Innate and Learned Behaviors

Genetics and Inheritance

by Brittany Young

​Vocabulary to know:

​Add these words to the back of your science/history notebook under your social studies vocab words

• ​​inherited traits: traits (characteristics) that are passed on from parent to offspring

• ​physical features: what we can see that are special to a living organism like hair color, fur texture, leaf shape, flower color, and so on

• ​genes: are in chromosomes. They carry all information for inherited traits

• ​dominant: the trait that is most likely to appear, always capitalized

• ​recessive: the trait that is less likely to appear, always lower case

• ​innate behaviors: behaviors that are NOT learned, but organisms are born knowing (sunflowers just know to face the sun in order to survive)

• ​learned behaviors: behaviors that must be learned (riding a bike)

Multiple Choice

_______are in chromosomes. They carry all the information needed for inherited traits in living organisms

• physical traits

• innate traits

• genes

• behavioral traits

Multiple Choice

____________________ are ones that do not need to be taught. Living organisms are naturally born with that knowledge. Often, these are important for survival.

• innate behaviors

• physical traits

• dominant genes

• inherited traits

​Inherited traits

​Individuals of the same species are not all the same. Some animals are larger, hairier, or louder than others, even if they are the same species. These differences are largely determined by an individual’s genes, which are like instructions that are passed from parent to child. Some differences provide advantages like speed, strength, or attractiveness. Those advantages help animals survive and reproduce. Over generations those traits, or adaptations, will be passed on to more individuals until the trait becomes common in that species.

​This is how inherited traits help with survival!

​All animals live in habitats. Habitats provide food, water, and shelter which animals need to survive, but there is more to survival than just the habitat. Animals also depend on their physical features and their behaviors to help them be successful in their natural habitats.

​

Physical, bodily features that we can see that also help animals survive are called physical traits. Physical adaptations do not develop during an individual animal's life, but over many generations. The shape of a bird's beak, the color of a mammal’s fur, the thickness or thinness of the fur, the shape of the nose or ears are all examples of physical adaptations which help different animals survive. In plants, they also pass on important traits to ensure survival.

​Some plants use disguise to hide from plant-eating animals. Blending in with the background like this is called camouflage. With its fleshy, grey leaves, the pebble plant is difficult to spot against the surrounding pebbles. Only it's flowers give it away. Most of the time, animals mistake the leaves for real stones, and do not try to eat them.

​The pebble plant passes on physical traits that are important for survival. They mimic the way rocks and pebbles look in order to avoid being eaten.

Multiple Choice

Characteristics passed from parents to their offspring.

• behavior

• learned trait

• inherited trait

• function

Multiple Choice

Which characteristic is inherited?

• hair color

• sleeping late

• enjoying hiking

• loving to read

Multiple Choice

If a parent cactus has spines, the offspring will have  ______

• fruit

• spines

• leaves

• petals 

Multiple Choice

An opossum playing dead to confuse its predators is an example of

• a behavioral trait

• a physical trait

Multiple Choice

Hawks have sharp claws to help them catch their prey, this is an example of

• a behavioral trait

• a physical trait

Multiple Choice

Characteristics passed from parents to their offspring.

• behavior

• learned trait

• inherited trait

• function

​Animals also have behavioral traits that have to do with their actions.  Like physical adaptations, behavioral traits help an animal survive and flourish in its habitat. Animals adapt for many different reasons:

• ​to find food

• ​to defend themselves

• ​to find a mate

• ​to escape from predators​

If animals do not develop physical or behavioral adaptations that help them survive in their habitats, they die or become extinct.  An animal’s habitat sometimes changes due to climate fluctuations or the influence of humans. When animals cannot adapt to the changes in their environments, they can become extinct.

Multiple Choice

Which characteristic is inherited?

• hair color
• sleeping late
• enjoying hiking
• loving to read

​Punnett Squares

​Punnett Squares are used to determine what genes will be passed to the offspring.

​As you can see in the diagram, one green and one yellow pea plant can be crossed to produce two green and two yellow offspring.

Multiple Choice

If a parent cactus has spines, the offspring will have  ______

• fruit
• spines
• leaves
• petals 

Multiple Choice

T - tall and t = short

In the Punnett square, what belongs in the missing square?

• tt

• Tt

• TT

Multiple Choice

Having dark hair like dad is an example of what kind of trait?

• acquired trait

• inherited trait

Multiple Choice

B = brown fur  b = white fur In the Punnett square, what is the probability for white fur? 

