Can you predict what an animal's babies will look like?

Offspring Trait Variation
4.9 (731 reviews)
Lesson narration:
English Spanish
Scroll for prep
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DISCUSS:
What do you think one of Otis and Ona’s puppies will look like?
Why do you think that?
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DISCUSS:
Compare Otis and Ona.
Which traits are SIMILAR? Which traits are DIFFERENT?
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DISCUSS:
What kind of fur do you think Otis and Ona’s puppies will have?
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Step
01/17
You’ll work with a partner.
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Step
02/17
Get your supplies.
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Step
03/17
Use a crayon to color Archie’s eyes brown and Bella’s eyes blue.
Then, use a crayon to color Archie’s fur yellow and Bella’s fur brown.
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Step
04/17
Discuss.
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Step
05/17
Here’s how the Coin Cup works.
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Step
06/17
Let’s practice! Make sure the coin is in the cup. Place your hand over
the opening. Then, shake the cup for 5 seconds. When you’re done,
look inside the cup to see the coin.
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Step
07/17
Make sure the coin is in the cup. Cover the opening with your hand.
Shake the cup for 5 seconds. Then, look in the cup. Based on the
coin, circle either “floppy” or “pointy” on your worksheet.
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Step
08/17
Draw the ears of your Possible Puppy.
If you circled floppy, draw floppy ears on your puppy.
If you circled pointy, draw pointy ears on your puppy.
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Step
09/17
Shake the coin for 5 seconds. Look inside and circle what you see.
If you circled curly, draw a curly tail on your puppy.
If you circled straight, draw a straight tail on your puppy.
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Step
10/17
Shake the coin for 5 seconds. Look inside and circle what you see.
If you circled brown, color your puppy’s eyes brown.
If you circled blue, color your puppy’s eyes blue.
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Step
11/17
Shake the coin for 5 seconds. Look inside and circle what you see.
If you circled yellow, color your puppy’s fur yellow.
If you circled brown, color your puppy’s fur brown.
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12/17
Shake the coin for 5 seconds. Look inside and circle what you see.
If you circled big, color big black spots on your puppy.
If you circled little, color little black spots on your puppy.
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Step
13/17
You can stay seated or stand up.
Make sure you can see your Possible Puppy drawing!
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Step
14/17
Look at the traits of YOUR Possible Puppy.
Follow along and show the class what YOUR puppy looks like!
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Step
15/17
Give your puppy a name and write it here.
Then, discuss:
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Step
16/17
Place the Parents worksheet next to the Puppy worksheet.
Discuss. Then circle the answer on your Puppy worksheet.
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Step
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Discuss:
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DISCUSS: (1 of 2)
Does Marianne have any traits that are SIMILAR to those of her dad and mom?
Does she have any traits that are DIFFERENT?
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DISCUSS: (2 of 2)
Does Marianne have any traits that are SIMILAR to those of her brother and
sister? Does she have any traits that are DIFFERENT?
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offspring


1 of 7

babies
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trait


2 of 7

something you can observe about a living thing, such as the ears of a dog
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similar


3 of 7

having some things in common
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different


4 of 7

not the same
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predict


5 of 7

to guess what will happen based on things you know
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variation


6 of 7

differences in a trait, such as the floppy or pointy ears of a dog
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observe


7 of 7

to pay close attention to something
Can you predict what an animal's babies will look like?
Offspring Trait Variation
4.9 (731 reviews)

