Norms of reaction

Okay, kiddo, imagine you have a plant. You water it, give it sunlight and fertilizer. But still, the plant grows differently from others. Some plants grow taller or shorter than others, some have bigger leaves, and some may have more flowers. This is sort of like how people can grow up differently based on the environment they're in.

In science, we call this the "norms of reaction." It means that when we talk about traits like height or strength, it's not just genes that determine them. The environment you grow up in can also play a big role.

For example, if you eat healthy food, exercise, and get enough rest, you'll probably grow up to be stronger and healthier than someone who eats junk food, never exercises, and stays up late every night. That's because your body is reacting to the environment it's in.

But here's the cool part: even if two people have the exact same genetic code, they can still have different norms of reaction because of different environments. One person might grow taller because they eat a lot of nutritious food, while the other person might not grow as tall because they don't have access to the same quality of food.

TL;DR - Norms of reaction are like how plants and people can grow differently based on their environment. Even if two people have the same genes, different environments can cause them to have different traits.