Students write down their observations of this new species. The first thing they will notice is the differences in color between the different eggs. I picked blue and green and yellow to show variation in the species (Variation among members in the same species! 3-LS3-1).You can introduce the word “trait” here, if desired. In this activity, students count how many of each color are in the population and they make bar graphs. (Data Collecting and Analysis! 3-LS3-1) You then have the students open up the eggs and show their “seeds” (small blue and yellow pieces of pipe cleaners). You can call them anything that you feel is appropriate for the age of your students and for your curriculum.These could also be called reproductive cells. You collect these “seeds” in a bin. The next morning, the students will be excited to see that generation 2 has grown from them! You can talk about the difference between generations, like grandparents, parents, children, etc. (Life Cycles and Generations! 3-LS1-1)
On Day 2, students graph their generation 2 data and compare to the first day’s data. They should look really similar, because children look a lot like their parents. (Inheritance! 3-LS3-1)