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.