In between testing this week, we have been learning about inherited traits, which are characteristics passed from parents to offspring (new organisms), and environmental traits, which are characteristics caused by an organism's surroundings that may cause it to look different, grow, or develop in a different way.
Fourth grade Science students should be able to explain that although characteristics of plants and animals are inherited, some characteristics can be affected by the environment--the surroundings that an organism lives in such as the weather conditions in an area, food supply, and types of shelter.
Flamingos inherit traits such as beaks, feathers, long legs and necks from their parents. However, flamingos' food supply (algae and shrimp) turn the white feathers they are born with pink or red. A flamingo's pink/red color is a result of its environment.
When seeds germinate, they have either one or two leaves. Palm seeds have one leaf, a characteristic inherited from the parent plants.
Exposure to constant wind in a tree's environment can cause it to grow sideways. This is an environmental characteristic.
One way to determine if a characteristic is inherited or environmental is to ask: Is it because of the organism's parents or something else? If something surrounding the organism caused the characteristic, then it is most likely an environmental characteristic.
Students will take a quiz on this benchmark Tuesday, April 26.
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