Like Their Parents, but Not Exactly: Young Plants and Animals

A puppy grows up to be a dog, and a sunflower seed grows into a sunflower. Young plants and animals look like their parents. But look closely: a kitten’s fur may not be the same color as its mother’s, and a young tree is much smaller than the old one. Let’s find out what is the same and what is different.

This lesson takes about 15 minutes. You can take a break after each part.

Before you start

Like Their Parents, but Not Exactly: Young Plants and Animals

Learning objectives

  • I can tell how young animals are like their parents.
  • I can tell how young animals are different from their parents and from each other.
  • I can tell how young plants are like, but not exactly like, their parent plant.
  • I can compare a young plant or animal with its parent, one feature at a time.

Young animals look like their parents

The same kind of animal

A puppy grows up to be a dog, and a kitten grows up to be a cat. Young animals are the same kind of animal as their parents.

The same body parts

A duckling has feathers, a beak and webbed feet, like its mother. A kitten has fur, whiskers and a tail, like its mother.

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But not exactly alike

Different from their parents

A foal is much smaller than its mother. A baby swan is gray and fluffy, while its parents are white. A spotted puppy has spots in different places from its mother’s.

Different from each other

Brothers and sisters look alike, but not exactly. In one family of kittens, one can be black, one orange and one striped.

Two grown-up dogs, one white with black spots and one golden, stand behind four puppies. Two puppies are spotted like the first dog, and two are golden like the second.
The puppies look like their parents, but not exactly: each one has its own coat, size and face.

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Young plants and their parents

From seed to plant

A seed grows into the same kind of plant as the plant it came from. A sunflower seed grows into a sunflower, and a bean seed grows into a bean plant.

Alike, but not exactly

A young maple tree has leaves with the same shape as the big maple tree, but it is much smaller. Bean plants from the same parent are not all the same height.

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Compare like a scientist

One feature at a time

To compare a young plant or animal with its parent, look at one feature at a time: the body parts, the shape, the color, then the size.

Same or different?

For each feature, say if it is the same or different. A young pine tree has needles like the old pine, but it is shorter and its trunk is thinner.

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Review game

Final assessment

To master the lesson, you need at least 60% correct answers.

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Summary

  • Young animals are the same kind of animal as their parents and have the same body parts.
  • They are not exactly like their parents: size, color or spots can be different.
  • Brothers and sisters look alike, but each one is a little different.
  • A seed grows into the same kind of plant as its parent, alike but not exactly.
  • To compare, look at one feature at a time and say what is the same and what is different.

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