Inherited Trait or Instinct

·        Inherited traits are physical characteristics and behaviors that an organism gets from its parents.  It is born with them.

·        Eye color, hair color, freckles, skin color and dimples are all inherited traits in humans.  Other animals and plants also have inherited traits…some might include fur color, type of feet or body covering, flower color, or type of leaves.

·        Instincts are inherited behaviors.  Instincts do not have to be taught. 

·        Breathing, blinking, hibernation for some animals, migration for some animals, sleeping patterns, roots growing down in the ground, and plants growing toward the light are all examples of instincts.

Some traits occur because of the environment. Environment is the surroundings in which you live. Organisms develop some traits because of their environment.

A 5^th grader living in the Andes Mountains of Peru may have a larger lung capacity than a 5^th grader living near sea level in southern California.  To adapt to the high altitudes, people living at higher altitudes often have larger lung capacities than those who live at lower altitudes.

Look at the tree in the picture below. What caused it to grow sideways instead of straight up? Growing sideways is NOT an inherited trait in this tree. It is not learned. It is not instinct. It grows sideways because of its environment. The wind blows constantly where it lives. The wind caused the tree to grow sideways.

Remember that an instinct is a behavior with which an organism is born. A learned behavior helps the organism to be successful in the environment.

http://www.uen.org/core/science/sciber/sciber5/stand-5/instinct.shtml