifth graders in Alaska may not play outside with bare feet as often
as you. Fifth graders in Alaska probably do not have tough feet. It
is much colder there so they wear shoes most of the time. You may have
tough feet because of your environment. You might not have tough feet
if you lived in a different environment. Are tough feet inherited? The tree in the photo above
is a Bristlecone Pine Tree. Use the Internet to find out more about
this tree species. THINK ABOUT IT! Look at the tree in this picture. What caused it to
grow sideways instead of straight up? Growing sideways is NOT an inherited
trait in this tree. It is not learned. It is not instinct. It grows
sideways because of its environment. The wind blows constantly where
it lives. The wind caused the tree to grow sideways. Find a plant or animal outdoors that you can watch
for a while. Now list three traits the organism has that are the result
of its environment? List three traits of the Bristlecone
Pine. 1. 2. 3. What is the most unusual trait of this tree?
Now find an animal. List three traits the animal
learned? 1. 2. 3. What is the most unusual trait of this animal?
Revised March 1, 2002 by Kathleen Ochsenbein