LS3 Heredity Lesson Plans

LS3 DNA
Heredity lesson plans designed for high school, middle school, and elementary school science teachers are downloadable here. The driving questions for heredity are "How are characteristics of one generation passed to the next? How can individuals of the same species and even siblings have different characteristics?" Click on the ngss units below to see a list of free lessons by standard.

  • High School LS3 Lesson Plans

    HS-LS3.A: Inheritance of Traits

    • HS-LS3-1 Lesson Plans: Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.

    HS-LS3.B: Variation of Traits

    • HS-LS3-2 Lesson Plans: Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from: (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors.
    • HS-LS3-3 Lesson Plans: Apply concepts of statistics and probability to explain the variation and distribution of expressed traits in a population.

  • Middle School LS3 Lesson Plans

    MS-LS3.A: Inheritance of Traits

    • MS-LS3-1 Lesson Plans: Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism.
    • MS-LS3-2 Lesson Plans: Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.

    MS-LS3.B: Variation of Traits

    • MS-LS3-1 Lesson Plans: Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism.
    • MS-LS3-2 Lesson Plans: Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.