HS-LS3-1 | DNA, Genes, and Traits · NYS standard · Regents questions
Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.
Clarification statement: Emphasis should be on the distinction between coding and non-coding regions of DNA.
Note: this is a NYSED-specific performance expectation that is different from the Next Generation Science Standards.
Regents Exam Questions
Released New York State Regents exam questions that assess HS-LS3-1 are listed here by exam and question cluster. Each link opens the question with its answer key.
Vocabulary
Terms from the Biology Glossary that come from this standard or from the released exam questions that assess it.
- cell
- chromosome
- claim
- coding region
- correlation (versus cause)
- DNA
- DNA code
- empirical evidence
- gene
- gene expression
- gene regulation
- genetic information
- non-coding region
- parents and offspring
- protein
- species
- structure and function
- trait
- allele – June 2026
- amino acid – June 2025
- amino acid sequence – Aug 2026
- amphibian – June 2025
- aquatic – Jan 2026
- atmosphere – June 2026
- average – June 2025
- bind (to a receptor) – June 2026
- body cell – June 2026, Jan 2026
- burrow – June 2025
- coloration – Jan 2026
- DNA sequence – Aug 2026, Jan 2026
- environmental factor – Jan 2026, June 2025
- enzyme – June 2026
- epigenetic change – Jan 2026
- frequency – Jan 2026
- gamete – Jan 2026, Sample 2024
- gel electrophoresis – Jan 2026
- generation – Aug 2026, Jan 2026
- growth rate – Jan 2026
- identical twins – Jan 2026
- infection – June 2025
- larva – Jan 2026
- leaf – Jan 2026
- limb bud – June 2025
- migration – Jan 2026
- mutation – Aug 2026, Jan 2026, June 2025
- pesticide – Jan 2026
- photosynthesis – Jan 2026
- pigment – June 2026
- population – Aug 2026, June 2026, Jan 2026
- predation – Aug 2026
- predator – Aug 2026
- primate – June 2026
- probability – Aug 2026
- prostaglandin receptor – Sample 2024
- radiation (radioactive) – June 2026
- resistance (to a pesticide or treatment) – Jan 2026
- resources – Jan 2026
- sex cell – June 2025
- skin – June 2026
- skin cell – June 2026, Jan 2026
- stem – Jan 2026
- stomach – June 2025
- variation – Aug 2026, June 2026, Jan 2026, Sample 2024
- white blood cell – Sample 2024
Performance Level Descriptions
Every Regents exam question on HS-LS3-1 is written to match one of the performance level descriptions (PLDs) below.
Resources
Examples and discussion of resources for the learning, teaching, and assessment of HS-LS3-1.
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NGSS Dimensions
Performance expectation HS-LS3-1 was developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:
- Asking Questions and Defining Problems
- Ask questions that arise from examining models or a theory to clarify relationships.
- LS1.A: Structure and Function
- All cells contain genetic information in the form of DNA molecules. Genes are regions in the DNA that contain the instructions that code of the formation of proteins.
- LS3.A: Inheritance of Traits
- Each chromosome consists of a single very long DNA molecule, and each gene on the chromosome is a particular segment of that DNA. The instructions for forming species' characteristics are carried in DNA. All cells in an organism have the same genetic content, but the genes used (expressed) by the cell may be regulated in different ways. Not all DNA codes for a protein; some segments of DNA are involved in regulatory or structural functions, and some have no as-yet known function.
- Cause and Effect
- Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.