Education Standards
1 Seed to Tree Full Unit Lessons 1-10
1 Unit Purpose and Planning Ahead for Success
2 Unit Overview, Integration Map, and Anchoring Phenomenon
3 Unit Standards for All Content Areas
4- Methods to Provide for Synchronous and Asynchronous Class Response and Discourse
5A Lesson 1- Synchronous LESSON PLAN
5B Lesson 1- Synchronous GOOGLE SLIDE DECK
5 Fillable pdf Avocado See-Think-Wonder Seed to Tree Lesson 1
5 Lesson 1- Face to Face See-Think-Wonder to print
5 Lesson 1- Synchronous "Maybe It's" Initial Model to Explain
5 Lesson 1- Synchronous NEARPOD SLIDE DECK
5 Lesson 1- Synchronous Rubric for "Maybe It’s" Model
5 Lesson 1- Synchronous See-Think-Wonder for Zoom
5 Maybe Its- Initial Explanatory Model- fillable pdf
5 Synchronous Lesson 1- Learning Catcher Digital Interactive Notebook
Lesson 1- Asynchronous LESSON PLAN for Print Only Access
Lesson 1- Asynchronous Nearpod SLIDE DECK
Lesson 1- Asynchronous Print Only Student Workbook
Lesson 2- Data Noticings and Thoughts Form
Lesson 2- Family Discussion Response Form
Lesson 2- Family Field Science Directions Sheet
Lesson 2- Family Walk #2 Data Collection as a fillable pdf
Lesson 2- Family Walk #2 Data Collection Sheet
Lesson 2- Learning Catcher Student Interactive Notebook for All Lessons
Lesson 2- Lesson Plan
Lesson 2- SLIDE DECK
Lesson 2- Supplemental Slide Deck of Tree/Seed Specimens
Lesson 3- Choice Board
Lesson 3- Learning Catcher Student Interactive Notebook for All Lessons
Lesson 3- Lesson Plan
Lesson 3- SLIDE DECK
Lesson 3-Supplemental SLIDE DECK -seed/tree specimen images and sizes
Lesson 4- Choice Board
Lesson 4- Learning Catcher Student Interactive Notebook for All Lessons
Lesson 4- LESSON PLAN
Lesson 4-Part 1 SLIDE DECK
Lesson 4-Part 2 SLIDE DECK
Lesson 5- Choice Board
Lesson 5- Learning Catcher Student Interactive Notebook for All Lessons
Lesson 5-LESSON PLAN
Lesson 5- SLIDE DECK
Lesson 6-Learning Catcher Student Interactive Notebook for All Lessons
Lesson 6- LESSON PLAN
Lesson 6- SLIDE DECK Part 1
Lesson 6- SLIDE DECK Part 2
Lesson 7- Informational Choice Board
Lesson 7- LESSON PLAN
Lesson 7- "Now We Think It's" Model- fillable pd format
Lesson 7- "Now We Think It's" Model (Google)
Lesson 7- "Now We Think It's" Model- pdf form
Lesson 7- Rubric for "Now We Think It's " Model
Lesson 7- SLIDE DECK
Lesson 8- Informational Choice Board
Lesson 8- Interactive Slide Deck- Data from Gretchen Brinza's Investigation
Lesson 8- LESSON PLAN
Lesson 8- SLIDE DECK
Lesson 8- Teacher Example- Interactive Slide Deck- Gretchen Brinza Data Tables
Lesson 9- Final Project Scoring Rubric
Lesson 9- Final Project Student Checklist
Lesson 9- LESSON PLAN
Lesson Ten- Final Project Scoring Sheet with Rubric
Lesson Ten- LESSON PLAN
Seed to Tree Unit: Grade 5 Elementary Science and Integrated Subjects
Overview
This 5th grade unit iterates an earlier version and is designed to maximize the integration of science with the other content areas, especially English Language Arts and Math.
It is designed so it can be used with in-person or remotely and includes learning activities that can be delivered via Zoom or another similar platform, as well as activities students can complete in-class, independently, or with their families.
You are free to adapt this OER unit as needed. Please note that this unit is a first draft beta version, so please communicate any questions, errors or omissions, feedback and suggestions for improvement to kimberley.astle@k12.wa.us.
Seed to Tree- 2020 Integrated Learning from Home Unit
Planning Ahead for Success:
It will be important to plan ahead to ensure students have needed materials and learning in time to apply/practice them in their targeted unit lessons.
- Lima Bean Seeds/Paper Ruler: Students will need at least 15 lima beans before Lesson 4. If students are not able to obtain these at home (readily available at the grocery store in the bulk section or bagged dry beans section), mail some to each student in an envelope so they will arrive in time. If they do not have access to a mm/cm ruler at home you can include a paper ruler in the seed envelope as they will want one for multiple lessons. If you are able to laminate, they will hold up if they become wet during use.
- Plan ahead for Math Integration: Students will apply multiple math skills in this unit. Preview the lessons and plan accordingly for mini-lessons so that students can apply them to authentic tasks in the lessons, or just embed them within the science lessons
- Plan ahead for ELA Integration: Schedule mini lessons and practice to occur coherently before or during unit application.
- Reading: Students will engage in informational reading. Preview materials and plan ahead if you want to introduce specific skills beyond summarizing so students can practice application during the daily reading at home task.
- Writing: Students will engage in informational writing. While they are not writing a full informational essay, they will practice and apply many informational writing skills. Plan for mini-lessons to introduce needed skills before Lesson 9
- Speaking and Listening: Prepare to facilitate class discussions by reading the Talk Moves Checklist.
Elementary Framework for Science and Integrated Subjects
Learning From Home: Fifth Grade Integrated Unit
Life Science, Physical Science, and Earth Science
Seed to Tree
How can a tiny seed become a giant tree?
Development Team:
Kimberley Astle, Learning and Teaching Science -OSPI
Unit Overview, Integration Map, and Anchoring Phenomenon
Unit Overview 5-10 weeks
Lesson Time
Lesson 1: Zoom 60 min
Introduce the phenomenon with See-Think-Wonder, KLEWS Chart, initial explanatory modeling.
Lesson 2: Home varies
Family nature walks to discover, observe, and map local plants and trees and to collect and/or document plant/tree seed specimens.
Lesson 3: Zoom 60 min
Debrief Family Discovery walk. Share specimen discoveries and maps and use class data to think about scale and proportion in growth. At home reading of informational text with summarizing.
Lesson 4: Zoom 45, 60 min
Part 1: Introduce matter and inputs, measure dimensions of lima beans, soak beans in water overnight. Part 2: Record and compare seed dimensions pre and post and make sense of data. At home reading of informational text with summarizing or other focused reading skill practice.
Lesson 5: Zoom 75 min
Plan and set up an investigation to see if plants need soil to grow (in soil and in moist paper towels. Math application of measurement. At home reading of informational text-summarize or other skill.
Lesson 6: Zoom 60, 60 min
Part 1: Collect investigation data over time and analyze looking for patterns in speed of plant growth. Use data to predict future growth. Part 2: Analyze data. Math application of volume.
