1-LS3-1: Young Plants and Animals and Their Parents
Also called NGSS 1-LS3-1 · Topic: Structure, Function, and Information Processing · Life Science
The Official Wording
Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents.
Clarification statement: Examples of patterns could include features plants or animals share. Examples of observations could include leaves from the same kind of plant are the same shape but can differ in size; and, a particular breed of dog looks like its parents but is not exactly the same.
Assessment boundary: Assessment does not include inheritance or animals that undergo metamorphosis or hybrids.
NGSS Lead States, 2013 · Read it on nextgenscience.org · checked October 15, 2026
What 1-LS3-1 Means in Plain English
First graders observe young plants and animals next to their parents and explain what they share and what differs. Puppies of one breed share their parents' ear shape and coat type, yet each pup has its own markings. Leaves work the same way.
Children describe likenesses and differences only, without genes or how traits pass down, and they skip animals that change form, like frogs and butterflies, and crosses between two kinds, like a mule. In 3rd grade, students learn that traits come from parents and vary (3-LS3-1).
1-LS3-1 I Can Statements
- I can tell how a young plant looks like its parent.
- I can find ways a baby animal differs from its parents.
- I can use what I observe as evidence for my idea.
1-LS3-1 Worked Example
A schoolyard investigation with leaves from a grown maple tree and a young maple sprouting beneath it.
Do leaves from a young maple look like leaves from the big maple next to it?
Set It Up: Five leaves picked from a grown maple, five from a maple sapling growing beneath it, connecting cubes for measuring, and crayons and paper for leaf rubbings.
- Make a rubbing of each leaf and lay the rubbings in two rows.Ten rubbings, two rows
- Count the pointed lobes on every leaf.Same pointed lobes in both rows
- Measure each leaf's length in connecting cubes.Big tree: 4 to 6 cubes. Sapling: 3 to 5 cubes
- Compare the color and the edges of the leaves.Same jagged edges, some greener or lighter
- Sort what they found into a chart of same and different.Same: shape, lobes, edges. Different: size, color
The sapling's leaves had the same shape, lobes and jagged edges as the big tree's, but their sizes and shades of green were not all the same.
Why it works: Young plants grow into the same kind of plant as their parents, so they share the main features, but every living thing varies a little.
Common Mistakes with 1-LS3-1
Expecting an exact copy
“That leaf is smaller, so it isn't from a maple.”
Try this: Check the features that define the kind, like shape and lobes. Size and color can differ while the leaf is still a maple leaf.
Comparing with the wrong parent
Holding an oak leaf next to the maple sapling's leaves
Try this: Compare the young plant with grown plants of the same kind, ideally the one it likely came from, so the comparison is fair.
Judging from one leaf
One giant leaf from the big tree compared with one tiny sapling leaf
Try this: Gather several leaves from each plant. Looking at a set shows the usual shape and the normal range of sizes, not one odd leaf.
Where 1-LS3-1 Fits
Practice 1-LS3-1
Quick Check
- A puppy and its mother are the same breed. Name one way they are alike.
- Two leaves from one tree are different sizes. Are they from different kinds of trees?
- Why look at many leaves instead of one?