Rocket lines up three bean seedlings on the windowsill. "Copies!" he says. "Each one is the same as the bean plant they came from."
Raven tilts her head. "What do you notice about their leaves?"
Nova hovers beside the cups. "Look for ways they match," she says. "Then look for one way they differ."
Rocket squints. "Hmm. They are not perfect copies after all."
A trait is a feature of a living thing.
Leaf shape is a trait. Flower color is a trait. Seed shape is a trait.
Many traits are inherited. That means they come from the parents.
A bean seed grows into a bean plant, not a maple tree!
| Parent plant | Its offspring will be... |
|---|---|
| bean plant | a bean plant |
| oak tree | an oak tree |
| sunflower | a sunflower |
Offspring look a lot like their parents.
But they are not exact copies.
Seedlings from the same parent can differ from each other too.
Scientists study these likenesses and differences. They call them patterns.
Long ago, a monk named Gregor Mendel lived in Austria.
He did thousands of experiments with pea plants.
He studied how traits, like color and shape, pass from parents to offspring.
He found patterns in how traits pass down from parents to offspring.
| Statement | True or false? |
|---|---|
| Many traits are inherited from parents. | ? |
| Offspring are always exact copies of their parents. | ? |
| Seedlings from one parent can differ from each other. | ? |
| Flower color is a trait. | ? |
Great observing! Tomorrow we look closely at a pile of beans. Are any two exactly the same?