Lesson 7: Zoom 30, 40 min
Part 1: Collect final data for Lesson 5 investigation. Part 2: Analyze data to determine what matter inputs plants need to grow larger. Make a claim. At home reading of informational text, summarize.
Lesson 8: Zoom 45-60 min
Parts 1 and 2: Analyze data to decide if plants also need light(energy) along with matter input to grow. At home reading of informational text, summarize or other targeted skill.
Lesson 9: Home varies
Research plant or tree of choice and create a presentation showing student learning and modeling of phenomenon explanation. Confer with family/peers and revise to improve.
Lesson 10: Zoom varies
Share presentations with family and peers. Peer, family, and self-evaluate using rubrics.
Description of Content Area Integration by Lesson
Lesson Content Areas
Lesson 1: Science, ELA, Art
Students use academic language to write and draw explanatory ideas about a science phenomenon.
Lesson 2: Science, SS, Art
Students draw realistic labeled drawings of plants/seeds showing scale and create a map showing locations of the neighborhood specimens they observed.
Lesson 3: Science, ELA, SS
Students discuss connections between people and the environment. They read informational texts about the biosphere, write to explain new thinking, and break the word biosphere into affix and root to understand its meaning. They independently summarize informational text and videos.
Lesson 4: Science, ELA, Math
Students learn about the 3 dimensions of measurement and apply this to a seed while measuring in mm and cm. They use equations to express and find differences of seeds before and after soaking and compare using inequalities. Students read about the hydrosphere and break the word hydrosphere into affix and root to understand its meaning. They independently summarize informational text and videos.
Lesson 5: Science, ELA, Math
Students measure and record seedlings over time in 3 dimensions. They read about the geosphere and break the word geosphere into affix and root to understand its meaning. They independently summarize informational text and videos.
Lesson 6: Science, ELA, Math
Students measure, record, and graph plant growth (using ordered pairs) over time and analyze the data from their tables/graphs for patterns. They use patterns to predict future growth. They develop and solve word problems to find the volume of seedling boxes as they grow and write to explain their learning.
Lesson 7: Sci, ELA, Math, SS
Students use equations to express differences in growth, then solve using the standard algorithm. They write to construct a claim using data evidence. They read to learn about the atmosphere and write to show new learning. Students break the word atmosphere into affix and root to understand its meaning. They independently summarize informational text and videos.
Lesson 8: Science, ELA, SS
Students write to make a claim and support it using qualitative and quantitative data evidence. They write to show new learning. They read about energy and plants and independently summarize informational text and videos. Students break the word photosynthesis into affix and root to understand its meaning.
Lesson 9: Sci, ELA, SS, Art
Students conduct research and create a mixed media presentation to explain the phenomenon and more using writing, drawing, and recording. They confer with family members and peer to improve and revise.
Lesson 10: Science, ELA, SS
Students present their mixed media explanation to family and peers and answer questions.
Phenomena
An avocado seed is observed to grow larger over time as it develops additional structures and greatly increases in mass.
What is an actual, observable local event, set of events or puzzling question that students can come to a deep understanding of over a period of days? Explain why students will find this puzzling and not just an exercise found in a textbook. The performance expectations should guide the formulation of phenomena and beg questions.
Examples of regional place-based questions teachers might consider:
- Where does the extra “stuff” come from for a tiny seed to turn into a big plant or tree?
- What plants and trees grow in our area and how did they come to be where they are?
- What plants and trees grown in our area and what are the natural resources that support them in their growth?
- Do plants and trees follow a pattern of growth, how fast can they get larger?
Phenomena Resources:
Avocado tree from see 43 days- time lapse| YouTube Communicating in Scientific Ways | OpenSciEd
Unit Standards for All Content Areas
Fifth Grade
Seed to Tree: How Can a Tiny Seed Grow to Become a Huge Tree?
Frameworks for Elementary Science and Integrated Subjects are designed to be an example of how to develop a coherent lesson or suite of lessons that integrate other content areas such as English Language Arts, Mathematics and other subjects into science learning for students. The examples provide teachers with ways to think about all standards, identify anchoring phenomena, and plan for coherence in science and integrated subjects learning
Fifth Grade Disciplinary Core Ideas include LS1-1, PS3-1, ESS2-1
For LS1-1, PS3-1, ESS2-1, students are expected to develop an understanding of:
- the concept that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.
- the concept that energy in food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that form plant matter (from are and water).
- the concept that the Earth consists of four major systems and that they interact with each other in multiple ways.
The Crosscutting Concepts are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas.
Crosscutting Concepts:
- energy and matter
- systems and system models
- patterns
- cause and effect
- scale, proportion, and quantity
- stability and change
Students are expected to use the practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
Science and Engineering Practices:
- engaging in argument from evidence
- developing and using models
- obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
- constructing explanations and designing solutions
- analyzing and interpreting data
- planning and carrying out investigations
- using mathematics and computational thinking
Performance Expectation(s)
Identify Performance Expectation(s) from Next Generation Science Standards that will be your focus (Climate Science related PEs preferred but not mandatory). Copy and paste below all the possible disciplinary core ideas and performance expectations that relate to your topic.
5-LS1-1. Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. [Emphasis is on the idea that plant matter comes mostly from air and water, not from the soil.]
5-PS3-1. Use models to describe that that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun. (partially addressed)
[Clarification Statement: Examples of models could include diagrams, and flow charts].
5-ESS2-1 Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact. [Clarification Statement: Examples could include the influence of the ocean on ecosystems, landform shape, and climate; the influence of the atmosphere on landforms and ecosystems through weather and climate; and the influence of mountain ranges on winds and clouds in the atmosphere. The geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere are each a system. Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to the interactions of two systems at a time.] (partial: addressed at a smaller scale level to build on later through an Earth Science lens)
Science and Engineering Practices
Which SEPs will be a focus for investigating this topic/phenomenon?
Developing and Using Models (spans all three PEs)
- Develop a model to describe phenomena. (5-LS2-1)
- Use models to describe phenomena. (5-PS3-1)
- Develop a model using an example to describe a scientific principle. (5-ESS2-1)
Engaging in Argument from Evidence
- Construct and/or support an argument with evidence, data, and/or a model.
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
- Read and comprehend grade-appropriate complex texts and/or other reliable media to summarize and obtain scientific and technical ideas and describe how they are supported by evidence.
- Obtain and combine information from books and/or other reliable media to explain phenomena or solutions to a design problem.
- Communicate scientific and/or technical information orally and/or in written formats, including various forms of media and may include tables, diagrams, and charts.
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
- Use evidence (e.g., measurements, observations, patterns) to construct or support an explanation or design a solution to a problem.
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
- Represent data in tables and/or graphical displays (bar graphs, pictographs, pie charts) to reveal patterns that indicate relationships.
- Analyze and interpret data to make sense of phenomena, using logical reasoning, mathematics, and/or computation.
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
- Make observations and/or measurements to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence for an explanation of a phenomenon or test a design solution.
Using Mathematics and Computational
- Describe, measure, estimate, and/or graph quantities such as area, volume, weight, and time to address scientific and engineering questions and problems.
Crosscutting Concepts
Which Crosscutting Concepts will be a focus for investigating this topic/phenomenon?
