trait

A characteristic that makes one organism different from another

heredity

The process by which traits are passed from parents to offspring (children).

gene

The basic unit of heredity. Contains the directions for all your traits.

direct development

A kind of growth in which an organism gets larger but doesn’t go through other changes.

metamorphosis

Major changes in the body form during the life cycle of an organism.

basic needs

Food, air, water, and shelter that an organism needs to survive.

adaptation

A body part of behavior that helps and organism survive.

natural selection

The strongest and best adapted to an environment will be able to survive and have babies.

instinct

A behavior that an animal is born knowing how to do.

hibernation

A dormant, inactive state, in which normal body activities slow. (Instinct)

migration

The movement of animals from one region to another and back. (Instinct)

learned behavior

A behavior that an animal needs to be taught how to do. They are not born knowing how to do this.

Heredity is the name for the process of passing on genes from parents to children. Your genes carry the instructions for all your traits. Some examples of traits would be eye color, hair color, freckles, being right or left handed, and dimples. Can you think of some more?

Think back to the dog pictures we created. The colored strips with codes were the genes and they gave you directions on how to draw the traits on your dog.

Some animals go through direct development. This means they just get bigger as they get older and don’t change that much. You and I are an example. What are some other animals that go through direct development?

The five stages of the human life cycle are: 1. Infant 2. Child 3. Adolescent or teenager 4. Adult 5. Senior Organisms that change a lot from when they are a baby to an adult go through metamorphosis. A caterpillar is a great example of that. Can you think of others?

Adaptations help an animal survive. Think about the following animals. What is special about them and how does it help that animal? giraffe beaver lion birds Remember, adaptations take hundreds to thousands of years to develop. Use your green sheet from the video on adaptations to help you review more about them.

Sometimes animals are born knowing how to do things. These are called instincts. Try and name some instincts that you or I might have as babies. What are some instincts animals might be born with? Look back at the list in our science notebook to help you.

Two examples of instincts are hibernation and migration. Animals are born already knowing if they need to hibernate or migrate. No one had to teach them. They are programmed to do it automatically. •

Can you tell me what happens to an animal when they hibernate and some animals that hibernate? Your science book can help you review in case you forgot. Use page 143.

Sometimes animals and people need to be taught things to help them survive. These are called learned behaviors because we have to learn them. What are some things you have learned to do since you were born?

What might be some things that animals need to learn?