The Next Generation: Do Baby Plants Look Like Their Parents?
Sim Lesson
Students use The Next Generation simulation to cross two parent plants, grow 100 offspring, and compare the babies' flower colors to the parents. Lesson Purpose Students often think all offspring look identical to their parents. Growing 100 offspring shows that babies inherit their parents' kinds of traits, but the group still varies.
Have you ever noticed that a puppy looks a lot like its parents, but not exactly the same? Plants are like that too. When two plants have baby plants, do the babies look like their parents? In this lesson, you will use The Next Generation simulation to cross two parent plants, grow 100 baby plants, and compare their flower colors.
Topics and standards: Science, Biology, Life Science, Simulation, Inheritance, Grades 3-5, Heredity & Variation of Traits, 3-LS3-1, SC.4.L.16.2, TEKS Science 4.13.B, 3.1.3.C