Systems and System Models:
- A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions. (5-LS2-1)
Energy and Matter:
- Energy can be transferred in various ways and between objects. (5-PS3-1)
- Matter is transported into, out of, and within systems. (5-LS1-1)
- Matter is made of particles. EM-E1
- Matter flows and cycles can be tracked in terms of the weight of the substances before and after a process occurs. The total weight of the substances does not change. This is what is meant by conservation of matter. Matter is transported into, out of, and within systems. EM-E2
Systems and System Models:
- A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions. (5-LS2-1)
Patterns:
- Similarities and differences in patterns can be used to sort, classify, communicate, and analyze simple rates of change for natural phenomena and designed products. PAT-E1
Cause and Effect:
- Patterns of change can be used to make predictions. CE-E1
Scale, Proportion, and Quantity:
- Natural objects and/or observable phenomena exist from the very small to the immensely large or from very short to very long time periods. SPQ-E1
- Standard units are used to measure and describe physical quantities such as weight, time, temperature, and volume. SPQ-E2
Stability and Change:
- Change is measured in terms of differences over time and may occur at different rates. SC-E2
Disciplinary Core Ideas
Which Disciplinary Core Ideas will be a focus for investigating this topic/phenomenon?
PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life
The energy released [from] food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water). (5-PS3-1)
LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water. (5-LS1-1)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Earth’s major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things, including humans)...(5-ESS2-1) (partial)
Environment and Sustainability Standards
ESE Standard 2: The Natural and Built Environment
Students engage in inquiry and systems thinking and use information gained through learning experiences in, about, and for the environment to understand the structure, components, and processes of natural and human-built environments.
English Language Arts (ELA) Standards
How will I Integrate ELA Standards (which standard, what strategy…?)
Informational Reading
(RI.5.2) Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.
(RI.5.4) Determine the meaning of general academic/domain-specific words and phrases in text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.
(RI.5.7) Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently
(RI.5.9) Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
(RI.5.10) By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Teachers may extend to other reading standards by assigning a practice element other than summarizing for the Choice Board readings. For example: RI.5.5 Compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more texts.
Informational Writing
(W.5.2) Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
(W.5.4) Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
(W.5.5) With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
(W.5.7) Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
(W.5.8) Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work and provide a list of sources.
(W.5.9) Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
(W.5.10) Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Speaking and Listening
(SL.5.1. A) Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
(SL.5.1. B) Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles
(SL.5.1.B) Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others
(SL.5.1. D) Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions.
(SL.5.2) Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats (visually, quantitatively, and orally.)
(SL.5.4) Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
(SL.5.5) Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
(SL.5.6) Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task and situation.
How will I Integrate Mathematics Standards?
Fourth Grade Math Standards (reteach or review)
(4.NBT.A.2) Read and write multi-digit whole numbers using base-ten numerals, number names, and expanded form. Compare two multi-digit numbers based on meanings of the digits in each place, using >, =, and < symbols to record the results of comparisons.
(4.NBT.A.3) Use place value understanding to round multi-digit whole numbers to any place.
(4.NBT.B.4) Fluently add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm.
(4.OA.A.3) Solve multistep word problems posed with whole numbers and having whole-number answers using the four operations, including problems in which remainders must be interpreted. Represent these problems using equations with a letter standing for the unknown quantity. Assess the reasonableness of answers using mental computation and estimation strategies including rounding.
(4.MD.A.1) Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec...
Fifth Grade Math Standards
(5.OA.A.1) Use parentheses, brackets, or braces in numerical expressions, and evaluate expressions with these symbols.
(5.OA.B.3) ...Identify apparent relationships between corresponding terms. Form ordered pairs consisting of corresponding terms from the two patterns and graph the ordered pairs on a coordinate plane.
(5.NBT.B.5) Fluently multiply multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm.
(5.MD.A.1) Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems.
(5.MD.C.5.B) Apply the formulas V = l × w × h and V = b × h for rectangular prisms to find volumes of right rectangular prisms with whole-number edge lengths in the context of solving real world and mathematical problems.
Art Standards
How will I Integrate Visual and Media Arts?
Visual Arts
(VA:Cr2.1.5) Experiment and develop skills in multiple art-making techniques and approaches through practice.
(VA:Cr2.3.5) Identify, describe, and visually document places and/or objects of personal significance.
(VA:Cr2.3.4) Document, describe, and represent regional constructed environments.
(VA:Cn10.1.5) Apply formal and conceptual vocabularies of art and design to view surroundings in new ways through art-making.
Media Arts
(MA:Pr5.1.5) Enact various roles to practice fundamental ability in artistic, design, technical, and soft skills, such as formal technique, production, and collaboration in media arts productions.
(MA:Pr5.1.5) Examine how tools and techniques could be used in standard and experimental ways in constructing media artworks.
(MA:Pr6.1.5) Compare qualities and purposes of presentation formats, and fulfill a role and associated processes in presentation and/or distribution of media artworks.
Social Studies Standards
How will I Integrate Social Studies Standards?
(SSS1.5.2) Construct arguments using claims and evidence from multiple sources.
(SSS1.5.3) Construct explanations using reasoning, correct sequence, examples, and details with relevant information and data.
(SSS2.5.3) Critique arguments.
(SSS2.5.4) Critique explanations.
(SSS4.5.3) Use evidence to develop claims in response to compelling questions.
(SSS4.5.4) Present a summary of arguments and explanations to others outside the classroom using print and oral technologies (e.g., posters, essays, letters, debates, speeches, and reports) and digital technologies (e.g., Internet, social media, and digital documentary).
(SSS4.5.2) Prepare a works cited page that connects with in-text attributions that are aligned to a style of citation (i.e. MLA, APA, etc.) with more publication detail.
(SSS4.5.3) Use evidence to develop claims in response to compelling questions.
(G1.5.3) Construct maps and other graphic representations of both familiar and unfamiliar places
(G2) Understands human interaction with the environment. Knows that the human-environment interactions are essential aspects of human life in all societies and they occur at local-to-regional scale. Human actions modify the physical environment and, in turn, the physical environment limits or promotes human activities.
(G2.5.2) Explain how culture influences the way people modify and adapt to their environments.
Learning from Home: Methods to Provide for Synchronous and Asynchronous Class Response and Discourse
Synchronous Discourse Facilitation Strategies Using Zoom and Devices
Partners or Trios:
- Fishbowl- call on 2-3 students to engage in a conversation on a given question, point, topic etc... while the class listens in. Students can model to support discourse using the white board in Zoom. The class might then layer on, question, or respond to the partner talk.
- Google Doc Visual Chat- provide a google doc with 2-3 colored columns. Each student types in their own column to hold a visual chat with 2-3 students.
- Google Slides Visual Chat- Create a Google Slide deck with a slide for each partner or trio. Students have a “Visual Chat” with each other by typing on the slide. Students can also draw using the “line” the “scribble” option. View the slideshow using the “View” then “Grid View” option and you can monitor all “chat rooms” at the same time as well as interacting with each group.
Small Groups:
- Breakout Rooms- Assign students to breakout rooms monitored by aides, other teachers. Provide a specific discourse task, roles, and a time limit. Rotate among the breakout rooms frequently to monitor, probe, and scaffold as needed.
