Using a new method for examining parental explanations in a laboratory setting, the prompted explanation task, this study examines how characteristics of parental explanations about biology relate to children's knowledge. Parents (N = 148; M[subscript age] = 38; 84% female, 16% male; 67% having completed college) of children ages 7-10 (M[subscript age] = 8.92; 47% female, 53% male; 58% White, 9.5% Black, 9.5% Asian) provided answers to eight "how" and "why" questions about biology. Parents used a number of different approaches to address the questions, including providing more mechanistic responses to "how" questions and more teleological responses to "why" questions. The characteristics of parental explanations--most notably, how frequently parents provided correct responses--predicted children's performance on measures of verbal intelligence and biological knowledge. Additional exploratory analyses and implications for children's learning are discussed.