Family Trait Tree

What you need:

• paper and pencil 
• posterboard 
• markers

What to do:

1. Begin by drawing a family tree with your child. Start with your child's great-grandparents, or even great-great-grandparents, if possible. Fill in as much of the tree as you can. 
2. Decide on which traits to track. Hair color and eye color are obvious choices, but you could also try to trace abilities such as singing or sports, or even diseases like diabetes. What kinds of traits are not inherited? 
3. On the tree, mark which family members had the traits you selected. 
4. Help your child record the frequency of the trait on a graph. Try different kinds of graphing techniques, such as bar graphs or pie charts.

Learning benefits:

• develops understanding of heredity 
• supports graphing skills