- Provide a Google slide deck, Google doc, or Jamboard with a slide for each group to work from/on and record ideas. Each group’s slide should include an image of the phenomenon (if applicable) or challenge, the task broken down into a checklist, a description of the roles and a place to record names of those filling each role.
- If breakout rooms are not possible, students can work in a group on a shared document using the comment feature live which the teacher can easily monitor.
- Fishbowl- call on 4-5 students to engage in a conversation on a given question, point, topic etc... while the class listens in. Students can model to support discourse using the white board in Zoom. The class might then layer on, question, or respond to the group talk.
- YoTeach- This is a free private backchannel class (set to “avoid search”). Students do not use an account, just a nickname. Both teacher and students can add an image to the page and can annotate on the image. Teachers and students can also draw and post their drawing to the chat (great opportunity to model thinking and share ideas) or collaborate on one whiteboard. Students can post ideas and questions and reply to each other. The teacher can also create a Yo Teach class for each small group to work within. Text to speech is supported. Teacher can mute students and remove messages, students can vote, teacher can download transcript.
- Google Doc Visual Chat Version 1- provide a google doc with a colored column for each group. Each student types in their own column to hold a visual chat with 4-5 students.
- Google Doc Visual Chat Version 2- provide a google doc with a colored column for each student to text in.
- Group Consensus Slides- Each person records thinking on their own slide, the group comes to consensus and creates a group agreement on the last slide. Students can text each other in the slides by using the comments option (click on comment icon at top).
- Whiteboard.fi This is a free online whiteboard tool that gives all students their own whiteboard. The teacher can see all student whiteboards at once. There is no log-in or registration needed, just open a session, and give students the link or room code. Students can work from a black whiteboards or you can create a template or insert an image on your teacher whiteboard and push it to all students to work on. Students can’t see each other’s whiteboards, but you can share your screen so students can see each other’s. You can launch student talk around the models and thinking on the whiteboards and can give feedback to students as they are working in real time. Teacher can download each session’s student work as a pdf.
Whole Class:
- Student Facilitators- Assign students to facilitate or moderate class talk.
- Socratic Seminar Model- Use a Socratic Seminar model with an “inner” and “outer” circle. Outer circle students must be muted during the inner circle talking time. You can assign each outer circle student to monitor an inner circle student and track their participation in the circle using a google doc.
- Fishbowl- call on 4-5 students to engage in a conversation on a given question, point, topic etc... while the class listens in. Students can model to support discourse using the white board in Zoom. The class then layers on, questions and responds.
- 4 Corners- Ask a question and assign an answer choice to each corner of the Zoom participant photo. Students all point to the corner that represents their answer. Facilitate talk among students in each common group and across answer groups. This can also be done by assigning numbers or letters to an answer, having students make a paper with the same numbers or letters, students can hold up their paper and point to their answer.
- Whiteboard.fi This is a free online whiteboard tool that gives all students their own whiteboard. The teacher can see all student whiteboards at once. There is no log-in or registration needed, just open a session and give students the link or room code. Students can work from a black whiteboards or you can create a template or insert an image on your teacher whiteboard and push it to all students to work on. Students can’t see each other’s whiteboards, but you can share your screen so students can see each other’s. You can launch student talk around the models and thinking on the whiteboards and can give feedback to students as they are working in real time.
- YoTeach- This is a free private backchannel class (set to “avoid search”). Students do not use an account, just a nickname. Both teacher and students can add an image to the page and can annotate on the image. Teachers and students can also draw and post their drawing to the chat (great opportunity to model thinking and share ideas) or collaborate on one whiteboard. Students can post ideas and questions and reply to each other. The teacher can also create a Yo Teach class for each small group to work within. Text to speech is supported. Teacher can mute students and remove messages, students can vote, teacher can download transcript.
- Whole Class Response Sheet- students can all respond with their ideas at once in their own row (you can change the headers on the columns). The teacher can monitor all students at once and students can access everyone’s ideas easily which can then prompt class talk.
Asynchronous Discourse Facilitation Strategies Using Devices
Partners or Trios:
- Google Doc or Google slide deck- students use the comments feature to converse.
- Flipgrid- students record their question, comment, thinking, or response as a video which is posted to an accessible place. Peers listen and create videos responding to the video and so on....
- Padlet- students can have sticky note conversations
Small Groups:
- Provide a Google slide deck, Google doc, or Jamboard with a slide for each group to work from/on and record ideas. Each group’s slide should include an image of the phenomenon (if applicable), the task broken down into a checklist, a description of the roles and a place to record names of those filling each role. Students can talk to each other using the comment feature asynchronously which the teacher can easily monitor.
- Padlet- students can have sticky note conversations without deleting each other’s posts which can happen in Jamboard.
- YoTeach- This is a private backchannel class (set to “avoid search”). Students do not use an account, just a nickname. Both teacher and students can add an image to the page and can annotate on the image. Teachers and students can also draw and post their drawing to the chat (great opportunity to model thinking and share ideas). The teacher can create a YoTeach class for each small group to work within. Not sure how long a session will stay open, so may need testing.
- Flipgrid- students record their question, comment, thinking, or response as a video which is posted to an accessible place. Peers listen and create videos responding to the video and so on....
Whole Class:
- Padlet- students can have sticky note conversations without deleting each other’s posts which can happen in Jamboard.
- YoTeach- This is a private backchannel class (set to “avoid search”). Students do not use an account, just a nickname. Both teacher and students can add an image to the page and can annotate on the image. Teachers and students can also draw and post their drawing to the chat (great opportunity to model thinking and share ideas). The teacher can create a YoTeach class for each small group to work within. Not sure how long a session will stay open, so may need testing.
- Flipgrid- students record their question, comment, thinking, or response as a video which is posted to an accessible place. Peers listen and create videos responding to the video and so on....
Asynchronous Discourse Facilitation Strategies Print Only
Partners or Trios:
- Pen Pals-shared sense-making booklet. Create a booklet with a phenomenon image(s) a question(s), and response pages behind (or engineering task). The shared booklet goes back and forth between students as they layer shared thinking, figuring out and questions into the booklet over time, with the teacher adding comments and questions in between.
Small Groups:
- Assign response sheets to students and compile into one document. Print the combined document and send back to group members with a new response document.
- Create a group interactive notebook with a phenomenon image(s) a question(s), and response pages behind (or engineering task or other tasks). The shared booklet goes around to all students as they layer shared thinking, figuring out and questions into the booklet over time, with the teacher adding comments and questions in between.
Whole Class:
- Assign response sheets to students and compile into one document. Print the combined document and send back to class with a new response document.
Lesson 1- SYNCHRONOUS
This section holds Lesson 1 resources developed for Synchronous delivery of learning using a face-to-face digital classroom (Zoom, Google Meet etc...) and devices. Lesson 1 provides the learning resources in a variety of formats as an example for how one might adapt for use with different devices and situations.
In Lesson 1, through time-lapse video, students are introduced to the Anchoring Phenomenon of an Avocado seed growing to a tree. They engage with the phenomenon through a See-Think-Wonder activity and class discourse and develop an initial explanatory model for where the extra material comes from as a small seed grows into a larger tree.
