LessonWritingaboutorganisms

KoltonBoyer

Goal:
Studentswillbeabletodevelopawrittenarticlewheretheypresentevidenceabout
organism.
Studentswillbeabletoresearchthecharacteristicsthatpromotesuccessfulcontinuation
ofthespecies.

Standard:
MSLS1
4.

Useargumentbasedonempiricalevidenceandscientificreasoningtosupport
anexplanationforhowcharacteristicanimalbehaviorsandspecializedplant
structuresaffecttheprobabilityofsuccessfulreproductionofanimalsandplants
respectively.(FromNextGenerationScienceStandard)

Prework:

Beforetheclasssessionstudentsaregoingtogetasheetofpaperwithresearch
guidanceononeside.Astheyreceivethepapertheywillbeaskedtodrawanimaginedanimal
ontheback.Partofthedrawingneedstobetheenvironmentthatorganismwouldliveinifit
exist.

LessonDayOne:

OpeningActivity:
Studentswilltakeamomenttoexplaintotheotherstudentsintheirgroupwhich
environmenttheiranimalswouldbemostsuccessfullivingin.

IntroductionofActivity:
Oncestudentshavehadabriefmomenttoworkwiththeirpeersonestablishthebest
environmentforthecreatedorganism,theywillhaveachancetouseacomputerlabto
researchplantsoranimalsthatreallyexisttoestablishascientificnamefortheircreationaswell
asthetraitsthatitwouldpossess.Theresearchguidewouldlooklike:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MMseKmnp25oTkKxqQPBrCQ3SVbtuNybr37o3mjnzk4U/
edit?usp=sharing
.Thisdocumentwillprovideideasforareastoresearch.Thedocumentalso
hasavariationwithsentencestarterstoprovidedifferentiation
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dCeK1gOGgipqxWOwu_p9hoXuA61dUyndQKdRxPmWn
tM/edit?usp=sharing
.

Duringfirstclass:
Whilethestudentsareworking,herearesomeofthediscussionquestionstousewhile
interactingwiththestudentsoneonone:
Howdidyouknowwhichclimateyouranimalcouldlivein?
Couldyouranimallivethereallyear?
Ifyouranimalisontopofthefoodchainhowmightthataffecthowmanyofyouranimal
therewillbe?
Youmadesomechangestoyouranimaloverarealanimal.Howhaveyourchanges
affectedthewayyouranimalwillinteractwithotheranimals?
Howcanyourchangesprovideadvantagesordisadvantagescomparedtosimilar
animals?

Duringsecondclass:
Studentswillimmediatelystartonthearticlewritingportionoftheirproject.Afterthey
havehadachancetoworkontheresearch,thefollowingactivitywouldbecreatinganarticle
abouttheircreature.Theformatofthearticlecanbesimilartoarticleaboveorlikethatofa
wikipediaentry.Inthearticlestudentsshouldcovertheareasofenvironment,locationinfood
chain,acceptableclimate,adrawingoftheanimal,andtraitsthatwillhelpmultiplegeneration

survive.Beforesubmittingtheirarticle,studentswillneedtoselfevaluateandclarifytheirwork.
Theywillbeabletousethisrubric:
ArticleRubricCircletheareasyouhavemet

ReflectionWhydid
younotgive
yourselfa2?

Organism

AnimalorPlant
created
AND
scientific
nameprovided

AnimalorPlant
created
OR
Scientific
Nameprovided

Neither
Animal
orPlantcreated
AND
scientific
namemissing.

Environment

Organismsnatural
environmentlisted

Organisms
natural
environmentnot
list

FoodChain

Above
AND
belowthe Above
OR
belowthe
NEITHER
Above
organismisprovidedin organismisprovidedin andbelowthe
thefoodchain.
thefoodchain.
organismis
providedinthe
foodchain.

Cimate

Acceptableclimatefor
organismlisted

Unacceptable
climatefor
organismlisted

Traits

Organismstraits
provided

Organismstraits
notprovided

Future
Generations

Reasoningprovided
fortraitshelpingthe
speciessurvivaland
advancement.

Noreasoning
providedfortraits
helpingthe
speciessurvival
oradvancement.

Pointstotal

(___/12)x2=___pts