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I am trying to help our 5th grade teachers come up with hands-on lessons to teach inherited traits and to understand the difference between inherited and learned behaviors. Would appreciate hearing about things you have done in class with this. Thanks!

Relate it to real like ask students if they had a cut on there finger was it there from birth or did they just get it.

Hello- It's a bit of a tricky topic, as sometimes students can come up with reasonable explanations to argue inherited or environmental. I have used this curriculum from Williams College. http://learning-in-action.williams.edu/opportunities/elementary-outreach/science-lessons/5th-grade-adaptation-and-behavior-unit/ The second lesson deals with inherited vs. environmental. You might have to get creative with the images as I can't seem to get them to load properly- it's an older lesson.

I am thinking of an activity where the students can illustrate a picture of themselves. The physical features that they have such as their face shape, skin tone, eye color, and hair color are inherited traits. The students also write a paragraph about how they get ready for school, how to make their favorite foods, how to play their favorite game, or anything else that describes a learned behavior. I imagine the illustration of themselves as rather large (about two feet long) and the paragraph being pasted in the middle of their illustrations on the torso of their illustrations. I think it is important to have the students label their illustrations as inherited traits and their paragraph as learned behaviors.

You could possibly have students look at their selves in the mirror, or possibly bring a picture of their family where students can look at their own traits and then move onto looking at traits in animals. I think introducing a new concept with connecting it to the students everyday life would be the best approach.