Synchronous Lesson 1: How do small seeds grow into larger plants and trees?
Format: Zoom Classroom and Working at Home Time: 60 minutes
Anchoring Phenomenon:
An avocado seed in water sprouts, develops new structures, and grows to become a plant much larger than the original seed.
Driving Question:
How can small seeds grow into larger plants and trees?
Lesson Focus Performance Expectation:
Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. 5-LS1-1
Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that plant matter comes mostly from air and water, not from the soil.
Lesson Focus SEP:
Use models to describe phenomena. (5-PS3-1)
Lesson Focus CCC:
Matter is transported into, out of, and within systems. (5-LS1-1)
Lesson Focus DCI:
PS3.D Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water. (5-LS1-1)
Lesson 3D Learning Objective:
Students will develop an initial model to show and explain where the extra “stuff” (matter) comes from that allows a plant or tree to grow larger.
Art Standards Integration:
- VA:Cr2.1.5 a. Experiment and develop skills in multiple art-making techniques and approaches through practice.
Writing Standards Integration:
- W.5.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
- W.5.2.D Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
Speaking and Listening Standards Integration:
- SL.5.1.B Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
- SL.5.1.C Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.
- SL.5.1.D Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions.
Social Studies Standards Integration:
- SSS1.5.3 Construct explanations using reasoning, correct sequence, examples, and details with relevant information and data.
Prepare to Teach:
Teacher Support: Background Science Content and NGSS Pedagogy
Shift to NGSS Pedagogy:
- A New Vision for Science Education- Read this quick NSTA one-pager to center yourself on the essential key shifts in instruction for NGSS.
- Checklist: Goals for Productive Discussions and Nine Talk Moves - Use this one page checklist to support you in facilitating productive and respectful classroom talk.
- Using Phenomena in NGSS -Designed Lessons and Units STEM Teaching Tool #42 - This resource explains phenomena and how/why we use them to drive instruction in the NGSS classroom.
Science Content Background for Teacher:
- Where do trees get their mass from? Michigan State University
- Ask a Biologist- Are Plants Made From Thin Air?
- Video: Are Plants Made From Thin Air?
- Example investigation with data CA State Univ
Materials and Preparation:
- If doing lesson Synchronously- Instructional Google slide deck or Nearpod slide deck
- If doing lesson part or all Asynchronously- Nearpod slide deck (Before use, read the first slide for directions on how to copy and make your own Nearpod account. Open the lesson before use with the class- stays live for 30 days)
- Add student names to the class See-Think-Wonder sheet (if using the Google slide deck).
- Provide access to the “Maybe It’s” initial explanatory model page
- 3D scoring rubric for “Maybe It’s” initial explanatory model
Lesson 1- ASYNCHRONOUS Materials
This section holds additional Lesson 1 resources adapted for Asynchronous delivery of learning. An Asynchronous Nearpod slide deck is included so that students can engage with Lesson 1 activities on their own if needed. In addition, the lesson plan adapted for situations where students have no access to devices is included along with the materials built into an asynchronous printable student workbook.
Asynchronous resources are provided for Lesson 1 only as an example of how one might adapt the remaining unit lessons.
Lesson 2 Resources
In Lesson 2, students engage in environmental Family Field Science as they take two family walks to discover the plants and trees growing in their neighborhoods. Students map the man-made and natural elements in their neighborhood and label the places where they find plants and trees with seeds. They document their findings with sketches, photos, and video and measure or estimate to collect size data of plants and their seeds. Students collect seed speciments if possible for later investigation.
Lesson 2: Family Field Science- What plants and trees are growing in my neighborhood and what are their seeds like?
Format: Zoom Classroom and Working at Home Time: at least 2 walks, time will vary
Lesson Phenomenon:
Plants and trees are always much larger than their seeds. Where does all that extra “stuff” come from?
Lesson Driving Question:
What plants and trees are growing in my neighborhood and what are their seeds like?
Lesson Focus Performance Expectation:
Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. 5-LS1-1
Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that plant matter comes mostly from air and water, not from the soil.
Lesson Focus SEP:
Make observations and/or measurements to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence for an explanation of a phenomenon or test a design solution. INV-E3
Lesson Focus CCC:
- Similarities and differences in patterns can be used to sort, classify, communicate and analyze simple rates of change for natural phenomena and designed products. PAT E-1
- Natural objects and/or observable phenomena exist from the very small to the immensely large or from very short to very long time periods.SPQ-E1
Lesson Focus DCI:
Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water. (5-LS1-1)
Lesson 3D Learning Objective:
Students make and record observations on patterns of scale between plants/ trees to their seeds and consider where the extra “stuff” came from.
ELA Standards:
- SL.5.1.C Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.
- SL.5.1.D Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions.
Math Standards:
- 4.MD.A.1 Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units ...
Social Studies Standards:
- G1.5.3 Construct maps and other graphic representations of both familiar and unfamiliar places (if students choose to map the plants/trees in their neighborhood)
Art Standards:
- VA: Cr2.3.5 a. Identify, describe, and visually document places and/or objects of personal significance.
- VA: Cr2.3.4 a. Document, describe, and represent regional constructed environments.
Prepare to Teach
Shift to NGSS Pedagogy:
- ACESSE Resource C: Making Science Instruction Compelling for All Students: Using Cultural Formative Assessment to Build on Learner Interest and Experience
- ClimeTime Professional Learning Session: How to Support Home-Based Science Learning During School Closures
- How place-based science education strategies can support equity for students, teachers, and communities
- Learning in Places: LE 1.A Sharing Places: Neighborhood Walk
Materials:
- Asynchronous Google Slide Deck with directions and support for students. Student/Family Directions Sheet
- Paper and drawing materials to sketch on walk, device to take photographs or recordings on walk
- Learning Catcher Interactive notebook OR printed Family Field Science Walk Data observation sheet
- Google Forms (be sure to make your own copy of these to share with students): Family Discussion Form, Data Noticings Form
- Make a copy of the Learning Catcher digital notebook for each student, and make sure you can access them.
Preparation: If desired, provide print Family Field Science Walk #2 data recording sheet to students.
Lesson 3 Resources
In Lesson 3, students share and analyze the student maps and data collected on the Family Field Science walks. They sense-make around the size of trees compated to theirs seeds and about why the growing things in their neighborhood are where they are. They independently engage with informational sources and summarize what they learn.
Lesson 3: Analyzing Family Data on Local Plants and Trees and Their Seeds (biosphere)
Format: Zoom Classroom and Working at Home Time: 60 minutes
Lesson Phenomenon:
Plants and trees observed on the Family Field Science walk are always much larger than their seeds.
Lesson Driving Question(s):
- What plants/trees grow in our area and how do they compare to their seeds?
- If plants and trees are always larger than their seeds, where does all that extra “stuff” come from?
Lesson Focus Performance Expectation:
- Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. 5-LS1-1 Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that plant matter comes mostly from air and water, not from the soil.
- (Building towards) 5-ESS2-1 Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.
