1. Every living thing has a set of characteristics. These are the things you use to identify something, like the fact that a tiger has black stripes or that a sea star has five legs. You have characteristics too, like your hair and eye color and your favorite foods and activities. Biologists call these things traits.

Which of the following is an example of a trait?

1. Have you ever seen someone who looks just like one of their parents? Children can look like their parents because of something called heredity. Heredity is the passing down of genes from generation to generation. Children got about half of their DNA from each of their biological parents. Together, genes tell the body how to function and what to look like. The traits that come from parents are called inherited traits. Your inherited traits are with you from birth.

Where do inherited traits come from?

There are many other things about you that don’t depend on your DNA. Examples include what language you speak, what books you like to read, how you cut your hair and if you have any scars. All these things are affected by your environment and the things you’ve learned and experienced throughout your life. This makes them acquired traits. To acquire means to get, so these are the things you’ve picked up along the way throughout your life. Since they’re not in your DNA, you won’t pass them on to your children genetically. For example, if you have a scar from falling off your scooter, your children won’t be born with that scar.

Which of the following describes a person’s acquired trait(s)?