Inherited & Acquired Traits

Tracy has a kind of dog known as a boxer. Her boxer has brown and white fur, brown eyes, and a docked tail.

Which characteristic of Tracy’s boxer is acquired?

• number of legs

• eye color

• docked tail

• fur color

A learned behavior

• is a new or changed behavior resulting from experience.

• is a natural instinct.

• is passed on through genes.

• is an unexplainable action that a species may perform.

The picture below shows an adult monkey and its baby. The adult monkey is grooming the baby monkey. Grooming is an important behavior for monkeys. It helps keep the monkeys clean. It also helps keep them free from tiny parasites that could hurt them.

Monkeys are not born knowing how to groom other monkeys. This means that grooming is a behavior that

• has a negative effect on monkeys.

• must be learned from other monkeys.

• can only be done by female monkeys.

• is an instinct that cannot be learned.

People naturally know how to do some things. People must be taught how to do other things.

Which picture below shows a person who is doing something he or she naturally knows how to do?

• Y. playing a Game

• X. Eating

• W. Playing the guitar

• Z. Reading

Which of the following is a learned behavior?

• squinting when there is bright light

• a plant bending towards sunlight

• a plant producing pollen

• skipping rope

Which of the following is an inherited behavior?

• a human building a house

• a horse running a race

• a bird building a nest

• a dog obeying commands

Which of the following is an inherited behavior?

• saying "please" and "thank you" to be polite

• a cat purring when it hears a tuna can opening

• a bird returning to a bird feeder

• a rabbit’s instincts of fight or flight

Gina has a plant in a pot in her bedroom. The plant has pink flower petals and long green leaves. Gina waters the plant every day and makes sure that it gets plenty of sunlight.

An inherited trait of Gina’s plant is

• the color of the plant’s flower petals.

• the color of the pot that the plant grows in.

• the location of the plant in Gina’s bedroom.

• the amount of water that the plant gets daily.

Knowing how to swim is an instinct that a fish has.

This means that a fish can begin swimming right after it

• hatches in a pet shop.

• hatches in the ocean.

• hatches in a zoo.

• all of these

Bonsai trees are tiny trees that are carefully shaped to look like full-grown trees. They are usually started by taking a living piece of a normal tree. The piece grows roots and is planted in a very small pot. The grower trims the roots to keep the plant from growing very quickly. The branches are cut into nice shapes. The leaves may be kept small by removing leaves that grow too large. The tree stays small because it does not have enough space, water, or nutrients to grow to a normal size.

Which statement is evidence that bonsai trees are small because of their environment, not because of the size of their parents?

• Bonsai trees look like full-grown trees.

• Bonsai tree leaves may be removed if they grow too large.

• Bonsai tree branches are cut into nice shapes.

• Bonsai trees are grown from pieces of normal-sized trees.