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Reviewed by: Susan Allison (Benton, AR) on 11/30/2020 12:32:33 PM
Please update. Thanks-
Groups of students set up a small freshwater aquarium (made from gallon jars) that feature a male guppy, a female guppy, and a green plant. After the female guppy goes through her pregnancy and gives birth, the students will then observe, over time, the development of the fry into male and female guppies with characteristics similar to the parents.
3-LS3-1 Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exists in a group of similar organisms. Clarification Statement: Patterns are the similarities and differences in traits shared between offspring and their parents, or among siblings. Emphasis is on organisms other than humans. Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include genetic mechanisms of inheritance and prediction of traits. Assessment is limited to non-human examples.
This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this performance expectation.
Comments about Including the Performance Expectation The instructional materials include student journal pages to record observations, but the performance expectation could be further strengthened if the students took pictures of the mother, father and offspring and made a visual family tree. To help the students analyze and interpret the data that they have collected, the teacher could provide the students with labeled Venn diagrams to record the similarities and differences between (1) the male and female guppies (before the fry are born), (2) the parents and their offspring, and (3) two of the offspring.
This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this science and engineering practice.
Comments about Including the Science and Engineering Practice Student observing and recording their observations about the guppy family traits in their journal is a type of data recording that is appropriate for this age level. To further evaluate and analyze the data, students could also make data tables together as a class. How many offspring looked just like one of their parents? How many offspring looked different from both of their parents? Due to the fact that guppies need a temperature of 65 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit to survive, the teacher may wish to plan this activity around the proper weather conditions if the classroom is not heated/cooled during non-school hours.
This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this disciplinary core idea.
Comments about Including the Disciplinary Core Idea Students are observing the baby guppies to see the traits that they have inherited from their parents. Coloration is the most obvious, but students may observe many other traits such as size, tail shape, body shape. To reinforce the idea of fry inheriting traits from their parents, the teacher could project pictures of all of the male guppies on the LCD for the students to carefully observe. Then, the teacher could add a picture of one of the male fry to the screen. Ask the students to try to identify the father of the baby guppy. Discuss clues that might lead to solving the puzzle of who might be the father. Guide the students to observe markings, colors, and tail and body shape during this exercise. Note: Because female guppies are quite plain, using the brightly colored and patterned males will make this activity easier.
This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this crosscutting concept.
Comments about Including the Crosscutting Concept Students should use the patterns of the parents and offspring as evidence that animals have traits that they have inherited from parents and that there are variations of these traits that exist in a group of similar organisms. In third grade, the grade band boundary for this concept suggests that students do not try to make any predictions about the offspring, only observe.