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Roll of the Genes

Students explore how genes affect important traits such as growth, reproduction, disease resistance, and behavior and discover the responsibilities of an animal geneticist.

Grades
3 – 5
Estimated Time
Two 45-minute sessions
Updated
January 31, 2023

Background

Lesson Activities

Credits

Author

Mandi Bottoms and Sherrie Taylor Vann | California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom

Acknowledgements

This lesson was funded in 2012 by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture through the Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grants Program (SPECA). Graphics submitted by California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom.

Executive Director: Judy Culbertson
Illustrator: Erik Davison
Layout and Design: Nina Danner

Standards

National Content Area Standards

  • Science
    • 3-LS3: Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
      • 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.
      • 3-LS3-2: Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment.
    • 4-LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
      • 4-LS1-1: Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.