Inherited Traits

Learn about inherited traits and how they're passed down!

DNA, Chromosomes, Genes, and Traits Watch the video and use it to answer questions #1-3 DNA, Chromosomes, Genes and Traits: An Intro to Heredity 1. What is heredity? 2. How can environment influence inherited traits? 3. How many chromosomes do humans have? Explain where these chromosomes come from. Inherited Traits When you look in the mirror, you see the color of your hair, your eye color, and maybe even freckles. These are traits or characteristics and qualities that make us who we are. They can be genetic or acquired. We also have personality or character traits that might be good at telling jokes, being compassionate, intelligent, good at playing video games, or creativity.Where do these traits come from? Hair color, eye color, and freckles are inherited traits. Inherited traits are characteristics that are passed from the parent to the offspring. Heredity is the transfer of traits from one generation to the next. Some traits that you inherit from your parents are physical traits that can be seen, also called phenotypes, such as your hair color, your height, or your eye color.Genes are what determine traits in organisms and are passed on from parent to offspring. These genes are segments of DNA that carry the instructions for the different traits. Genes come in pairs, one from each parent, and the pair of genes that determine the phenotype is called a genotype.Inherited traits can be dominant or recessive. A dominant trait is a trait that hides other traits if they are passed onto the offspring. The dominant trait would be seen even if only one parent passed on the dominant gene. If the offspring received a dominant gene from one parent for brown hair and a recessive gene from the other parent for blonde hair, the child would have brown hair.A recessive trait is a trait that gets hidden by the dominant trait. A recessive trait is only seen when both parents both parents pass on the gene to the offspring. An example would be blue eyes - the offspring must get the blue-eyed gene from both parents for the offspring to have blue eyes.Some traits are known as acquired traits. Acquired traits are characteristics that are not passed down from your parents. Many of these traits have been learned rather than inherited. One example would be if you're a good gamer, you didn't inherit a gamer gene from your parents. You are good at gaming because you practiced, played a lot of video games, and developed those skills yourself.Inherited traits are passed down through generations on chromosomes, while acquired traits are learned. You may be able to change the appearance of some of your traits, but your genetics will always be the same. Use the passage above to answer this question.4. What are traits? Interactions with an individual's environment Characteristics and qualities that make us who we are Gray areas between two extremes People with brown hair and blue eyes Use the passage above to answer this question.5. When would a recessive trait be seen in an organism? When there is one dominant and one recessive gene for the trait present in the offspring When there are two dominant genes for the trait present in the offspring When there are two recessive genes for the trait present in the offsring Never Use the passage above to answer this question.6. Video game skills are not inherited. What evidence from the passage best supports this claim? People who are good at video game and get this from their parents People who are good at video games must practice and memorize moves People who are good at games are from one country People who are good at games also do well in school How Dogs Inherit Genetic Traits Use this video to answer questions #7-9 7. Why do siblings look and behave differently from each other? 8. What are genes and where can they be found? 9. Why are there more short hair dogs than long-haired dogs? Matching Match the vocabulary word to its correct definition. Genes parts of the DNA which control the traits of an organism Chromosomes Thread-like structures that are found in the nucleus of a cell that contains all DNA DNA molecule that carries the genetic instructions for all living organisms. Found in the chromosome Nucleus stores the cells hereditary material or DNA Observable Human Characteristics Genes are small portions of your DNA that are transferred from parents to offspring and help determine certain characteristics.Use this link to answer question #10 Observable Human Characteristics 10. Read through each of the inherited traits from the link above and determine if you have a dominant gene or a recessive gene in the space below. Matching Vocabulary Match each vocabulary word with its correct definition. DNA A molecule that contains all genetic instructions for all living organisms Nucleus The part of the cell where DNA is stored. It controls most of the cell's activities. Gene A section of DNA that controls traits and characteristics. Chromosomes 23 pairs. Contains DNA. 11. Where is DNA stored in a cell? lysosomes vacuole nucleus cytoplasm 12. Which list is the correct order from smallest to largest? Gene, DNA, chromosomes, nucleus Gene, chromosomes, DNA, nucleus Chromosomes, DNA, nucleus, gene Nucleus, chromosomes, DNA, gene 13. How many chromosomes do humans have in each cell? 46 pairs, total of 92 10 pairs, total of 20 22 pairs, total of 44 23 pairs, total of 46 Use word bank to complete the following sentences. Our eye color, hair color, or if we have freckles or not, are all considered inherited traits. The traits that we inherit are determined by small segments of DNA called genes. We get these features from our parents; the transfer of traits from parents to offspring is called heredity. Some traits are always seen if they are inherited, these are called dominant traits. Brown eyes are an example of this type of trait. Blue eyes, however, are a recessive trait and are only seen in the absence of a dominant trait. 14. Explain what the purpose of a gene is. 15. How is DNA different than a chromosome? 16. What is the difference between a dominant trait and a recessive trait?