5th Grade Science: Englewood Elementary School Ms. Mahoney

Hello Everyone! I miss all of you and wish that each day is even better than the one before!

This week, April 20-24, I have assigned an optional Science review through reading text,

comprehension questions, followed by answers and explanations.

How to begin (Please note all possible options):

• Upon reaching the McMinn County Schools site and clicking 5th grade with Englewood Elementary

School, once you look under the Science tab, you will find a file named “Animal Behaviors Review.”

This lesson has 3 parts and is designed to last all week, or you may choose to complete in any time-

frame that you deem appropriate or necessary.

• You can print these pages off at home and then write on those.

• If you cannot print at home, you have some options.

o You can label a piece of notebook paper by the name of the assignment at the top of the page.

Then you could write responses on the notebook paper.

o You may pick up hard copy at the school beginning the week of April 13th

If you’re having trouble on the assignment:

• You may email me at the following address. hmahoney@mcminnschools.com

o I can answer specific questions

o We can set up a time for me to call you and discuss the material further

• Currently, my “office hours” are 8:30-12:30. I will reply to emails more quickly during that time and

can call you if an appointment time is needed. If you need an appointment time outside of that time

range, we can do that, too.

Please understand, this work is considered optional and will not be held against you. I am here to

help you in any way I can. Although, this current situation has us in a different “school classroom

setting,” I am still your teacher and I am always here for you and happy to help! Please let me

know. I miss you all, and look forward to talking to you soon!

Sincerely,

Ms. Heather Mahoney

Heredity: Inherited and Acquired Characteristics (Part One)

5th Science: Ms. Heather Mahoney

Week of April 20-24, 2020

Heredity

An organism gets its traits, or characteristics, from its parents and its environment.

Inherited Characteristics

Anything an organism gets from its parents is inherited. Inherited traits of organisms are

decided before birth (or germination). Organisms also inherit behaviors. Because they inherit

many traits, offspring often look similar to their parents. However, offspring do not

look exactly like their parents. Some of what offspring inherit stays hidden. Other things are

affected by the environment.

Characteristics that are Not Inherited

Organisms get some of their traits from what happens to them or from the kind of environment

they live in. These traits are called learned characteristics or acquired traits. These traits are

not inherited from parents or passed on to offspring.

Any characteristic that an organism gets from experience is acquired, not inherited.

Traits in Plants

Plants inherit traits such as:

• flower color

• flower position

• seed color

• seed shape

• pod shape

• pod color

• leaf pattern

• stem length

This pepper plant inherited its pod shape and color from its parent plants.

Some plant characteristics are acquired from the environment, not inherited. For example, if a

plant gets too much sunlight or does not get enough water, its leaves may turn brown.

The leaves of this palm tree have turned from green to brown. Maybe the tree did not get enough water.

Also, in some kinds of plants, flower color is affected by the kind of soil the plant is growing

in. In these plants, flower color is both inherited and acquired. The possible colors for the

flower are inherited. The color that is expressed depends on the soil and is acquired.

Traits in Animals

Animals inherit traits such as:

• fur color

• fur length

• eye color

• length of tail

• ear shape

• patterns such as spots, stripes, or patches

Most of these traits can be affected by the environment. For example, a dog may inherit long

fur, but it may acquire short fur if the dog's owners shave it.

A horse's color and the color of the mane are inherited traits. The horse's height is both

inherited and acquired. These characteristics are different from one horse to another. However,

all horses can eat grass as part of their healthy diet. This is also inherited.

This horse inherited its light color and dark mane and tail from its parents.

Animal characteristics such as having docked tails (tails that have been cut short) are acquired,

not inherited.

This lamb's tail has been cut short to help keep the animal clean. A short tail is not one of the lamb's inherited traits.

Part 2: Heredity: Inherited & Acquired Characteristics Comprehension Questions from Text Generation Date: 04/13/2020

Generated By: Heather Mahoney

1. A scientist is observing black bears in a national park. One black bear that he observes is one

year old, weighs 85 pounds, and is 3.5 feet in length. This black bear often looks in trash cans

around the park for food that has been thrown away.

Which of the following characteristics has the black bear learned from its environment?

A. The black bear is one year old.

B. The black bear weighs 85 pounds.

C. The black bear has thick, dark fur.

D. The black bear searches for food in trash cans.

2. Greg was growing an unusual orange daisy in his garden. He carefully saved the seeds to plant

next summer. What color might he expect the daisies from these seeds to be?

