Sponge 1

Inherited Physical Traits and Instincts

Moira Whitehouse PhD

This is a daily exercise to be used while teaching the SlideShare presentation Heredity and Environment found in: http://www.slideshare.net/MMoiraWhitehouse

1. Heredity explains:

a. how offspring inherit physical traits from their parents.

b. how scientists decide whether a living thing is endangered.

c. how an animal’s habitat affects its survival.d. how plants and animals meet their needs.

2. The physical traits of a living thing allow scientists to

a. decide which livings things are decreasing in number

b. decide if a living thing is extinctc. distinguish one living thing from

anotherd. describe a living thing’s habitat

3. This cat has light brown eyes, brown spots, rounded ears, a pink nose, light brown eyes, two dark vertical stripes on its face and paws with sharp claws. Scientists called these characteristics:

a. a description c. physical traitsb. a habitat d. a carnivore

DigitART2 http://www.flickr.com

4. One of the physical traits of this cactus is that

a. it lives in the desertc. its nectar is food for insectsb. it has red flowers d. the sun is its source of energy.

Ben http://www.flickr.com/

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

5. Match the physical trait to the tree____a. sharp needle pointed leaves____b. leaves with five pointed lobes____c. Leaves with rounded lobes

b. pine tree c. oak

N2kmp(kim) http://www.flickr.com

a. maple

maytevidri http://www.flickr.com/

a. You can tell these identical twins apart by the shape of their noses

b. You can tell these identical twins apart by the color of their eyes

c. You can tell these identical twins apart by the color of their hair

d. It is almost impossible to tell these identical twins apart because their physical traits are almost the same.

6. Which of the following is a true statement.

http://www.flickr.com

brettm8 http://www.flickr.com/leah farm fotos (Roger) http://www.flickr.com/

7. These babies resemble (look like) their mothers becausea. they live in the same habitat as their parents.b. their environment is the same as their parents.c. they inherit their physical traits from their parents.d. they are part of the same food chain as their parents.

Both photos by TropicaLiving http://www.flickr.com

8. These two large cats have prominent physical traits that identify them as a tiger and a leopard. What physical trait is most useful in telling them apart?

a. Size of their paws

b. Shape of their ears

c. Shape of their noses

d. Fur coloring, stripes or spots.

9. Heredity also explains:

a. how scientists decide whether a living thing is endangered.

b. how an offspring inherits instincts from its parents.

c. how an animal’s habitat affects its survival.d. how plants and animals meet their needs.

10. Instincts are behaviors that

a. animals learnb. animals are born knowing how to doc. animals inherit from their parentsd. both b and c

By Elston http://www.flickr.com

by ucumari http://www.flickr.com

By pacifist http://www.flickr.com

By imagelnnovation http://www.flickr.com

b.d.

c.a.

11. Which picture shows an instinct that the animal inherited from its parents?