Inheritance of Traits

Animals are born with (a)   , or characteristics that were passed down from their parents. These charactersitsics can be physical but they can also be ​ (b)   . The Austrian monk, ​ (c)   did a series of experiments in pea plants that shed light on how traits were inherited. He did this by observing the traits of the parent plants and then he ​ (d)   traits that appeared in the controlled offspring. He learned that there were two kinds of traits in many inherited characteristics: dominant traits and ​ (e)   traits.

• inherited traits

• behavioral

• Gregor Mendel

• observed

• recessive

Use the hints to unscramble the words below:

Characteristic passed down from parents to offspring

hneiidter sritta

(a)  

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS3-2

Hint: Tiny part of a chromosome that codes for just one trait

Unscramble this word:

nege

(a)  

Hint: A characteristic that appears when the offspring receives a factor from one or both parents

tnnaomid aitrt

(a)  

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS3-2

Fill in the organizer below with examples of traits that follow and do not follow Mendel's rules of inheritence.

Groups:

(a) Traits that follow Mendel's Rules

,

(b) Traits that do not follow Mendel's rules

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Passed on from parent to offspring means

• variation

• inherited

• group

• evidence

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS3-2

Hippos and elephants are animals that eat plants. Both have flat teeth because...

• they ate plants since they were young

• live in the same place

• travel to where there are plants

• inherited this trait from their parents

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

Which scientist is known for his foundational work on the inheritance of traits using pea plants?

• Charles Darwin

• Gregor Mendel

• Louis Pasteur

• Isaac Newton

Tags

NGSS.HS-LS3-2

What is the term for a characteristic that is passed from parents to offspring?

• Acquired trait

• Inherited trait

• Learned behavior

• Environmental trait

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS3-2

In Mendelian genetics, what is the term for a trait that masks the presence of another trait?

• Recessive trait

• Dominant trait

• Codominant trait

• Incomplete dominant trait