A. purple

B. blue

C. red

D. orange

3. A zebra is shown in the picture below.

This zebra lives in the African savannah. It is three years old and is part of a large herd of other

zebras.

An inherited characteristic of the zebra is

A. that it is three years old.

B. that it is part of a large herd of other zebras.

C. the length of time it has lived in Africa.

D. the pattern of its stripes.

4. Zak is nine years old. He has brown hair and brown eyes. His favorite color is blue and his

favorite hobby is skateboarding.

Zak's _______ is a learned characteristic.

A. eye color

B. hair color

C. age

D. favorite hobby

5.

Bonsai trees are tiny trees that are carefully shaped to look like full-grown trees. They are

usually started by taking a living piece of a normal tree. The piece grows roots and is planted in a

very small pot. The grower trims the roots to keep the plant from growing very quickly. The

branches are cut into nice shapes. The leaves may be kept small by removing leaves that grow

too large. The tree stays small because it does not have enough space, water, or nutrients to grow

to a normal size.

Which statement is evidence that bonsai trees are small because of their environment, not

because of the size of their parents?

A. Bonsai trees are grown from pieces of normal-sized trees.

B. Bonsai tree leaves may be removed if they grow too large.

C. Bonsai tree branches are cut into nice shapes.

D. Bonsai trees look like full-grown trees.

6. Gina has a plant in a pot in her bedroom. The plant has pink flower petals and long green

leaves. Gina waters the plant every day and makes sure that it gets plenty of sunlight.

An inherited characteristic of Gina's plant is

A. the location of the plant in Gina's bedroom.

B. the color of the plant's flower petals.

C. the amount of water that the plant gets daily.

D. the color of the pot that the plant grows in.

7. The flower color of a certain hydrangea plant can change based on where this plant is grown.

The flowers of this plant will be pink if the plant is grown in soil with a lot of acid, but they will

be blue if the plant is grown in soil without much acid.

Whether a hydrangea plant has pink flowers or blue flowers is

A. affected by the hydrangea plant's environment.

B. inherited from the hydrangea plant's parent.

C. learned from watching other hydrangea plants.

D. not able to be predicted.

8. If a woodpecker sharpens its beak on a rock to help it drill holes in trees, will its offspring

inherit sharper beaks when they are born?

A. Yes, features that come from interactions with the environment can be inherited.

B. Yes, the sharpened beak is a useful feature and will be inherited.

C. No, the quality of the beak would decrease if it were inherited in its sharpened state.

D. No, features that come from interactions with the environment cannot be inherited.

9. A rose is shown below.

Which of the following is an inherited characteristic of the rose?

A. the shape of the rose's petals

B. the presence of thorns on the rose's stem

C. the color of the rose's petals

D. all of these

10. Mellie's guinea pig has two babies. She gives one of the babies to her brother Ralph. She

keeps the other baby.

Mellie gives her baby guinea pig food once a day. She puts a wheel in its cage so it can exercise.

Ralph leaves food out for his baby guinea pig all the time. His guinea pig does not have a wheel.

After several months, Mellie's guinea pig is about the size of its parents. Ralph's guinea pig is

overweight.

Why are the guinea pigs different sizes?

A. because they grew up in different environments

B. because only Mellie's guinea pig inherited traits from its parents

C. because they grew up in the same environment

D. because only Ralph's guinea pig inherited traits from its parents

11.

This lamb was born with a long tail, but it was cut short (docked) to prevent disease. What kind

of characteristic is the lamb's docked tail?

A. natural

B. adapted

C. acquired

D. inherited

12. Daniel has a pet dog. His dog has white fur and brown eyes. It also has small, pointy ears and

loves to play with its ball.

Which of the following is a learned characteristic of Daniel's dog?

A. Daniel's dog has brown eyes.

B. Daniel's dog loves to play with its ball.

C. Daniel's dog has white fur.

D. Daniel's dog has small, pointy ears.

13. Yuri has a pet rabbit. His rabbit has gray fur, brown eyes, two long ears, and weighs 4.2

pounds.

The rabbit's _______ is an acquired characteristic.

A. number of ears

B. eye color

C. fur color

D. body weight

14. Ms. Taylor's class planted many seeds in different pots. All of the seeds were the same kind.

They put some of the pots in a shady area. They put the other pots in a sunny area. They gave the

plants the same amount of water every day.

After a month, they looked at the plants. All of the plants that were in the sunny area were tall.

