Worksheet

Family Traits at the Discovery Pavilion

Compare pea plant and guinea pig family records to find evidence of inherited traits and differences among offspring.

Grade 3ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to3-LS3-1

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What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 NGSS standard
Printable answer key
13 questions
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Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 3
Subject: Science
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students use family data to support that plants and animals get traits from their parents.
Students compare offspring data to identify trait variation within groups.

How to use

Read the investigation together, then have students use the graphs independently. Discuss how family resemblance and differences can occur together.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

3-LS3-1

Use data to show that plants and animals get traits from their parents and that traits vary in a group.

Preview

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Name Date

Family Traits at the Discovery Pavilion

Use family records to compare traits in plants and animals.

Investigate Plant Families

Read the class investigation. Use the plant graph and parent records to answer the questions.

A Class Checks Family Records

A class visited a city park's discovery pavilion to investigate family traits. A trait is a feature of a living thing, such as flower color or coat pattern. Offspring are the young of parents. Park staff shared photographs and records of pea plants and guinea pigs.

Step 1: Students checked the family labels in the staff records. They used these labels to identify each offspring's parents rather than guessing from how it looked.

Step 2: Students compared fully open pea flowers. In Family P, one parent had purple flowers and the other had white flowers. Both parents in Family Q had white flowers. The class recorded one flower color for each offspring plant.

Step 3: Students examined guinea pig photographs. Family R had one black parent with white patches and one solid-black parent. Family S had one brown parent with white patches and one solid-brown parent. Students recorded each offspring's coat.

Step 4: Students counted offspring with each trait and made graphs. They compared families, not different care treatments. Within each kind of living thing, staff kept care the same. Students did not change food, water, or growing conditions.

Which comparison of the offspring is supported by the graph?

A. Both families have two flower colors.
B. Only Family Q has two flower colors.
C. Only Family P has two flower colors.
D. Neither family has two flower colors.

How many more Family P offspring have purple flowers than white flowers? offspring plants

Select the two observations that connect an offspring's flower color to a parent's flower color.

Family P has eight offspring plants in total.Family P has a purple-flowered parent and six purple-flowered offspring.Family Q has white-flowered parents and eight white-flowered offspring.The class counted the same number of offspring in P and Q.

A student says, "White flowers cannot be a family trait in P because most P offspring have purple flowers." Which response best uses the records?

A. White appears in a parent and two offspring, even though purple is more common.
B. Only the most common flower color can be a trait shared with a parent.
C. The two white-flowered offspring probably came from Q because Q has more white flowers.
D. The purple-flowered parent means every offspring in P must have purple flowers.

Which next step would give the class more evidence about flower traits shared by parents and offspring?

A. Count the same Family P plants again without adding new records.
B. Record flower colors from more plants without checking their families.
C. Photograph more parent plants without recording any of their offspring.
D. Compare flower colors in more known parent-and-offspring pea families.

Investigate Animal Families

Use the guinea pig graph and the parent records in the investigation. A patched coat has white patches; a solid coat has no white patches.

Which observation gives evidence of a coat trait shared by a parent and its offspring?

A. Family R and Family S each have six offspring in the graph.
B. A brown-and-white parent in S has three brown-and-white offspring.
C. Family R has more patched offspring than Family S has.
D. Family S has equal numbers of patched and solid-coated offspring.

Combine both families. How many offspring have white patches on their coats? offspring

Sort the statements by whether the guinea pig graph supports them.

Family R offspring show two coat patterns.Every Family R offspring has white patches.Each family includes patched and solid-coated offspring.All offspring in both families have the same coat colors.

Supported by the graph	Not supported by the graph

Do coat traits vary among the offspring in Family S? State a claim and use numbers from the graph as evidence.

Think Across the Records

Use both investigations to judge claims and apply what the class found.

10.

A visitor says, "These records show that every pea plant has white flowers." Which evidence challenges that claim?

A. The class recorded eight offspring plants in Family Q.
B. Both parent plants in Family Q had white flowers.
C. Six offspring plants in Family P had purple flowers.
D. The class checked flowers only after they opened fully.

11.

A new guinea pig has black fur with white patches. A student guesses that it belongs to Family R. What should the class do before adding it to R's graph?

A. Check staff records to find out who its parents are.
B. Add it to R because a matching coat proves its family.
C. Add it to whichever family has fewer patched offspring.
D. Compare its coat with the flower colors in Family P.

12.

Which new record would show BOTH flower-color resemblance to parents AND flower-color differences among offspring?

A. Two white-flowered parents have six offspring, all with white flowers.
B. A purple-flowered parent and a white-flowered parent have six purple-flowered offspring.
C. Six offspring have two flower colors, but their parents' flower colors were not recorded.
D. Purple- and white-flowered parents have three purple and three white offspring.

13.

A visitor says, "If traits come from parents, offspring in one family must all look the same." Use Family P and Family R to explain why the records do not support this claim. Include parent traits and offspring numbers.