1. Inherited characteristics
Human Traits
Inherited characteristics

2. What if aliens visited our planet and thought that all humans are alike….
Are we?
We are certainly different than plants or fungus!

3. Are they more alike than different? Or...more different than alike?
Humans are much more similar to each other than to plants, fungus, etc.
Are they more alike than different?
Or...more different than alike?

4. Inherited human traits
Parent organisms pass traits to their offspring so there are often similar characteristics seen in both parent and offspring.
Inherited human traits include:
Ability to roll your tongue or not
Attached or unattached earlobes
Dimples or freckles
Naturally curly or straight hair
Hitchhiker’s or straight thumb
Color-blindness or normal color vision
Widow’s peak or straight hairline
Color of skin and hair
Cleft or smooth chin
Some of these traits are not just “dominant” or “recessive”

5. Inventory of my traits What traits did I inherit?
Watch the following slides to determine YOUR traits – complete the “Inventory worksheet”

6. Earlobe Attachment
Attached
Detached (Free)

7. Hitchhiker's Thumb

8. Tongue rolling

9. Dimples

10. Handedness

11. Crossed hands
Left thumb over right
Right thumb over left

12. Freckles

13. Curly hair

14. Cleft chin

15. Color-blindness
Red-green colorblindness tests

16. Widow’s Peak

17. Mid-digit hair

18. Frequency
The rate of frequency is a statistical term that helps scientists determine how often an inherited trait occurs.
Frequency is important in discovering how much of the population differs (or is similar) from the whole.
Frequency = Number Observed/Total Population X 100
Population predictions can be made if frequencies of characteristics are known (e.g., susceptibility to flu)
Frequency can be used to predict evolutionary changes to environmental changes