All of the plants that were in the shady area were short.

Why were the plants different sizes?

A. Only the short plants inherited traits from their parents.

B. Only the tall plants inherited traits from their parents.

C. The tall plants were given too much water.

D. The short plants did not get enough sunlight.

15. Joel has a pet cockatoo. The cockatoo has white feathers covering most of its body and a

yellow crest on its head. Its beak is black and slightly curved.

Joel has taught his cockatoo how to speak a few words in English. The cockatoo can also open

the door to its cage by moving the lock up and down.

The color of the cockatoo's feathers is a(n) _______ characteristic. The cockatoo unlocking its

cage door is a(n) _______ characteristic.

A. inherited; inherited

B. learned; learned

C. inherited; learned

D. learned; inherited

Part 3: Heredity: Inherited and Acquired Characteristics

5th Mahoney – Science Question Answers and Explanations

Week of April 20-24, 2020

1. D

2. D

3. D

4. D

5. A

6. B

7. A

8. D

9. D

10. A

11. C

12. B

13. D

14. D

15. C

Explanations

1. Learned characteristics are features that result from experience and the influence of the

environment.

Black bears in many national parks across the United States have learned that humans throw

food away in the trash cans located inside the park. The behavior of searching for food in a

trash can is a learned characteristic.

2. The seeds from the orange daisies would likely also grow into orange daisies. Offspring from

plants and animals are usually similar (but not completely identical to) the parents.

3. Inherited characteristics are features that are passed on from parents to their offspring through

genes.

The pattern of the zebra's stripes is an inherited characteristic.

4. Learned characteristics are features that result from experience and the influence of the

environment. Inherited characteristics, on the other hand, are features that are passed on from

parents to their offspring through genes.

Eye color and hair color are both examples of inherited characteristics. A person's favorite

hobby is a learned characteristic.

5. Bonsai trees are grown from pieces of normal-sized trees. They inherited from their parents

the shape of their leaves and a tendency to grow to a normal size. Bonsai trees get their small

size from the environment they are grown in.

6. Inherited characteristics are features that are passed on from parents to their offspring through

genes.

Examples of inherited characteristics include the color of a plant's flower petals and the shape

of a plant's leaves.

7. Many physical characteristics of plants and animals are inherited, but some characteristics are

affected by the organism's environment. For example, the characteristic of a hydrangea plant

having either pink or blue flowers is affected by the hydrangea plant's environment.

If a hydrangea plant is grown in soil with a lot of acid, the plant will have pink flowers. If the

same plant is grown in soil without much acid, the plant will have blue flowers.

8. Physical changes or features of an organism that come from interactions with its environment

cannot be passed down to the next generation through reproduction.

9. Inherited characteristics are features that are passed on from parents to their offspring through

genes.

The color of a rose's petals, the shape of a rose's petals, and the presence of thorns on a

rose's stem are all inherited characteristics.

10. Some traits are inherited. Other traits can be affected by the environment. Both guinea pigs

inherited traits from their parents. One guinea pig was given food once a day and allowed to

exercise. The other guinea pig was given as much food as it wanted. This caused one of the

guinea pigs to be overweight. The guinea pigs were different sizes because they grew up in

different environments.

11. An acquired characteristic happens because of how an animal lives or how it is taken care of.

The lamb inherited a long tail from its parents, but it was docked to be short. A docked tail is an

acquired characteristic.

12. Learned characteristic are features that result from experience and the influence of the

environment. Many behaviors, such as playing with toys, are learned. Physical characteristics

such as fur color, eye color, and body structure are inherited.

Therefore, a learned characteristic of Daniel's dog is that it loves to play with its ball.

13. An acquired characteristic happens because of how an animal lives or how it is taken care of.

If a rabbit is fed too much or too little, its body weight will change.

The rabbit inherited its soft gray fur and two long ears from its parents.

14. Some traits are inherited. Other traits can be affected by the environment. Plants that are

grown without enough sunlight will be shorter than plants that have lots of sunlight. This is

because they do not get enough sunlight to make enough food to grow tall. The plants were

different sizes because the short plants did not get enough sunlight.

15. Learned characteristics are features that result from experience and the influence of the

environment. Inherited characteristics, on the other hand, are features that are passed on from

parents to their offspring through genes.

The color of the cockatoo's feathers and the shape of the cockatoo's beak are characteristics that

the cockatoo inherited from its parents. The behavior of the cockatoo to speak English and open

the door to its cage are learned behaviors.