Lesson Focus SEP:
- Communicate scientific and/or technical information orally and/or in written formats, including various forms of media and may include tables, diagrams, and charts. INFO-E5
- Construct and/or support an argument with evidence, data, and/or a model. ARG-E4
Lesson Focus CCC:
- Similarities and differences in patterns can be used to sort, classify, communicate and analyze simple rates of change for natural phenomena and designed products. PAT E-1
Lesson Focus DCI(s):
- PS3.D Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water. (5-LS1-1)
- ESS2.A Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact. (5-ESS2-1)
Lesson 3D Learning Objective:
Students share and analyze observations on patterns of scale between trees to their seeds and make supported claims about where the extra “stuff” might have come from.
ELA Standards:
Reading
- RI.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- RI.5.2 Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.
Language
- L.5.4.B Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., photograph, photosynthesis).
Writing
- W.5.2.D Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
Speaking and Listening
- SL.5.1.B Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
- SL.5.1.C Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.
- L.5.1.D Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions.
Math Standards: N/A
Social Studies Standards:
G2.5.2 Explain how culture influences the way people modify and adapt to their environments.
Art Standards: N/A
Materials:
- Class KLEWS chart
- Choice board of texts/videos for student home reading tasks.
Preparation:
- Check and personalize the choice board of texts/videos for student home reading tasks if needed.
- Make and share digital copies of the Learning Catcher Google Doc Notebook for each student and for yourself.
Lesson 4 Resources
In Lesson 4, students learn about matter as an input, They measure Lima beans in 3 dimensions before and after planning and conducting an investigation to see which forms of matter are inputs for dry seeds. Students convert between mm and cm, use inequality statements to compare dimensions before and after exposure to matter forms and use the standard algorithm to find differences. They independently engage with informational sources and summarize what they learn.
Lesson 4: Water and Lima Bean Seeds Investigation (interaction between the biosphere and hydrosphere)
Format: Zoom Classroom and Working at Home Time: 2 sessions of 30+ minutes each
Conduct this lesson when you can have live access to students 2 days in a row for Parts A and B. If needed, Part B could be 2 days later.
Lesson Phenomenon: Lima bean seeds become much larger when soaked in water then return to their original size when dry.
Lesson Driving Question: Where does the extra matter come from as a seed starts to grow?
Lesson Focus Performance Expectation:
- 5-LS1-1 Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that plant matter comes mostly from air and water, not from the soil.
(Building towards) 5-ESS2-1 Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.
Lesson Focus SEP(s):
- Make observations and/or measurements to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence for an explanation of a phenomenon or test a design solution. INV-E3
- Analyze and interpret data to make sense of phenomena, using logical reasoning, mathematics, and/or computation. DATA E2
- Plan and conduct an investigation collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence, using fair tests in which variables are controlled and the number of trials considered.
Lesson Focus CCC(s):
- Matter is transported into, out of, and within systems. (5-LS1-1)
Lesson Focus DCI(s):
- PS3.D Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water. (5-LS1-1)
- ESS2.A: Earth’s major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things, including humans). These systems interact in multiple ways… (5-ESS2-1)
Lesson 3D Learning Objective:
Students will observe and measure changes in bean seeds as they react to inputs of matter (water) and explain what causes the seeds to increase and decrease in size.
ELA Standards:
Reading
- RI.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- RI.5.2 Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.
Language
- L.5.4.B Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., photograph, photosynthesis).
Writing
- W.5.2.D Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
- W.5.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Speaking and Listening
- SL.5.1.A Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
- SL.5.1.B Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
- SL.5.1.C Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.
- SL.5.1.D Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions.
Math Standards:
4th Grade Review
- 4.NBT.B.4 Fluently add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm
- 4.MD.A.1 Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec….
- 4.NBT.A.2 ...Compare two multi-digit numbers based on meanings of the digits in each place, using >, =, and < symbols to record the results of comparisons.
5th Grade
- Building towards CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.MD.C.5.B Apply the formulas V = l × w × h
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.MD.A.1 Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems.
Social Studies Standards:
- SSS1.5.3 Construct explanations using reasoning, correct sequence, examples, and details with relevant information and data.
- SSS4.5.3 Use evidence to develop claims in response to compelling questions.
Art Standards:
N/A
Materials:
- Instructional Synchronous Google slide deck for Part 1, and Google Slide deck for Part 2, and student Learning Catcher notebook
- At least 3 lima bean seeds for each student and for the teacher
- 3 cups or containers for seeds to be in overnight
- water for the one seed to soak in
- dry soil for one seed to sit in (soil must be dry with no water to test if soil alone can cause seeds to start growing)
- mm/cm ruler for each student and for the teacher
- gram scale for teacher if available
- ½ cup measuring cup
- Informational Choice Board
Preparation:
- Gather materials and ensure students have access to their materials. Let students know to have their materials ready.
- Prepare the informational reading choice board.
- Prepare a location to conduct the investigation so students can observe, consider joining the meeting with a second device to use as a document camera.
Lesson 5 Resources
In Lesson 5, students think about matter as inputs for growing plants. They plan and conduct a 2 week investigation to find which forms of matter are inputs for plants and might be where the extra material comes from as they grow larger. Students measure their beginning seeds in 3 dimensions and record for comparison. They daily measure and record height changes in mm and record in preparation for Lesson 6. They independently engage with informational sources and summarize what they learn.
Lesson 5: Soil/No Soil Seed Investigation (interaction between biosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere)
Format: Zoom Classroom and Working at Home Time: 75 min
Lesson Phenomenon: A small seed becomes a larger plant or tree.
Lesson Driving Question: Do plants eat soil for their food to grow?
Lesson Focus Performance Expectation:
- Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. 5-LS1-1 Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that plant matter comes mostly from air and water, not from the soil.
- (Building towards) 5-ESS2-1 Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.
Lesson Focus SEP(s):
- Represent data in tables and/or various graphical displays (bar graphs, pictographs, and/or pie charts) to reveal patterns that indicate relationships. DATA-E1
- Describe, measure, estimate, and/or graph quantities such as area, volume, weight, and time to address scientific and engineering questions and problems. MATH-E3
- Plan and conduct an investigation collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence, using fair tests in which variables are controlled and the number of trials considered.
Lesson Focus CCC(s):
- Matter is made of particles. EM-E1
- Matter is transported into, out of, and within systems. (5-LS1-1)
Lesson Focus DCI(s):
- PS3.D: Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water. (5-LS1-1)
- ESS2.A: Earth’s major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things, including humans). These systems interact in multiple ways… (5-ESS2-1)
Lesson 3D Learning Objective:
Students will collaboratively plan and conduct an investigation to acquire and analyze data about what matter is an input into plants for growth. Time: 75 minutes
ELA Standards:
Reading
- RI.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- RI.5.2 Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.
Language
- L.5.4.B Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., photograph, photosynthesis).
Writing
- W.5.2.D Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
- W.5.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Speaking/Listening
- SL.5.1.A Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
- SL.5.1.B Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
- SL.5.1.C Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.
- SL.5.1.D Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions.
Math Standards:
4th Grade Review
- 4.MD.A.1 Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec….
Materials:
- Instructional Synchronous Google slide deck and student Learning Catcher notebook
- Informational Choice Board
- At least 9 lima bean seeds for each student and for the teacher
- mm/cm ruler for each student and for the teacher
- soil
- paper towel or napkin
- water
- plastic Ziploc storage or freezer bag- if students don’t have a heavy Ziploc, they can use 2 thinner sandwich bags or even a plastic grocery bag, anything to help keep the paper towel moist.