• 0%

• 25%

• 50%

• 75%

Multiple Choice

An opossum playing dead to confuse its predators is an example of

• a behavioral trait

• a physical trait

Multiple Choice

True or False: Factors in the environment may cause changes to genes that could be inherited by offspring.

• True, because chemicals could change the genes that are passed on to the offspring

• True, variations are only caused by factors in the environment nothing else

• False, the environment can not change genes

• False, because genes can only change over millions of years, not one life time

Multiple Choice

Hawks have sharp claws to help them catch their prey, this is an example of

• a behavioral trait

• a physical trait

​Innate behaviors

​Behaviors that are closely controlled by genes with little or no environmental influence are called innate behaviors. These are behaviors that occur naturally in all members of a species whenever they are exposed to a certain stimulus. Innate behaviors do not have to be learned or practiced. They are also called instinctive behaviors. An instinct is the ability of an animal to perform a behavior the first time it is exposed to the proper stimulus. For example, a dog will drool the first time—and every time—it is exposed to food.

​If you watch a herring gull caring for its chicks, you may notice a funny ritual around feeding time. The parent gull has a red spot on its beak. When it taps its beak on the ground, the chick will peck at the spot several times.

This pecking triggers a response in the parent: it throws up food for the chick.^11start superscript, 1, end superscript That may sound gross to us, but

The tapping behavior is innate, or genetically preprogrammed. Herring gull chicks will peck at the red dots of their parents' beaks without any prior training. In fact, a baby herring gull can be tricked by a yellow stick adorned with a red dot—it will peck at the stick just as eagerly as it would at a parent's beak.

This is just one example of an innate behavior, or behavior that's genetically hardwired in an organism.

Multiple Choice

Why is a spider spinning a web an innate behavior?

• It learns how to spin the web from its mother.

• It learns how to spin a web through insight learning.  

• It is born knowing how to spin a web.

• It learns how to spin a web through observational learning.

Multiple Choice

Behaviors that are passed on from parents to offspring without teaching or training are called what?

• innate behaviors

• learned behaviors

• acquired traits

• imprinted behaviors

Multiple Choice

Which of these is not an instinctive behavior?

• a bird building a nest

• a turtle burying its eggs

• a bear hibernating in winter

• a horse pulling a plow

Multiple Choice

The following are all examples of instincts except:

• Blinking

• Breathing

• Talking

• Swallowing

Multiple Choice

Which of these is an example of a learned behavior?

• a parrot saying hello

• a robin singing on a spring morning

• a penguin building a nest of pebbles

• a weaver bird building a hanging nest

Multiple Choice

Which is an example of a learned characteristic?

• color of a dog's fur

• color blindness of a person

• the ability of a mouse to run a maze

• a person's ability to roll their tongue

Multiple Choice

Birds migrating in the winter to get food for the year is an example of

• a physical trait

• a behavioral trait

Learned behaviors

​These can be very important for survival

​They are actions that must be taught

Multiple Choice

Polar bears have thick fur to help them stay warm in the winter, this is an example of

• a physical trait

• a behavioral trait

Multiple Choice

A ____________ is something that you inherit.

• parent

• trait

• child

• inherit

Multiple Choice

Traits are passed down from parents to _____________.

• inherit

• trait

• parent

• child

Multiple Choice

A sea turtle's rubbery shell is an example of what kind of trait?

• Physical trait

• Behavioral trait

• Non inherited trait

• Learned trait

Multiple Choice

When a sea turtle is hatched, it moves towards the ocean. What kind of trait is this?

• Behavioral

• Physical

• Non inherited

• Learned

Multiple Choice

Toads hide during the day and come out at night to feed when it is much cooler, this is an example of

• a behavioral trait

• a physical trait

Multiple Choice

A giraffe has a long neck to reach the leaves on trees. What kind of inherited trait is this?

• physical

• behavioral

Multiple Choice

Ducks have webbed feet to help them swim in water. What kind of inherited trait is this?

• physical

• behavioral

Multiple Choice

Some birds will make a warning sound to alert their flock if there is danger. What kind of inherited trait is this?

• physical

• behavioral

Multiple Choice

A penguin is white on its belly, and black on its back so it is harder to see underwater from above or below. What kind of inherited trait is this?

• physical

• behavioral

Multiple Choice

Bats are nocturnal and hunt at night. What kind of inherited trait is this?

• physcial

• behavioral

Multiple Choice

Black bears hibernate during the winter months. What kind of inherited trait is this?

• physical

• behavioral

Multiple Choice

Having blue eyes like your parents is an example of what?

• Inherited trait

• Learned behavior

• Non inherited trait