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Parents and Offspring Worksheets for 1st Grade

13 free PDFsUS Letter or A4Answer key includedNo login

Baby animal names, matching babies and parents, alike and different, seeds that grow like their parents, and how animal parents help their young.

Download the parents and offspring worksheets

Baby animals and their parents

A poster of eight parents and babies, matching and cut and paste pages, and baby animal names to write.

Like, but not exactly like, their parents

Sort babies that do and do not look like their parents, compare a puppy and a dog, match seeds to their parent plants, and draw kittens that are each a little different.

  • Preview of the printable “Does the baby look like its Parent? sort” worksheet: sorting young animals that do and do not look like their parentsView all 2 pages

    Does the baby look like its Parent? sort

    Sorting young animals that do and do not look like their parents

    Answer key on page 2

    US LetterPDFA4PDF

    2 pages501 KB

  • Preview of the printable “Does the baby look like its Parent? cut and paste” worksheet: sorting young animals that do and do not look like their parentsView all 2 pages

    Does the baby look like its Parent? cut and paste

    Sorting young animals that do and do not look like their parents

    Answer key on page 2

    US LetterPDFA4PDF

    2 pages526 KB

  • Preview of the printable “Plants and their offspring matching worksheet” worksheet: matching seeds to the kind of parent plant they grow intoView all 2 pages

    Plants and their offspring matching worksheet

    Matching seeds to the kind of parent plant they grow into

    Answer key on page 2

    US LetterPDFA4PDF

    2 pages232 KB

  • Preview of the printable “Not exactly Alike: kittens drawing worksheet” worksheet: showing that young animals are like, but not exactly like, their parentsView larger

    Not exactly Alike: kittens drawing worksheet

    Showing that young animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents

    US LetterPDFA4PDF

    1 page26 KB

How parents help their young

A poster, a parent or baby sort, a reading passage and a true or false check.

Print at 100% (actual size) for the cleanest tracing lines.

About these parents and offspring worksheets

Offspring is the science word for the young of a plant or animal. First graders learn two things about offspring. Young plants and animals are like their parents, but not exactly like them. And parents and babies act in ways that help the babies survive.

These parents and offspring worksheets start with baby animal names: a calf, a foal, a lamb, a piglet. Children match babies to parents, sort babies that look like their parents from ones that change a lot as they grow, and compare a puppy with a grown dog. A seed page shows that plants have offspring too.

The second half is about care. A poster, a sort and a short reading passage show parents feeding, warming, carrying and protecting their young, and babies peeping and following to get help. Pages print on US Letter or A4, with answer keys on page 2.

Standards

  • NGSS 1-LS3-1Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents.
  • NGSS 1-LS1-2Read texts and use media to determine patterns in behavior of parents and offspring that help offspring survive.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.1Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.5.BDefine words by category and by one or more key attributes (e.g., a duck is a bird that swims; a tiger is a large cat with stripes).

How to use them

  1. Start with the baby animals poster and read the names together. Many children have never heard foal or calf.
  2. Use the matching page or the cut and paste version. Both have the same six pairs.
  3. Bring in photos of a pet and its babies, or a family photo, for the alike and different page and the kittens drawing page.
  4. Read the animal parents passage, then do the parent or baby sort to check understanding.

Teaching tips

  • Point out that babies are like their parents but not exactly the same. Kittens in one litter can have different colors and patterns.
  • Some young animals look very different from their parents. A tadpole becomes a frog, and a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.
  • Plants have offspring too. A seed from an apple grows into an apple tree, never into a bean plant.
  • Behaviors go both ways: parents feed and protect, and babies cry, peep or follow to get what they need.

Questions teachers and parents ask

What does offspring mean?

Offspring are the young of a plant or animal. A calf is the offspring of a cow, and a bean seedling is the offspring of a bean plant.

Do all baby animals look like their parents?

Many do, like kittens, puppies, foals and lambs. Some change a lot as they grow. A tadpole looks nothing like a frog, and a caterpillar looks nothing like a butterfly, but they grow up to look like their parents.

Are there answer keys?

Yes. Every page with right answers has an answer key on page 2. The posters and the drawing page have no key.