Appendix
Implementation of District Standards
This unit is designed for third grade, but can be adapted for higher grades quite easily. It is based on the Next Generation Science Standards, which, as of 2018, is in the final stages of adoption by the New Haven Public Schools district. Under the life science section for third grade, student learning must include:
3-LS1-1. Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death. [Clarification Statement: Changes organisms go through during their life form a pattern.]
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.]
3-LS3-2. Use evidence to support the explanation that the environment can influence traits. [Clarification Statement: Examples of the environment affecting a trait could include normally tall plants grown with insufficient water are stunted; and, a pet dog that is given too much food and little exercise may become overweight.]
3-LS4-2. Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing. [Clarification Statement: Examples of cause and effect relationships could be plants that have larger thorns than other plants may be less likely to be eaten by predators; and, animals that have better camouflage coloration than other animals may be more likely to survive and therefore more likely to leave offspring.]
This unit is designed to supplement and enhance the content related to inherited traits found in the Next Generation Science Standards. While selective breeding is indeed connected to these topics, there is still a great deal for students to learn about inherited traits. Inherited traits in humans is not addressed at the third-grade level, so this unit should serve as a valuable and practical application using dogs instead.
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