Interdisciplinary Activity

Names: Laura Bionde and Julia DiMarco Content Areas: Science and Social Studies

1. What big idea or CONCEPT could frame both of your content areas?

Science and Social Studies studies in interdependence

(Content) (Content) (Concept)

2. What UNITS, in particular, would revolve around this concept?

Content 1: Ecosystems-Biological Communities

Content 2: Branches of Government-Balance of Powers

3. What UNDERSTANDINGS and/or ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS might you explore related

to this concept. List and describe their application/importance in both content areas
NOTE: You should include your concept in your Understanding statements.

o Devise ONE understanding useful for BOTH content areas units:

Students will understand that parts of systems are dependent on one

another.

o Devise understandings and essential questions more specifically designed for

each content areas unit:

Content 1: Science
Understandings:
Students will understand that populations rely on one another through a
series of interactions needed to sustain life.
Students will understand that organisms can directly benefit from other
organisms in symbiotic relationships.
Students will understand that predator prey relationships are necessary
to keep populations from going extinct.

Essential Questions:
How do organisms depend on each other and their environment?
What do organisms depend on daily for survival?
Are some things more important to survival than others?
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Content 2: Social Studies

Understandings:
Students will understand that the government is broken into three
separate branches and why it is divided like this.
Students will understand that each branch of government must fulfill its
role to ensure a successful democracy.

Essential Questions:
Why are checks and balances and separation of powers necessary?
Why would a government lacking balance of power be negative? What
could happen?
When in history have we witnessed a lack in the balance of power?

4. Identify what SKILLS students could exercise or practice within this unit. Aim for at
least two skills that span content areas and two skills specifically designed for each
content area

Sample spanning skill stems:

Making inferences relationships

Making predictions Problem solving
Gathering evidence Finding patterns
Analyzing cause and effect Justifying conclusions with
textual support

Content Spanning Skills:

1. Students will be able to analyze cause and effect relationships that ensure
success of a system.
2. Students will be able to predict negative impacts of a lack of interdependence in
systems.

Content Specific Skills:

Content 1: Science
Students will be able to predict how environment affects populations
within ecosystems.
Students will be able to demonstrate predator and prey relationships.
Students will be able to analyze symbiotic relationships within biological
communities.
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Content 2: Social Studies

Students will be able to predict what would occur without the balance of
power.
Students will be able to compare and contrast branches of government
and their powers.
Students will be able to analyze the impacts of decisions made in the
three branches of government.

5. Identify the KNOWLEDGE or VOCABULARY youd address in each of these units. The
Knowledge will most likely be specific for each content area.

Content 1: Legislative, Executive, Judicial, democracy, dictatorship, monarchy

House of Representatives, Senate, bill, law, checks and balances, Chief Executive,
Commander in Chief, Federal Government, federalism, justices, separation of
powers, Supreme Court,

Content 2: Population, predator, prey, extinct, niche, speciation, symbiotic

relationships-parasitism, commensalism, mutualism, trophic levels, cooperation,
competition, food chain, food web,

HOOK:

Describe how youd go about introducing this concept to your students. You may use
any of the strategies from Chapter 5, a childrens book, or any other ideas you have
(Note: If you use the childrens book idea, follow the directions below).

General:
Concept Invitation: The teacher will introduce the concept interdependence. Based on
student interest, there will be several topic choices they will be able to choose from in
order to form their own definition of the concept. Students will decide which topic they
want, and then meet with others who chose the same topic. As a group, they will plan
and demonstrate the definition they came up with for interdependence. Groups will be:
a sporting event, a movie set, a dance recital, a construction job, and a concert.

Social Studies:
Discuss Concept Invitation- After the activity, the teacher will ask students to consider
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what would occur in each situation if they did not all work together. The teacher will ask
students to think about and discuss what would it look like if one person in the group
made all the decisions and worked independently. Then, we will discuss what would
happen in government if only one person had all the power. What would that look like,
and what is that called? We will then discuss what we can do in order to ensure that
does not happen, this is called the balance of power and checks and balances.

Science:
Population Change Simulation- The teacher will conduct a guided simulation where
students will role-play as different parts of a biological community. Students will be
assigned as different organisms, and the teacher will explain different situations that
affect the biological community, causing them to have to switch into different roles as
the different populations rise and fall. Nature sounds will be played throughout the
simulation. Through the simulation students will see why and how populations rise and
fall due to different causes such as disease or competition, human interference, or
natural disasters.