--- title: Heredity and Traits | Understanding Life Cycles and Adaptations | KnowAtom description: Explore how traits are passed from parents to offspring, the impact of heredity on life cycles, and the influence of environment on inherited traits in this comprehensive science unit. --- More Lessons for Your State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington DC West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Other NGSS # Heredity and Traits In this unit, students discover the life cycles of different organisms, tracing how individuals move from birth to growth, reproduction, and death. In this lesson, students analyze the science phenomena of how traits are passed down from parent to offspring. This page provides an overview of all the parts of this lesson. 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Below is an excerpt from the background information on animal heredity and traits. When an insect transforms from a pupa to an adult, it resembles other adult insects of the same kind. For example, all honeybee adults have a similar color, and depending on their function (queen, worker, or drone), a similar size. These are all honeybee traits. All organisms receive, or inherit, traits from their parents. This passing on of traits from parents to children is called heredity. Heredity causes offspring to have traits that are similar to their parents and to their siblings. Some traits are fully inherited. For example, the eye color of honeybees is fully inherited. A honeybee can have either black or white eyes. It depends on which trait it receives from its parent. Parents pass on their traits in their DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), which has been called life’s “instruction manual” because it contains the codes for an organism’s traits. Beekeepers are very interested in heredity because of the patterns that occur as inherited traits get passed along. For example, some groups of honeybees are better able to survive through the winter. Other groups produce large amounts of honey. These traits get passed along in the bee’s life cycle from the queen to the eggs that she lays. Some offspring are different from their parents because each parent provides half of their genes. A gene carries the information that will determine an organism’s traits. Gene expression is also affected by whether particular traits are dominant or recessive. For example, black eye color is dominant in honeybees, while white eye color is recessive. Unlike fully inherited traits, many traits are influenced by the environment. For example, the size of a honeybee is partly determined by its genetics. Drones are bigger than worker bees because of their genetics. However, individual drones that eat more food might grow larger than other drones. Female honeybees offer a good example of how the environment can influence traits. When a hive’s queen dies or becomes ill, the worker bees will pick a future queen and feed that larva with a food called royal jelly, a protein-rich food made from the glands of young worker bees. This different diet causes the larva to develop into a mature female and not a worker bee. #### Supports Grade 3 ![Sneak Peek Seal with Arrow](https://www.knowatom.com/hubfs/Sneak%20Peek%20Seal%20with%20Arrow.svg) ## Science Lesson: Discovering Heredity and Traits Once students understand how organisms have a life cycle, they focus on one step in all life cycles: reproduction. In this lesson, they analyze how traits are passed from parents to offspring, and how there are similarities but also variations in inherited traits. [Download a Sample Unit ](https://www.knowatom.com/stem-curriculum#state) ## Science Big Ideas - All organisms have traits, which are physical or behavioral characteristics of an organism. - Traits are passed down from parents to offspring, which is heredity. - Adaptations are traits that help an organism survive in its environment. Sometimes a variation in traits gives certain individual organisms a survival advantage, making it easier for them to get food or water or avoid predation. - Some traits are influenced by the environment. ![sample unit-k8 science curriculum-knowatom](https://www.knowatom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Sample%20Unit%20CTA-2.png?width=327&height=264&name=Sample%20Unit%20CTA-2.png) ###### Discover Complete Hands-on Screens-off Core Science Curriculum for K-8 Classrooms Prepared hands-on materials, full year grade-specific curriculum, and personalized live professional development designed to support mastery of current state science standards. [Click Here