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Design an Elk Traits Exhibit

Compare museum exhibit designs using elk trait data to explain differences in survival, finding mates, and chances to reproduce.

Grade 3ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to3-LS4-2

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What’s included

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

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 data to explain how coat differences can help elk survive a cold winter.
Students explain how antler differences can help male elk find mates and have chances to reproduce.
Students judge museum exhibit designs using evidence about differences within one species.

How to use

Read the museum brief together and review each graph's labels. Have students judge the exhibit plans independently, then discuss their evidence.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

3-LS4-2

Explain how differences in traits can help some members of a species survive, find mates and reproduce.

Preview

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Name Date

Design an Elk Traits Exhibit

Use evidence to judge plans for a science museum exhibit.

Plan the Winter Model

Read the museum brief. Use the winter graph to judge the first exhibit plans.

The Exhibit Team's Brief

A science museum is planning an elk exhibit. Visitors will compare models, read graphs, and judge explanations. The exhibit focuses on differences among elk of the same species. A trait is a feature of a living thing. Elk can differ in coat thickness. Adult males can also differ in the size of their antlers.

The museum made up practice study records for this activity. The records use realistic patterns, but they are not measurements from a real herd. In the winter study, one group began with 10 elk with thicker coats. Another began with 10 elk with thinner coats. The groups were similar in age and health. They had similar food, shelter, and cold weather. The graph shows how many survived until spring.

The mating study also began with two groups of 10. These were healthy adult males of similar ages. One group had larger antlers; the other had smaller antlers. They lived in similar conditions. Male elk use antlers in contests with other males during mating season. Observers counted how many males had at least one mate. Finding a mate gives an elk a chance to reproduce, or have young.

The team needs exhibit designs that explain the evidence without promising what will happen to each elk.