- ½ cup measuring cup
- hard ruler, butter knife, or pencil
- gram scale if available
- 2 paper, Styrofoam, or plastic cups (for planting seeds in)
Preparation:
- Gather your materials and prepare to run the investigation yourself as a class model.
- Read the teacher background resources listed below to prepare for facilitating an NGSS investigation.
Shift to NGSS Pedagogy:
- Watch Paul Andersen’s 8 minute video-Planning and Conducting Investigations in NGSS.
- Read pages 59-61 in the Framework for K-12 Science about planning and conducting investigations.
- Read pages 7-8 in Appendix F that explains planning and carrying out investigations
Science Background for the Teacher:
- Read pages 147-148 in the Framework for K-12 Science LS1.C about matter and energy flow in organisms.
Lesson 6 Resources
In Lesson 6, students use the height data collected from one of their growing plants to analyze and think about speed of plant growth and how matter is related. They round their data for growing Days 1-6 to the nearest cm and create ordered pairs. They graph days 1-6 looking for any patterns in speed of growth and use their data to predict plant height on Day 10. On Day 10, students round and graph the data for Days 6-10 and compare their prediction to see if any pattern continued. Students consider why humans might care about speed of plant growth and what factors might affect it. They find the volume of 3 dimensional boxes needed to mail their plant at different times in its growth. Students have the option to plan and conduct their own investigation into what affects the speed plants grow or to engineering a box that can meet all of a plant's needs during a one week shipping period.
Lesson 6: Growing Speed of Plants (biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere)
Plan on conducting Part 1 of this lesson once 5 days of growth data are gathered in the red table from Lesson 5.
Format: Zoom Classroom and Working at Home Time: Part 1- 60 minutes, Part 2- 60 minutes
Lesson Phenomenon: The seeds in both environments (with and without soil) have developed additional structures and have increased in size and weight.
Lesson Driving Question(s): Where is the matter coming from for the extra size and weight? How fast can plants gain more matter and grow larger?
Lesson Focus Performance Expectation:
Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. 5-LS1-1
Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that plant matter comes mostly from air and water, not from the soil.
Lesson Focus SEP(s):
- Analyze and interpret data to make sense of phenomena, using logical reasoning, mathematics, and/or computation. DATA E2
- Make observations and/or measurements to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence for an explanation of a phenomenon or test a design solution. INV-E3
- Plan and conduct an investigation collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence, using fair tests in which variables are controlled and the number of trials considered.
Lesson Focus CCC(s):
- Patterns of change can be used to make predictions. CE-E1
- Matter is transported into, out of, and within systems. (5-LS1-1)
Lesson Focus DCI:
- PS3.D: Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water. (5-LS1-1)
Lesson 3D Learning Objective:
Students will measure, record and analyze data looking for patterns of change in growth of plants and use patterns to predict future growth.
ELA Standards:
Writing
- W.5.2.D Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
- W.5.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Reading
- RI.5.2 Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.
Speaking/Listening
- SL.5.2 Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
- SL.5.1.B Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
- SL.5.1.C Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.
- SL.5.1.D Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions.
Math Standards:
4th Grade Review
- 4.NBT.B.4 Fluently add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm
- 4.MD.A.1 Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec….
- 4.NBT.A.3 Use place value understanding to round multi-digit whole numbers to any place.
- 4.NBT.A.2 ... Compare two multi-digit numbers based on meanings of the digits in each place, using >, =, and < symbols to record the results of comparisons.
- 4.OA.A.3 Solve multistep word problems posed with whole numbers and having whole number answers using the four operations... Represent these problems using equations with a letter standing for the unknown quantity. Assess the reasonableness of answers using mental computation and estimation strategies including rounding.
5th Grade
- 5.MD.C.5.B Apply the formulas V = l × w × h and V = b × h for rectangular prisms to find volumes of right rectangular prisms with whole-number edge lengths in the context of solving real world and mathematical problems.
- 5.NBT.B.5 Fluently multiply multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm.
- 5.OA.B.3...Identify apparent relationships between corresponding terms. Form ordered pairs consisting of corresponding terms from the two patterns and graph the ordered pairs on a coordinate plane.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.OA.A.1 Use parentheses, brackets, or braces in numerical expressions, and evaluate expressions with these symbols.
Social Studies Standards:
- SSS2.5.3 Critique arguments.
- SSS2.5.4 Critique explanations.
Art Standards: N/A
Materials:
- Instructional Synchronous Google slide deck Part 1 and Synchronous Google slide deck Part 2 and student Learning Catcher notebook
- Student plant growing investigations
- mm rulers
- gram scale if possible
Preparation:
- Review the resources below to support you in facilitating student discourse and planning for plant investigations.
Shift to NGSS Pedagogy:
- Review the Science Practices Continuum for a matrix of teacher moves using the practices
Science Background for the Teacher:
Lesson 7 Resources
In Lesson 7, students conclude the investigation they set up in Lesson 5.They collect final data,calculate and analyze results, and write a final claim supported by evidence and reasoning. They revisit their initial explanatory model from Lesson 1 and create a final explanatory model to show their new understanding of where matter comes from as a seed grows into a plant or tree. Students engage with informational reading and videos and summarize their new learning.
Conduct this lesson after 2 weeks of (or sufficient) plant growth data is collected to make a final claim.
Format: Zoom Classroom and Working at Home Time: 60 minutes
Lesson Phenomenon: The seeds in both environments (with and without soil) are observed to have developed additional structures and increased in size and weight.
Lesson Driving Question: Where did the matter come from for the extra size and weight? Does any of the extra matter come from the soil?
Lesson Focus Performance Expectation:
- Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. 5-LS1-1
Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that plant matter comes mostly from air and water, not from the soil.
- (Building towards) 5-ESS2-1 Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.
Lesson Focus SEP:
- Analyze and interpret data to make sense of phenomena, using logical reasoning, mathematics, and/or computation. DATA E2
Lesson Focus CCC:
- Change is measured in terms of differences over time and may occur at different rates. SC-E2
- Matter flows and cycles can be tracked in terms of the weight of the substances before and after a process occurs. The total weight of the substances does not change. This is what is meant by conservation of matter. Matter is transported into, out of, and within systems. EM-E2
Lesson Focus DCI:
- PS3.D: Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water. (5-LS1-1)
- ESS2.A: Earth’s major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things, including humans). These systems interact in multiple ways… (5-ESS2-1)
Lesson 3D Learning Objective:
Students will analyze data looking for patterns of change in growth of plants and draw conclusions about where the additional matter comes from.
ELA Standards:
Reading
- RI.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- RI.5.2 Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.
Writing
- W.5.2.D Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
Speaking/Listening
- SL.5.1. A Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
- SL.5.2 Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally,
- SL.5.1. B Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
- SL.5.1.C Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.
- SL.5.1. D Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions.
Math Standards:
4th Grade Review
- 4.NBT.B.4 Fluently add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm
- 4.MD.A.1 Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec….