to Learn More](https://www.knowatom.com/talk-to-knowatom-sales) ## Science Essential Questions - How do organisms get their traits? - How is the inheritance of traits connected to an organism’s life cycle? - What causes parents and their children to resemble each other? - Why, given that offspring inherit traits, aren’t all organisms exactly the same as their parents? - How does the bee trait of color help the bee survive? - How does the variation of traits lead to adaptations over time? - How is size an example of an inherited trait that is also influenced by the environment? - How would a lack of water likely affect the height of a normally tall plant? ## Common Science Misconceptions ![close-circle-red](https://www.knowatom.com/hubfs/Icon%20ionic-ios-close-circle-red-1.svg) **Misconception:** Living things can come from nonliving sources (i.e., seeds, eggs, and pupae are nonliving). ![checkmark-circle-green](https://www.knowatom.com/hubfs/Icon%20ionic-ios-checkmark-circle-green.svg) **Fact:** Living things come from living things. Seeds, eggs, and pupae are all living things, just different stages of life. ![close-circle-red](https://www.knowatom.com/hubfs/Icon%20ionic-ios-close-circle-red-1.svg) **Misconception****:** All organisms have the same life cycle. ![checkmark-circle-green](https://www.knowatom.com/hubfs/Icon%20ionic-ios-checkmark-circle-green.svg) **Fact:** Organisms can have different life cycles, but they all go through birth, growth, reproduction, and death ## Science Vocabulary **Adaptation :** a trait that helps an organism survive in its environment **Change :** to make something different from what it is now **Function :** the normal action of something or how something works **Heredity :** the passing on of traits from parents to children **Inherit :** to receive a trait from your parents or ancestors **Life Cycle :** the series of developmental stages an organism passes through on its way from birth to death **Metamorphosis :** a life cycle with a change from an immature form to an adult form **Reproduction :** the ability of a mature organism to have offspring **Structure :** the way in which parts are put together to form a whole **Trait :** a physical or behavioral characteristic of an organism ## Lexile(R) Certified Non-Fiction Science Reading (Excerpt) **Heredity** The exoskeleton is an example of a trait. A trait is a physical or behavioral characteristic of an organism. The honeybee stomach is another trait. Parents pass along traits to their offspring when they reproduce. This passing on of traits from parents to children is called heredity. Heredity causes offspring to have traits that are similar to their parents and to their siblings. Beekeepers are very interested in heredity. There are patterns that occur as traits get passed along. For example, some groups of honeybees are better able to survive through the winter. Other groups produce large amounts of honey. These traits get passed along in the bee’s life cycle from the queen to the eggs that she lays. **Variation of Traits** Heredity explains why offspring look similar to their parents. All of the honeybees in a beehive have a similar color. They are light brown in color and have light and dark stripes on their bodies. This is because they inherited that trait from their parents. To inherit means to receive Color is a physical trait. a trait from parents or ancestors. Heredity explains why baby giraffes have long necks, just like their parents. A long neck is an inherited trait. Heredity also explains why worker bees gather nectar and pollen from flowers. This is a behavioral trait. Another behavioral trait is baby giraffes eating leaves from tall trees. However, offspring don’t look or act exactly like their parents. There are always some differences. These differences are called variations. For example, one baby giraffe might have a neck that is a little shorter than its parents or siblings. A worker bee might have wings that are a little shorter or longer than another worker bee. ![life-cycles](https://www.knowatom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/life-cycles.jpg?width=261&height=340&name=life-cycles.jpg) ![life-cycles1](https://www.knowatom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/life-cycles1.jpg?width=261&height=340&name=life-cycles1.jpg) ![life-cycles2](https://www.knowatom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/life-cycles2.jpg?width=261&height=340&name=life-cycles2.jpg) ## Hands-on Science Activity In this lesson, students investigate how traits are passed down from parents to offspring and also develop