STAGING
Get a free trial until June 30, 2026!
New members get full access to our science units, hands-on activities, mini-lessons, & more!

New members get a full, free trial through June 2026!
Back > Share
How do you identify a mysterious fruit?
Fates of Traits Unit | Lesson 1 of 5
Back > Share

How do you identify a mysterious fruit?

Fates of Traits Unit | Lesson 1 of 5
Lesson narration:
English Spanish
Scroll for prep
Video trouble?
Slide Image
DISCUSS (1 of 2):
What traits does the mystery fruit have in common with this lemon?
What traits does the mystery fruit have in common with this bunch of bananas?
Slide Image
DISCUSS (2 of 2):
Imagine we slice each of these fruits open, like this.
What traits do you observe about these fruits now?
Video trouble?
Slide Image
DISCUSS:
Besides the fruits they grow, what OTHER TRAITS can you observe about these plants?
Video trouble?
Step
01/16
Get your supplies. (You’ll get more supplies later.)
Video trouble?
Step
02/16
You’ll work with a partner.
Video trouble?
Step
03/16
Round 1. Examine the traits of these three fruits.
Answer question 1 on your worksheet.
Video trouble?
Step
04/16
Round 1. Examine the same fruits’ insides, leaves, and flowers.
Discuss your observations with your partner.
Video trouble?
Step
05/16
Discuss.
Then answer question 2 on your worksheet.
Video trouble?
Step
06/16
Round 2. Examine the traits of these three fruits.
Answer question 3 on your worksheet.
Video trouble?
Step
07/16
Round 2. Examine the same fruits’ insides, leaves, and flowers.
Discuss your observations with your partner.
Video trouble?
Step
08/16
Discuss.
Then answer question 4 on your worksheet.
Video trouble?
Step
09/16
Round 3. Examine the traits of these three fruits.
Answer question 5 on your worksheet.
Video trouble?
Step
10/16
Round 3. Examine the same fruits’ insides, leaves, and flowers.
Discuss your observations with your partner.
Video trouble?
Step
11/16
Discuss.
Then answer question 6 on your worksheet.
Video trouble?
Step
12/16
Get the rest of your supplies.
Video trouble?
Step
13/16
Cut along all the dotted lines so that you have a set of cards.
Video trouble?
Step
14/16
Lay out all the cards on the desk in between you and your partner.
Video trouble?
Step
15/16
Challenge: Work with your partner to sort these cards into 5 groups.
The groups don’t have to be equal. You may have some groups with
2 cards and some with 5 cards.
Video trouble?
Step
16/16
Discuss.
Video trouble?
Video trouble?
Slide Image
DISCUSS:
Which group would you place the mystery fruit into?
What evidence do you have that it belongs there?
Video trouble?
Slide Image
Anchor Connection In the past lesson, you learned about different kinds of fruit. Discuss. One of the fruits below does not belong in this group. Which fruit does not belong? And why do you think that?
Slide Image
If you compare all of these fruits, you can see that the blueberry flowers and blueberries are completely different from the other flowers and fruits. The blueberries don’t belong!
Slide Image
But these all have something in common, and it involves something that ants do. Discuss. What do you think these fruits all have in common?
Slide Image
Ants love eating fruit! But it isn’t just the fruit. There are ants that will eat nectar and pollen from flowers, too. Discuss. Have you ever seen ants eat something? If so, what was it?
Slide Image
Some animals can only eat one kind of food. But ants can eat lots and lots of different things. Sometimes they even eat other insects! Discuss. Think like an ant. How do you think it helps ants to survive if they can eat a lot of different kinds of food?
Slide Image
Step
01/03
Get your Amazing Ants worksheet.
Slide Image
Step
02/03
Ants eat many different kinds of food, and this helps them survive in many different places. As a class, discuss different ways that you can update your notes with this information. Then, update your notes.
Slide Image
Step
03/03
Save your Amazing Ants worksheet. You will update it after the next lesson in this unit.
Slide Image
Look at the "Wonder" column of your class See-Think-Wonder chart. Have any questions been answered by this lesson? You will revisit this chart after the next lesson.
Slide Image
Slide Image

leaf


1 of 8

a part of a plant that is often flat and green
Slide Image

flower


2 of 8

a part of a plant that is usually brightly colored
Slide Image

fruit


3 of 8

the part of a plant that contains seeds inside a covering, like tomatoes
Slide Image

seed


4 of 8

a part of a plant that can grow into a baby plant
Slide Image

trait


5 of 8

something you can observe about a living thing, such as the number of petals on a flower
Slide Image

evidence


6 of 8

information that can be used to support or reject an idea
Slide Image

inherit


7 of 8

to get a trait from parents
Slide Image

pattern


8 of 8

something that happens again and again and again in a way that can be predicted
🎉 That’s it for this lesson! How did it go?
Sign up now for more great lessons!
Sign up
Lesson narration:
English Spanish

Grade 3

Heredity, Survival, & Selection

Traits & Inheritance

3-LS3-1

737 reviews

Activity Prep

Print Prep
This lesson was revised on May 31, 2024. Here is a link to the previous version.
In this lesson, students examine plant traits and use that information as evidence to help them identify an unknown fruit. In the activity, Fruit Market Mysteries, students look for similarities and differences in the leaves, flowers, and fruits of plants found at the grocery store to sort them into groups and identify patterns of inheritance.
Preview activity

I have a Mystery Pack

Fruit Cards printout Print 15 copies
Fruit Cards Answer Key teacher-only resource 1 copy
Fruit Market Mysteries worksheet 30 copies
Fruit Market Mysteries Answer Key teacher-only resource 1 copy
Scissors
30 pairs
Prep Instructions

We suggest students work in pairs.

Organize Materials

Materials for this activity are needed at two different steps, so we suggest organizing them beforehand for easier distribution.

The Fruit Market Mysteries worksheet is needed in Step 1.

Fruit-Market-Supply-Step1

The Fruit Cards and scissors are then needed in Step 12.

Fruit-Market-Supply-Step12

Exploration

10 mins

Hands-On Activity

35 mins

Grade 3

Heredity, Survival, & Selection

Traits & Inheritance

3-LS3-1

737 reviews
Slow internet or video problems?
Credits
 
Selection Lesson 1: How do you identify a mysterious fruit?

How did the lesson go?
Terrible OK Good Great Terrific!

How can we improve it?

If you'd like our team to reply to you, please Contact Support instead.

Thanks for your feedback! If you have a question or need help, please contact us. Please consider sharing your review:

Sorry the lesson didn’t go well. We read every single review in an effort to improve our Mysteries.

Thanks for letting us know. We’ll wait to ask you for feedback until after you've actually taught it.

Thanks for the feedback! We read every single review in an effort to improve our Mysteries.

Is the video not playing properly?

Please follow these steps:

  1. Very rarely a video will fail to completely load in your browser. Try to reload this page to see if that fixes the problem.
  2. If reloading does not help, try our other video player .
  3. If the video still fails to play, open this video in a new tab and please let us know you’re having trouble. We want to fix this issue for you.

Close

How can we help you?

💡For purchasing info, see our Pricing Page

This episode is locked

This lesson is not included in your limited access.

View pricing

This episode is locked

Your membership is expired. The archive of past Mini Lessons is not included in your limited access.

View pricing