Traits+&+Behaviors

We know that all plants and animals have ADAPTATIONS  (special body parts or behaviors) that help them survive, but how do they get those adaptations?

They either INHERIT them from their PARENTS  or LEARN them.

Parents pass on physical traits (body parts) or instincts (behaviors) to their offspring (babies). Plants do this too even though we don't think of plants as having parents!

Examples of INHERITED TRAITS: My grandpa has blue eyes. He passed that physical trait to my mom. She __inherited__ her eye color from him. I inherited my eye color from my mom and my son inherited his eye color from me! You can probably see other traits that I inherited from my mom - notice our eye shape and our cheekbones. It's hard to tell similar traits on my son or grandpa because they are so young and old.  My Mom's dad (my grandpa) and my Mom -- Me and my son

Now eye color doesn't really help us survive in our environment but let's think about PHYSICAL ADAPTATIONS (body parts) of animals and plants that help them survive.

//Do you see an animal in this picture?// It's very hard to see the chameleon because his skin (a body part) helps him blend in to avoid predators. This is an INHERITED PHYSICAL ADAPTATION. He inherited his skin color and texture (trait) from his parents. This trait is an ADAPTATION that helps him survive. Now, to help him not be seem he had to LEARN not to move. The ability to be very still is a BEHAVIORAL ADAPTATION (an action or behavior) that helps him survive.

http://izismile.com/2010/01/19/art_of_camouflage_in_the_animal_world_22_pics-8.html

Examples of LEARNED BEHAVIORS: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">As humans we had to learn to do almost everything we do now. You might not even remember learning some of these things because you learned them so young! These things we have learned are BEHAVIORAL ADAPTATIONS (behaviors or actions that help us survive).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Walking
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Talking
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Riding a bike
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Tying our shoes
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Dressing ourselves
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Using the toilet
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Brushing our teeth

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 20px; line-height: 29px;">Animals have to learn things to:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Where or how to hunt
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 20px; line-height: 29px;">Where to hide
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 20px; line-height: 29px;">What plants or animals are dangerous or yucky

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Plants can't learn because they don't have brains.

<span style="background-color: #ffe900; color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 200%;">Now it gets confusing... <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">We inherit everything about the way we look __EXCEPT__ for things like scars, cuts, burns, chipped teeth and broken bones. These are things that just happened to us. We call these physical traits <span style="color: #56f061; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">ACQUIRED traits <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;"> because we acquire (get) them as we live our lives.

<span style="color: #f8aa4f; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Examples: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">This opossum has a torn ear. He didn't inherit that from his parents, he acquired it from an event, probably a fight with another animal. Also, this flower didn't inherit a broken stem, it acquired a broken stem when something broke it. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;"> http://backyardtales.wordpress.com/page/2/ http://mostlythreads.blogspot.com/2010/10/mystery-of-sneaky-harvester.html