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Trait Clues at the Red Mesa Field Station

Analyze desert plant and kit fox family records to find inherited traits, variation, and evidence-based predictions.

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
15 questions
Classroom-ready

Details

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

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students use family data to identify traits shared by parents and offspring.
Students compare offspring records to describe variation within a group.
Students use trait data to make and support predictions about new offspring.

How to use

Read the field-station notes together, then have students use the graphs and records to answer the questions. Ask students to cite data in the final responses.

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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Trait Clues at the Red Mesa Field Station

Use family records to find shared traits and variation.

Read the station records

Read the notes and use the graphs to study two desert families.

Records from Red Mesa

At the Red Mesa Field Station, scientists record traits in desert plants and animals. A trait is a feature, such as leaf shape or tail-tip color. Scientists compare parents with their offspring and also compare the offspring with one another.

In Creosote Family P, both parent plants had narrow leaves and yellow flowers. The station grew 10 seedlings and recorded their traits after the young plants flowered. Seven had narrow leaves, and three had broad leaves. Eight had yellow flowers, and two had pale-yellow flowers.

In Kit Fox Family Q, one parent had a dark tail tip and the other had a light tail tip. The station recorded eight pups. Five had dark tail tips, and three had light tail tips. Six pups had upright ears, and two had rounded ears.

The records do not show that every offspring will look the same. They do show patterns that scientists can use as evidence. The station keeps family labels with each record so traits from different families are not mixed together.