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5th grade · Science · Unit 9 of 10

Traits & Variation

Traits come from parents, and the environment matters too.

What your child practices

Practices how plants and animals inherit traits from their parents, how traits vary within a family, and how the environment can change traits like size or health.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 5.L3U1.9; 5.L4U3.12 · traits passed from parents to offspring, and traits shaped by the environment

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Traits like eye color or fur color are inherited from parents.
  2. The environment can change traits too, like a plant grown in the dark turning pale.
  3. Learned behaviors, like a dog sitting on command, are not inherited.

Example: A plant in a dry pot grows short. Is that inherited or caused by its environment? The plant did not get enough water. That came from where it grew, not from its parents. Answer: its environment

Traits & Variation in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 9 of 10 in 5th grade Science, after Spinning Earth, Moving Shadows and before Engineering Challenges.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Arizona Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which trait is affected by the environment?

    • A flower's petal shape
    • A dog's number of legs
    • A bird's beak type
    • A plant's height with little water

  2. Question 2

    Which can a parent pass to its young?

    • A muddy coat
    • A learned trick
    • Spots on its fur
    • A broken leg

  3. Question 3

    Two tomato plants from the same seeds. One gets fertilizer and grows bigger. Why?

    • It is a different species
    • It is older
    • The environment was different
    • It had different parents

  4. Question 4

    Which is a learned behavior, not inherited?

    • A dog sitting on command
    • A dog's tail shape
    • A dog's eye color
    • A dog's fur type

  5. Question 5

    Which is NOT an inherited trait?

    • Speaking a language
    • Hair color
    • Freckles
    • Height range

  6. Question 6

    A hydrangea's flower color changes with the soil. This shows…

    • parents control everything
    • flowers are not alive
    • soil has no effect
    • the environment can affect traits

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