Reference Sheet: Pictures of 3 cross-bred dog families, needed for both the support and the core handout activity
Support Handout (1): The handout provides sentence starters where children identify inherited characteristics from the dogs.
Core Handout (2): The handout provides questions prompting the children to identify inherited characteristics, differences and environmental factors.
Challenge Handout (4): The handout provides pictures of 2 different dogs and space for the children to draw and explain what their offspring may look like.
Enquiry Approach - Identifying, grouping & classifying
Using observations, data and findings to name, label and organise items in a variety of ways.
Enquiry Skill - Interpreting and communicating results
Using information, results and data to present findings, including oral and written explanations.
Ask the children what is meant by the term ‘offspring’. Can they think back to previous learning to discuss whether all offspring look like their parents? In Year 2, pupils will have learnt that animals have offspring. They will have learnt about animal characteristics in Year 4 and reproduction in Year 5. Use the expert film to secure the understanding of offspring and whether it looks like its parent.
Expert Film: Zoologist Mike Linley discusses how animals of different species share characteristics from both parents.
If appropriate to your class and being sensitive to different children's situations, ask the children whether they look like their parents. They could even bring photos in of their parents/grandparents and identify characteristics they have inherited (hair colour, eye colour, height etc.) Use your professional judgement as to whether this slide is appropriate for your children in your class and miss this slide if necessary.
The presentation explains how offspring are the same kind as their parents, yet inherit different characteristics and this produces variations in animals. The slides will explain that offspring are not identical to their parents (if appropriate, ask the children if they look identical to their parents). The children will examine the offspring produced from crossbred dogs. The children will begin to understand that there is always some variation between parents and their offspring. The children will also be given the opportunity to think about the ways in which environmental factors might bring about variation in species.
Using the handout, ask the children to examine the images of crossbred dogs - two parents and a puppy. Which characteristics have the offspring inherited from their parents? What variations in the puppy can the children identify? Ask the children to consider which other characteristics may have been caused by environmental factors.
Alternatively, the children can use the dog family images and write answers straight into their exercise books or work in groups to present their findings to the class.
Challenge Task: Show the children the picture of 2 breeds of dog (included on the handout). Ask them to draw and describe what they think their offspring might look like. Which characteristics could they inherit from their parents?
Discuss variations between siblings. Why are siblings not identical to each other? If possible, ask children's siblings from other classes to visit the lesson. Do they look similar? Which characteristics have they inherited? There may be identical twins in the school who might be willing to join in the lesson: discuss how identical twins have inherited the same characteristics from their parents, however, as they grow they will make different environmental choices which may change the way they look. This has been purposefully planned as a discussion so that teachers can be sensitive to the varying situations of the children in their classes. Teachers may decide to link this concept with a PSHE topic.
Offspring vary from their parents due to genetic variation, which is the result of a combination of genetic material from both parents during the process of reproduction. This genetic variation is the reason why offspring are not identical to their parents, and why they can have different physical and behavioural characteristics, although offspring are always of the same kind as their parents.
The process of sexual reproduction involves the fusion of gametes, which are specialised cells that carry genetic material from the parents. During this process, the genetic material from each parent combines to produce a unique genetic code for the offspring. This genetic code determines many physical and behavioural traits, such as eye colour, hair colour, height, and personality.
In addition to genetic variation, offspring can also be affected by environmental factors, which can influence how genes are expressed. For example, the diet, temperature, and exposure to pollutants or other environmental factors can affect how genes are expressed, and can lead to differences in physical and behavioural traits.
The variation between offspring and their parents is an important factor in the process of evolution, as it allows for natural selection to occur. Natural selection is the process by which certain traits become more or less common in a population over time, based on how well they allow individuals to survive and reproduce in a particular environment. The genetic variation between offspring and their parents creates a diversity of traits that can be selected for or against, depending on how well they allow individuals to adapt to their environment. Over time, this can lead to the evolution of new species with unique physical and behavioural characteristics.
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