Students investigate a phenomenon where a kitten, “Creamsicle”, with cream fur is born to orange fur parents. Readings and activities support students in making sense about patterns in inheritance. Throughout the unit, students have multiple opportunities to create and revise their scientific models about Creamsicle’ fur color in light of evidence they collect from activities. Ultimately, the model and explanation students create is to explain how and why Creamsicle could be born with cream fur; however, knowing the big science ideas behind the system allows students to explain multiple related events, including events in their own families. This unit was written by Colleen LaMotte and Amy Peterson in collaboration with University of Washington’s Ambitious Science Teaching Group and Highline Public Schools. Note: Teachers will want to be prepared to talk with students about multiracial and LGBTQ families and complement this curriculum with anti-bias curriculum. Links to resources are included in the unit.
Inheritance Unit – Grade 1
Ambitious Teaching—An overview
In this video we illustrate what Ambitious Teaching looks like in classrooms ranging from high school to kindergarten. The practices were developed through collaborations between teachers and researchers, and they are continually evolving as we learn more about how they work with young learners. There are several themes that you’ll see in all examples, such as a focus on puzzling and complex phenomena, opportunities to make sense through talk, making thinking visible, attending to who is participating, using various forms of scaffolding and tools, and much more.
This site is primarily funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Award #1907471 and #1315995