- How would you describe a cow to someone that had never seen one?
- Did you use ideas like walks on 4 legs, has a tail, has fur, 2 sideways ears and says “Moo”?
- All of these characteristics are considered TRAITS of cows!
- VARIATIONS are differences in a trait.
- Notice how even though all cows have some similar basic structures, all cows aren’t identical.
- Some cow variations include:
- Coloring of brown, black, white, tan, grey and spotted.
- Long, short or no horns.
- Long or short fur.
- Small, medium or large muscles.
What variations do you see in the living things below?
- The single cow above is an INDIVIDUAL.
- A bunch of cows that live together are a POPLULATION.
- All cows in a population will share traits that identify them as a cow instead of another animal, but each individual will have variations in some traits that make it unique.
- Variations the result of differences in PROTEINS, which are small molecules that link together to build all of our body structures.
- Different proteins direct the body to build different structures that we see as variations.
- For example, the cow on the left has proteins that link together to create black fur while the cow on the right has two different proteins that create red and white fur.
How do individuals get different proteins?
What’s next?
I’m lost😱
This is the beginning of the unit so there’s no where to go but the beginning!
I need practice🤔
I think I get it, but would like some more practice!
Let’s move on👍
I’m completely comfortable with Energy Transfers, let’s apply them!