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Primary 5 Science: Reproduction — Inherited and Acquired Characteristics Practice
Real Primary 5 Science questions on Reproduction — Inherited and Acquired Characteristics, pulled directly from the Olibits question bank — the same questions a child would actually see, not separately written for this page.
Curriculum alignment
Science Teaching & Learning Syllabus, Primary Three to Six (MOE, 2023 syllabus)
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Real Reproduction — Inherited and Acquired Characteristics practice questions
Eye colour is passed down from parents to their children. Is eye colour an inherited or an acquired characteristic?
Acquired characteristic
Inherited characteristic ✓
Eye colour is determined by information passed from parents to offspring, making it an inherited characteristic rather than something gained through experience.
Some people are born with attached earlobes while others have free-hanging earlobes. What type of characteristic is earlobe shape?
Neither inherited nor acquired, as it changes randomly
An acquired characteristic, developed through habit
An inherited characteristic, passed down from parents ✓
An acquired characteristic, developed through diet
Earlobe shape is determined by information inherited from one's parents at birth and does not change due to lifestyle or environment, making it an inherited characteristic.
Two puppies from the same litter, with the same parents, can still look slightly different from each other. What best explains this?
Offspring show variation even when they share the same parents ✓
The puppies belong to two different species
Acquired characteristics are being passed on differently
One puppy must have different parents from the other
Offspring inherit a mix of characteristics from both parents, and this combination differs slightly between siblings, resulting in natural variation even within the same litter.
A weightlifter's father was also very muscular from years of training. Will the weightlifter's own children be born muscular because of this?
Not necessarily, because muscle build gained through exercise is an acquired characteristic and is not passed on ✓
No, because muscles are not related to inheritance at all
Yes, because acquired characteristics become inherited after two generations
Yes, because muscular build is always inherited directly from parents
Muscle build gained from exercise is an acquired characteristic, developed during a person's lifetime. Only inherited characteristics, determined at birth, are passed on to offspring.