Featured Reviews

“This was a really great lesson and helped the students discover why babies look similar but not the same to their parents.”
· Chandra · Teacher
“Loved it! The students were super engaged with the coin activity. Plus the puppy/dog example was super interesting to them because littles love dogs. The coloring and drawing portion were development appropriate. The kids had a blast and I was able to teach an important standard. :) ”
· Veronica · Teacher
“The activity was very effective in teaching my students about offspring variations. The step by step directions were very helpful and the activity went very smoothly!”
· Michelle · Teacher
“The kids LOVED this so much! The step-by-step instructions were so easy to follow. They were really excited to see what their puppies would look like! Thank you!”
· Valarie · Teacher
“Loved this lesson!! The students were excited and engaged. Great way to learn more about traits in an age appropriate way!”
· Jenny · Teacher
“The children loved it! Getting to see the puppies at the end kept my kiddos fully engaged!”
· Karen · Teacher
“Students were really engaged in this activity. It was a great way to explain why everyone looks different and how traits are passed down. ”
· Danielle · Teacher
“kids wer engaged and amazed ”
· Kelly · Teacher
“Very engaging and the students enjoyed the activity. We learned some great new vocab, too!”
· Christine · Teacher
“This was such a fun activity for the kids to do! They loved shaking the coin cups to figure out the traits of their puppies.”
· Joanne · Teacher
“It was SO much fun! The kids LOVED it! I definitely would recommend to keep this lesson for the future. Very easy to follow directions and the students REALLY understood the concept after the lesson! Thanks for including this lesson! ”
· Angela · Teacher
“Easy to follow instructions with the visuals step by step made it simple and fun for the students! Thank you!”
· Victoria · Teacher
“This was an awesome lesson! My students were engaged and loved it! The directions were really great for my 1st graders!”
· Betsy · Teacher
“This was so well done! It was very engaging and my students LOVED the activity!”
· Melissa · Teacher
“An excellent hands on lesson that kept my students on task and interested, as well as promoting lots of discussion. ”
· Kelly · Teacher
“My students loved it! What a fun, engaging, easy way to help them understand what traits are!”
· · Teacher
“This was so engaging! My students loved it! ”
· Ashley · Teacher
“We liked the fun and engaging experiment!”
· Chelsea · Teacher
“We absolutely loved this lesson! The kids loved drawing the traits of their puppies and seeing how their own puppy was different from all the other puppies!”
· Elizabeth · Teacher
“My class really loved this lesson. I loved how it really showed how traits can come from either parent. The students loved the coin toss! I am excited that this lesson has been added in!”
· Krista · Teacher
“Clear, well-paced lesson. Students understand the concept and vocabulary after completing!”
· Kelly · Homeschooler
“The kids were so engaged in this lesson. They liked the cup and coin part of it. It was exciting to see what the puppies might look like from their drawings. ”
· Char · Teacher
“I did this lesson with my beginning of the year Second grade class and they loved it! It was an interesting and effective way to learn about inherited traits. ”
· Stephanie · Teacher
“Students loved it and were SUPER engaged with penny part to pick the variation.”
· Sarah · Teacher
“Students loved seeing what their puppy would look like. It was a great interactive activity. ”
· · Teacher
Lesson narration:
English Spanish

Activity Prep

Print Prep
In this lesson, students gather evidence that animal offspring look like, but not exactly like, their parents. In the activity, Possible Puppies, students play a game that models how puppies look similar to their parents, but each puppy can vary in many ways.
Preview activity

Vocabulary

Vocabulary

Student slideshow: English | Spanish

Teacher printout: English & Spanish
What you’ll need for student
Possible Puppy worksheet 1 per student
Puppy Parents worksheet 1 per student
Crayons
We suggest each student has black, brown, yellow, blue, and pink crayons.
5 crayons per student
Dixie Cups (3 oz)
1 cup per student
Coins
We suggest pennies, but any small 2-sided coins should work.
1 coin per student
Prep Instructions

We suggest students work in pairs.

Prepare Your Coin Cups

Place one penny (or other type of small coin) in each cup to make it easier to distribute these supplies.

Standards

Jump to

Exploration

10 mins

Hands-On Activity

30 mins

Wrap-Up

15 mins

Extend this lesson

Reading

Reading

Why do family members look alike?

You can continue exploring traits of parents and offspring with a Mystery Science read-along. In this story a young girl notices that baby animals look a lot like the adults in their families—and then discovers that she does, too! The story includes a short exercise where students get moving by acting like farm animals.

You can find the read-along here.

Activity

Activity

Baby Animal Matchup Game

In this Mystery Science activity extension, you'll match animal parents to their babies! Print enough picture cards so that each student can have a parent animal or a baby animal. We suggest printing two copies of the parent animal cards and enough baby animals for the rest of the class since many babies can group with the same two parents.

Cut out the pictures and put each one in its own envelope to distribute to your students. Hand out the envelopes and then ask your students to find their parents or babies. You can even try variations of this game where students either use animal sounds or act out their animals in order to find one another!

Transcripts

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Credits
 
Animal Superpowers Lesson 2: Can you predict what an animal's babies will look like?

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