Mystery Science Fates of Traits Grade 3

There are so many different varieties of dogs because...

• people chose to breed dogs with traits they wanted.

• dogs wanted to be different from each other.

• dog babies (puppies) were different from their parents.

• dogs have a lot of puppies.

The green anoles are such good climbers because...

• they like climbing trees.

• they need to be able to climb to get food that is high up in the trees.

• they need to be able to get away from brown anoles on the ground.

• the green anoles that were poor climbers were more likely to get eaten by brown anoles, so they had fewer babies.

Becky has light-colored skin. During the summer, sometimes her skin turns red if she stays in the sun too long. Which of these are true?

• Becky's skin color is a trait she got from her parents.

• Becky's skin color changed because of her experience in the summer.

• Both a and b.

Chickens living today have bigger eggs than chickens that lived a long time ago. How do you think that happened?

How does living in a group help vervet monkeys survive? Choose the best answer. Use the passage above to answer this question.

• They show each other where to find food.

• They communicate in their own language.

• They warn each other of danger.

• They groom each other's fur.

If dry weather kills many of the plants in the vervet monkeys' habitat, how would that affect the vervet monkeys? Use the passage above to answer this question.

• They would be more likely to survive.

• They would be less likely to survive.

• There would be no change.

How does living in a group help some animals survive? Give at least two animal examples other than vervet monkeys to support your answer.

Imagine you are a cat breeder who wants kittens. Choose two cats to be parents. Circle the two that you choose. Then answer the questions below.

Why did you choose your answers to question 8? Explain your reasoning.

Would all the kittens from those two cats look the same?

• YES

• NO