Inherited & Acquired
Traits
Mrs. Serena’s Favorite Things ©
Adapted by Mrs. P
How are Offspring
Like their Parents?
Compare and Contrast.
Describe ways that they young tiger cub and its
parent are alike and different.
Inherited Traits
Offspring inherit certain traits
from their parents. An inherited
trait is a characteristic that is
passed from parents to offspring.
For example:
*Eye color and hair color.
*A flower’s color or shape.
*The number of arms and legs
you have.
Did you know?
The traits of an animal or plant often
help it survive in its environment.
Acquired Traits
An acquired trait is a trait that
that an animal, plant or person
develops through interactions in
their environment.
Scars on a manatee
Pierced ears
Leaves turned brown
Can you identify the
acquired traits and
the inherited traits?
Acquired or Inherited?
An oak tree has leaves that look
similar to other oak trees.
Inherited
trait
Acquired or Inherited?
A person has green eyes.
Inherited
trait
Acquired or Inherited?
A mouse with a cut tail.
Acquired
trait
Acquired or Inherited?
A brown calf has brown parents.
Inherited
trait
Acquired or Inherited?
A fish has gills to breathe
underwater.
Inherited
trait
Acquired or Inherited?
A tree bent due to the harsh
wind blowing.
Acquired
trait
Acquired or Inherited?
A shark has scars.
Acquired
trait
Acquired or Inherited?
A plant has growths from insect
bites.
Acquired
trait
Now its your turn….
Let’s make an Inherited
traits chart & Acquired
traits chart. You will
need 1 sheet of copy
paper.
Now its your turn….
Write Inherited traits on one
side of your paper in the
center. Put a circle around it.
Do the same for Acquired
traits on the back side of
your paper.
Your paper should look
like this….
Inherited traits
The back of your paper
should look like this….
Acquired Traits
Now its your turn….
Now you will write at least 3
or more things for each side.
Write it neatly. Draw a circle
or oval around each one and
connect it with a line to the
circle in the middle.
For example your paper
should look like this….
Inherited Traits
Eye color
The back of your paper
should look like this….
Acquired traits
Pierced Ears
Now its your turn….
You may work on this within
your group. You have 10
minutes.
Exit
Ticket
•Explain the difference between
an inherited and acquired trait.
•Give one example of each.
Your exit ticket will look like this but be smaller.
Answer the question and give examples.