a question that will allow them to test how the color variation of a moth might affect its survival in its environment. For the first part of the investigation, students graph and analyze data on the height of two different groups of tomato plants: those in the shade and those in the sun. In Part 2, students collaboratively conduct an investigation that tests how moths with different color patterns survive over time in a forest environment with predatory birds. They calculate how many moths survive predation in each trial, and the average number of moths eaten for each trial. Students use the data they gathered in both parts to construct an explanation for how traits are passed down from parents to offspring, and how this scientific phenomenon helps to explain variation in traits among individual organisms. [ Learn More About KnowAtom ](https://www.knowatom.com/stem-curriculum) ## Science Assessments KnowAtom incorporates formative and summative assessments designed to make students thinking visible for deeper student-centered learning. - Vocabulary Check - Lab Checkpoints - Concept Check Assessment  - Concept Map Assessment  - And More... 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[3-LS3-1](https://www.knowatom.com/3-ls3-1) - [3-LS3-2](https://www.knowatom.com/3-ls3-2) - [3-LS4-2](https://www.knowatom.com/3-ls4-2) - [4-LS1-1](https://www.knowatom.com/4-ls1-1) - [3.2.2](https://www.knowatom.com/3.2.2) - [3.2.3](https://www.knowatom.com/3.2.3) - [3.2.4](https://www.knowatom.com/3.2.4) - [4.1.1](https://www.knowatom.com/4.1.1) - [3.LS2.1](https://www.knowatom.com/3.ls2.1) - [3.LS4.2](https://www.knowatom.com/3.ls4.2) - [3.LS4.1](https://www.knowatom.com/3.ls4.1) - [4.LS2.5](https://www.knowatom.com/4.ls2.5) - [5.LS1.1](https://www.knowatom.com/5.ls1.1) - [5.LS3.1](https://www.knowatom.com/5.ls3.1) - [5.LS3.2](https://www.knowatom.com/5.ls3.2) - [5.LS4.1](https://www.knowatom.com/5.ls4.1) - [5.LS4.2](https://www.knowatom.com/5.ls4.2) - [S3L1](https://www.knowatom.com/s3l1) - [S5L2](https://www.knowatom.com/s5l2) - [5.L3U1.9](https://www.knowatom.com/5.l3u1.9) - [3L.3.2.1.1](https://www.knowatom.com/3l.3.2.1.1) - [3L.4.1.1.1](https://www.knowatom.com/3l.4.1.1.1) - [3L.4.2.1.1](https://www.knowatom.com/3l.4.2.1.1) - [4L.4.1.1.1](https://www.knowatom.com/4l.4.1.1.1) - [4L.4.2.1.2](https://www.knowatom.com/4l.4.2.1.2) - [3.LS3.A.1](https://www.knowatom.com/3.ls3.a.1) - [3.LS3.B.1](https://www.knowatom.com/3.ls3.b.1) - [4.LS1.A.1](https://www.knowatom.com/4.ls1.a.1) - [3-LS2-1](https://www.knowatom.com/3-ls2-1) - [3.1.3.B](https://www.knowatom.com/3.1.3.b) - [3.1.3.C](https://www.knowatom.com/3.1.3.c) - [3.1.3.D](https://www.knowatom.com/3.1.3.d) - [3.1.3.F](https://www.knowatom.com/3.1.3.f) - [3.1.4.A](https://www.knowatom.com/3.1.4.a) - [5.LS.2](https://www.knowatom.com/5.ls.2) - [3.LS.2](https://www.knowatom.com/3.ls.2) - [3.LS.1](https://www.knowatom.com/3.ls.1) - [Asking questions and defining problems](https://www.knowatom.com/asking-questions-and-defining-problems) - [Developing and using models](https://www.knowatom.com/developing-and-using-models) - [Planning and carrying out investigations](https://www.knowatom.com/planning-and-carrying-out-investigations) - [Analyzing and interpreting data](https://www.knowatom.com/analyzing-and-interpreting-data) - [Using mathematics and computational thinking](https://www.knowatom.com/using-mathematics-and-computational-thinking) - [Constructing explanations and designing solutions](https://www.knowatom.com/constructing-explanations-and-designing-solutions) - [Engaging in argument from evidence](https://www.knowatom.com/engaging-in-argument-from-evidence) - [Obtaining evaluating and communicating information](https://www.knowatom.com/obtaining-evaluating-and-communicating-information) - [Inheritance of Traits](https://www.knowatom.com/inheritance-of-traits) - [Variation of Traits](https://www.knowatom.com/variation-of-traits) - [Natural Selection](https://www.knowatom.com/natural-selection) - [Structure and Function](https://www.knowatom.com/structure-and-function) - [Patterns](https://www.knowatom.com/patterns) - [Cause and Effect](https://www.knowatom.com/cause-and-effect) - [Systems and System Models](https://www.knowatom.com/systems-and-system-models) [![New call-to-action](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/347944/b5a1446e-d782-4a5f-a019-0b3b98c8304f.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/347944/b5a1446e-d782-4a5f-a019-0b3b98c8304f) Standards citation: NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. 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