3-LS3-1: Traits from Parents and Differences Among Young
Also called NGSS 3-LS3-1 · Topic: Inheritance and Variation of Traits: Life Cycles and Traits · Life Science
The Official Wording
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.
Assessment boundary: Assessment does not include genetic mechanisms of inheritance and prediction of traits. Assessment is limited to non-human examples.
NGSS Lead States, 2013 · Read it on nextgenscience.org · checked October 15, 2026
What 3-LS3-1 Means in Plain English
Third graders study data, like photos, tallies and charts, to show that young plants and animals get traits from their parents. They also see that brothers and sisters from the same parents can look different, such as kittens in one litter with different fur.
Examples come from plants and animals, not people, and students describe patterns without learning about genes or predicting what offspring will look like. This builds on 1-LS3-1 and leads to 3-LS3-2 on traits shaped by surroundings and to MS-LS3-2.
3-LS3-1 I Can Statements
- I can show that young animals get traits from parents.
- I can describe how siblings can look different.
- I can use a chart to compare parents and young.
3-LS3-1 Worked Example
A data task with photos of a rabbit family from a local farm: one mother, one father and six babies.
Do the baby rabbits look like their parents, and do they all look the same?
Set It Up: Photos of a mother rabbit, a father rabbit and their six kits, plus a trait chart with columns for fur color, spots and ear shape.
- Fill in the chart for the mother and father first.Mother: brown, no spots. Father: white with black spots. Both: upright ears
- Fill in a row for each of the six kits.6 rows completed
- Tally the fur patterns.Brown: 3. White with black spots: 2. White with brown spots: 1
- Tally the ear shapes.Upright: 6
- Circle each trait a kit shares with a parent.Every kit shares traits with a parent
Every kit had traits from its parents, yet the six kits did not all look alike.
Why it works: Young animals inherit traits from both parents, and each baby gets a different mix, so siblings vary.
Common Mistakes with 3-LS3-1
Expecting babies to be exact copies
“All the babies should be brown like their mom.”
Try this: Point to the tally. Young get traits from both parents, and each one gets a different mix, so siblings can differ.
Counting learned things as traits from parents
“The rabbit comes when called because its mom did.”
Try this: Sort traits into ones an animal is born with, like fur color, and ones it learns or gains from its surroundings.
Drawing a conclusion from one baby
Looking at one brown kit and saying all kits match the mother
Try this: Record every kit in the chart before deciding. A pattern needs the whole group, not just the first baby you see.
Where 3-LS3-1 Fits
Practice 3-LS3-1
Quick Check
- Name a trait a kitten can get from its parents.
- Kittens from the same litter have different fur. Why?
- Is a dog knowing how to sit a trait from its parents?