Preview · the opening missionRead this to the class:
The farm dog had seven puppies. Both parents were black, so everyone expected seven black puppies. But when Lena looked in the basket, she counted four black puppies, two yellow ones and one brown one. "Are they really from the same parents?" she asked. They all had the same floppy ears and thick tails. So why don't young from the same parents look the same? Your team's job: read the family files, count the evidence, and explain what the young share and what makes each one different.
Teams of three, with jobs that rotate: Reader, Counter (counts and tallies) and Recorder.
Look inside the PDF
Sample pages, stamped “preview”. The download is the clean, full lesson.
In the full lesson PDF
10 printable pages
- Predict (5–10 min)
- Hunt (20 min)
- Reveal (10–15 min)
- Act (10 min)
- Background for the teacher
- Assessment
- Student sheet
- Worksheet: Family files
- Worksheet: Pea cards
- Worksheet: Label it
- Worksheet: Try it at home
On the student sheet
- My prediction
- Family files
- Our living bar graph
- A note to Lena
- Exit ticket
- Family files
- Pea cards
- Label it
- Try it at home
US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white. The student sheet is on its own page, ready to photocopy.
Free with an account (any 3 lessons), or US$19 for all 3 lessons in this unit.
What students show by the end
- Reads data
- Explains inheritance
- Explains variation
From the lesson’s rubric, which scores each one as not yet, getting there or got it.
Questions teachers ask
How long does “Why don't puppies from the same parents look the same?” take?
45–60 min. Group size: teams of 3, then the whole class.
How much prep does it need?
10 minutes. Print one copy of the Family files per team, cut into four cards. Print the Pea cards page once for the class and cut it into 32 cards (with fewer than 32 students, some hold two). Clear a strip of floor or a wall where two or four lines of students can stand.
What materials do I need?
None. No materials needed: just the printed sheets.
Which curriculum standards does it cover?
NGSS (US): 1-LS3-1 and 3-LS3-1. It also matches England National Curriculum, Year 6 and Cambridge Primary Science, Stages 2 and 3 (not endorsed by Cambridge).
What’s in the lesson PDF?
A teacher guide that walks you through predict, hunt, reveal, act, background for the teacher and assessment, then a student sheet (“My prediction”, “Family files”, “Our living bar graph”, “A note to Lena”, “Exit ticket”, “Family files”, “Pea cards”, “Label it” and “Try it at home”) on its own page, ready to photocopy. It’s US Letter and prints cleanly in black and white.
Can I try it for free?
Yes. A free account includes any 3 full lessons of your choice, and this can be one of them. After that, this unit is US$19 for all 3 lessons, yours to keep, or every lesson is US$199 a year.