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What do dogs and pigeons have in common?
Traits, Survival, & Selection Unit | Lesson 1 of 3
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What do dogs and pigeons have in common?

Traits, Survival, & Selection Unit | Lesson 1 of 3
Lesson narration:
English Spanish
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DISCUSS:
What differences can you notice in these pigeons’ traits?
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DISCUSS:
Look at these pigeon offspring. Can you find some traits that look more like one parent and some traits that look more like the other parent?
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DISCUSS:
Do you think the park pigeons could have offspring that look like this?
Why or why not?
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Step
01/16
You’ll work with a partner.
Decide who will be Trait Tracker and who will be Similarity Sleuth.
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02/16
Get your supplies.
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03/16
Cut along the thick black line.
Sleuth: Cut out the 4 parent cards.
Tracker: Cut out the 8 offspring cards & put them to the side.
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04/16
Carefully observe Charlie’s pet pigeons.
Discuss:
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Tracker: Glue the Tango & Toto cards into the top two boxes.
Sleuth: Glue the Sonic & Stardust cards into the top two boxes.
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Tracker: Get the 8 offspring cards and lay them all out on your desk.
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Look carefully at all the traits of the pigeon offspring.
Try to match each pigeon with the correct pair of parents.
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08a/16
Review how you sorted your pigeon cards with your partner.
Make your final choices about which offspring belong to which
parents.
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Here’s what we said.
Check your pigeon families to make sure they look like this.
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Sleuth: Glue all of Sonic & Stardust’s offspring into the boxes.
Tracker: Glue all of Tango & Toto’s offspring into the boxes.
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Discuss as a class.
Sleuth: Answer question 1 on your Sonic & Stardust worksheet.
Tracker: Answer question 1 on your Tango & Toto worksheet.
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Discuss as a class.
Sleuth: Answer question 2 on your Sonic & Stardust worksheet.
Tracker: Answer question 2 on your Tango & Toto worksheet.
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Discuss as a class.
Sleuth: Answer question 3 on your Sonic & Stardust worksheet.
Tracker: Answer question 3 on your Tango & Toto worksheet.
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Charlie wants her future pigeons to have even more foot feathers.
Discuss:
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Sable and Doodle had babies together.
Examine the traits of their offspring.
Discuss:
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Charlie wants her future pigeons to have even more head feathers.
Discuss:
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Topaz and Cookie had babies together.
Examine the traits of their offspring.
Discuss:
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DISCUSS:
Which traits do you think people selected for in each of these pigeon breeds?
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DISCUSS:
How could all these different dog breeds be related to ancient wolves?
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offspring


1 of 8

babies
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siblings


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offspring that have the same parents
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trait


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something you can observe about a living thing, such as the color of a pigeon’s feathers
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variation


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differences in a trait between living things of the same kind, such as different feather colors of pigeons
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inherit


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to get a trait from parents
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artificial selection


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the process of humans choosing certain traits of living things so that they are passed to the offspring
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ancestor


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a relative that lived long ago
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breed


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a group of living things with specific traits that have been selected by people over time; for example, pugs are a breed of dog
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Featured Reviews

“My students and I thoroughly enjoyed this lesson. I heard them discussing observable traits with their partners and using other science vocabulary during our work time. ”
· Amanda · Teacher
“The materials were great, and easy to use and implement. It was a great visual when learning hereditary traits for the students.”
· Audrey · Teacher
“My students were engaged and interested! They worked together in pairs, had great conversations, and made connections to the previous lessons. I used this for a formal observation, and my administrator was so impressed! We love Mystery Science!”
· Sarah · Teacher
“The entire lesson was awesome, my students enjoyed figuring out how the pigeons could mate and produce different traits. They loved the pictures and the activity. I like the vocabulary, and how it was linked to the concepts and pictures in the video. Thank You.”
· Vanita · Teacher
“My students loved this lesson! Through the whole lesson students were engaged and they were very excited when they matched the offspring with the parents. Great lesson!”
· Abbie · Teacher
“The students loved it and stayed engaged the entire lesson. ”
· Dana · Teacher
“We loved to compare and contrast the pigeons and talking about traits. ”
· Kaitlin · Other
“the activity was great, It was super fun getting to find the traits. ”
· Brenda · Homeschooler
“The engagement of the students and their ability to investigate which pigeon would give the best results for a particular trait. I also liked the fact that the handouts were easy to use and the questions were "easy" for them.”
· Angela · Teacher
“The kids loved the different pigeon names :) but it really showed them how different traits are passed on”
· Katie · Teacher
Lesson narration:
English Spanish

Grade 4

Traits, Survival, & Selection

Trait Variation, Inheritance, & Artificial Selection

3-LS3-1

Activity Prep

Print Prep
This lesson was revised on May 31, 2024. Here is a link to the previous version.
In this lesson, students explore the extreme trait variation of different dog breeds -- and pet pigeon breeds! In the activity, Pigeon Pairings, students analyze trait similarities and differences among parent, offspring, and sibling pigeons. They interpret this data to discover that the variation and inheritance of traits creates a pattern that explains why we see such extreme traits in artificially selected animal breeds.
Preview activity

I have a Mystery Pack

Pigeon Cards printout Print 15 copies
Pigeon Pairings worksheet 15 copies
Pigeon Pairings Answer Key teacher-only resource 1 copy
Glue Sticks
30 glue sticks
Scissors
30 pairs
Prep Instructions

We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can work on their own.

Exploration

12 mins

Hands-On Activity

35 mins

Wrap-Up

12 mins

Grade 4

Traits, Survival, & Selection

Trait Variation, Inheritance, & Artificial Selection

3-LS3-1

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Traits Tx Lesson 1: What do dogs and pigeons have in common?

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