Literacy Matters - Winter 2020

Genetics and Inheriting Traits In order to support an understanding of genetics, the teacher can create a Mommy Monster and a Daddy Monster. Each parent monster will have particular traits, such as sharp teeth, scales or fur, horns, number of eyeballs, and number of arms and legs or fingers and toes. For example, the Mommy Monster may have one eye, two horns, polka dots, four arms, and fur. The Daddy Monster may have three eyes, no horns, scales, one tooth and a big tail. Students will choose two traits for their Mini Monster that must be inherited from Mommy Monster, and two traits that must be inherited from Daddy Monster. The teacher may choose to adjust the number of traits inherited as needed for their class and students, or choose to give students autonomy in determining how many traits are inherited from each parent monster. information that they wish, such as where the monster family lives, their Mini Monster’s favorite subject in school, or what foods their Mini Monster likes to eat. For students who may need more support, the teacher could provide a fill-in-the-blank template for the Mini Monster writing or provide choices for the student to choose from and circle prior to writing. For example, the writing paper could say: “Mini Monster inherited ____ and ____ from Mommy Monster” or “Mini Monster inherited: one eye, two horns, stripes, fur” and the student circles the two traits they chose. For students who are early finishers or faster writers, the student could create a Brother Monster or Sister Monster. Through this writing, students will learn what genes and traits are, what it means to inherit a gene or trait, and different genes or traits that may be inherited. Students can then write about their Mini Monster. This writing will include a detailing of the traits that were inherited by each parent, the things that the Mini Monster likes or does not like, and the traits that the Mini Monster has that neither parent has. The student can add in any other creative

Breakdown of Unit Topics and Standards Across each of these topics, students are asked to research scientific subjects, collaborate with peers and their teacher, write about their research, and communicate their findings. Students are learning about the science topic through their writing process. Research, collaboration, writing, and communication are all important areas addressed in each of the four categories of standards below.

Reading Matters Writing Matters

SC SCIENCE STANDARDS

NEXT GEN SCIENCE STANDARDS

SC ELA STANDARDS

COMMON CORE ELA STANDARDS

TOPIC

W.2.7 W.2.8

2-LS4-1 3-LS4-4

I.1.3.2 I.2.3.2 I.3.3.2 I.4.3.2 I.2.4.1

2.L.5A.1 2.L.5B.1 3.L.5A.2 5.L.4B.2 5.L.4B.3

Food Chain, Predators and

Prey, and Habitats

4.E.2A.2

W.1.3.1 W.2.3.1 W.3.3.1 W.4.3.1 W.1.2.1 W.2.2.1 W.1.3.2 W.2.3.2 W.1.6.1 W.2.6.1

Water Cycle

4.E.3A.1

5-ESS1-2

Solar System

W.1.7 W.1.8

4.L.5A.4

1-LS3-1 3-LS3-1

Genetics and Inheriting Traits

When planning your own science units for your students, look through your grade level standards and brainstorm ways in which you can integrate research, writing, and communication into the science standard you are planning to teach. Giving students choice in how they write and communicate their learning is an important piece to writing to learn in science. This can be done not just in science, but in other core content areas as well.

TYPE OF STANDARDS ADDRESSED STANDARD SC Academic Standards and Performance Indicators for Science • 4.L.5A.4: Construct scientific arguments to support claims that some characteristics of organisms are inherited from parents and some are influenced by the environment Next Generation Science Standards • 1-LS3-1: Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their 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 • W.1.3.2/W.2.3.2: Plan, revise, and edit, focusing on a topic while building on personal ideas and the ideas of others to strengthen writing • W.1.6.1/W.2.6.1: Write routinely and perseveres in writing tasks for a variety of purposes and audiences • W.1.7: Participate in shared research and writing projects • W.1.8: With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question

SC College and Career- Ready Standards for English Language Arts

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts

| 32 | Literacy Matters | Volume 20 • Winter 2020 | scira.org

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