- 4.NBT.A. 2 ... Compare two multi-digit numbers based on meanings of the digits in each place, using >, =, and < symbols to record the results of comparisons.
Social Studies Standards:
- SSS1.5.2 Construct arguments using claims and evidence from multiple sources.
- SSS4.5.3 Use evidence to develop claims in response to compelling questions.
- SSS2.5.3 Critique arguments.
- SSS2.5.4 Critique explanations
Art Standards:
- N/A
Materials:
- Student Learning Catcher Notebook
- Lesson 7 Instructional Slide Deck
- Lesson 7 Informational Choice Board
- “Now We Think It’s” Explanatory Model (Google Doc format)
- “Now We Think It’s” Explanatory Model (pdf format)
- “Now We Think It’s” Explanatory Model (Fillable pdf format) download to show the fillable forms
- “Now We Think It’s” Scoring Rubric
Attending to Equitable Access for All Students:
- How to avoid possible pitfalls associated with culturally responsive instruction STEM Teaching Tools #53
- Scaffolds for English Language Learners/students reading well below grade level:
- Label visuals
- Provide a word bank for the lesson with illustrations
- Verbally read directions and check for understanding
- Scaffolds for vision:
- Students dictate their ideas to teacher for input or a family member can input their ideas
- Describe the phenomenon for the student
- Read the data table information aloud
- Scaffolds for hearing:
- Turn on closed captioning. Google Meet has a built in live option. In Zoom, someone will need to type it in.
- Provide visual directions
- Capture student thinking in a Google Doc to make class talk visible
- Scaffolds for attention:
- Schedule short movement breaks in between See, Think, Wonder tasks
- Schedule short breathing breaks in between See, Think, Wonder tasks
- Alternate tasks or methods of response:
- Students can dictate or record their explanatory ideas if there are barriers. Nearpod provides this feature.
- Alternate or additional phenomena for scaffolding or extension:
Bean plant time lapse video, Mango time lapse video, Radish time lapse video
Preparation:
- Read the teacher background resources listed below to prepare for facilitating an NGSS investigation.
Shift to NGSS Pedagogy:
- Read pages 61-63 in the Framework for K-12 Science about analyzing and interpreting data.
- Watch Paul Andersen’s 8 minute video that explains Engaging in Argument from Evidence.
Science Background for the Teacher:
- Read pages 147-148 in the Framework for K-12 Science LS1.C about matter and energy flow in organisms.
- Where do trees get their mass from? Michigan State University
- Ask a Biologist- Are Plants Made From Thin Air?
- Video: Are Plants Made From Thin Air?
- Example investigation with data CA State Univ
Content Integration Points:
- Look for content integration points for English Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Art within the procedures below. They will be marked by an asterisk(*) and labeled. (SS= Social Studies, M = Math, A= Art, ELA = ELA)
Procedures
Conduct this lesson after 2 weeks of plant growth data (or sufficient to answer the question) is collected to analyze data and make a final claim.
Part 1- Model How to Collect and Record Final Data from Lesson 5
time 30+minutes
- * (ELA) Share learning since last class meeting: time 10 min
- Share and discuss any student home engineering from Lesson 6.
- * (Math) Model How to Collect and Record Lesson 5 Final Data
- Now that our seeds have been growing for a while, we have enough data to help us answer our question from Lesson 5, “Do plants need soil, water, and/or air to grow?” (insert the question your class created in Lesson 5)
- It’s time to collect data on the final size of out plants so we can compare them to the beginning size of the seeds and see which matter inputs were needed for them to grow.
- Have students open their Learning Catcher notebooks to Lesson 5.
- Using one of the class specimens, model for students how to measure the final length, width, and height of the specimen.
- Show how to record this in the Learning Catcher notebook in the red text row, “Bean Plant at End”.
- Review inequality statements < = >, and model how to write the inequality statements comparing the bean seed at the start to the specimen at the end of the investigation.
- Review using the subtraction algorithm and model how to write the subtraction equation, then use the algorithm to subtract the start measurement from the end measurement to find the difference.
- Scaffolded Student Collection of Data
- Recommend that you give students some time to all complete the measurement and computations for their first table while you are together in Zoom, checking in on student workbooks, re-modeling, answering questions etc…
- As students finish for one specimen, they can have you check their work, then leave and complete the other tables asynchronously.
- Data Extension if Possible: If weighing was an option, remove the class plant from the soil and weigh to see if any of the soil has disappeared (make sure to remove soil from the roots and return to be measured). Did any of the soil’s matter go into the plant?
Part 2 -Analyze Data from Lesson 5 Investigation time 40 minutes
- Make Sense of Investigation Data time 5 minutes
- What did you observe happening in your investigation?
- Which specimen had the most increase of matter? What was the difference? Why do we think this had the most increase?
- Which had the least? Why do we think this had the least increase?
- Observe the seedlings growing in wet paper towels.
- What changes can we observe?
- Did they increase in matter?
- Are they green and do they have leaves?
- * (ELA CER) Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (Formative assessment opportunity) time 15 minutes
- Have students go to Lesson 5, Step 6 in their Learning Catcher Notebooks.
- Determine useful evidence:
- Together, decide which data from their investigation that most helps to answer the question.
- All record that data in Step 6a. (example, the seed in air only had 0 increase in size, the seed with air, water and soil had ____ increase in size, the seed with air and water had ____ increase in size.
- Discuss to make sense of the data so we can answer the investigation question
- What does our data tell us about which matter is needed as an input for seeds to grow?
- Did seeds have to take in water (matter as a liquid) to increase their own matter? (yes)
- Did seeds have to take in soil (matter as a solid) to increase their own matter? (no soil itself is not an input for plants)
- Did seeds have to take in air (matter as a gas) to increase their own matter? (We don’t know yet, because all of the seeds had access to air) This will be addressed in Lesson 8.
- Together, develop a claim that answers the question and have students record their claim in their own words in Step 6b. (example: Seeds need water as a matter input so they can grow and get larger. Plants do not need soil as an input to grow and get larger. Seeds may need air.)
- Have some students share their claim.
- Discuss data reasoning
- Ask students to share their thinking about why the data we wrote in Step 6a supports or proves the claim we just wrote in Step 6b.
- A useful sentence frame for this is, “ Since we saw _________(in the data), this shows ______________________ because _______________.”
- Discuss and have students record their reasoning in Step 6c.
- Examples:
- Since we saw no increase in both seeds without water, but ___ increase in the seed with water, this shows seeds must need water to grow larger because if they didn’t need it, all the seeds would have grown larger.
- Since we saw the seeds without soil but with water increased in height by _____ this shows seeds don’t need soil to grow because if they did, they wouldn’t have grown at all in the bag with no soil.
- Have some students share their reasoning.
- Model New Learning (You might have students do this Asynchronously) time 15 minutes
- If possible, have students review their “Maybe It’s” initial explanatory model from Lesson 1 where they showed where they thought the “stuff” came from as seeds grew into plants or trees. How have their ideas changed and grown?
- Provide students with the new explanatory model and have them show all their thinking and understanding now of where the matter comes from as seeds grow into plants or trees. Students should use words, pictures, arrows etc… to show and explain their ideas.
- Thinking About Assessment:
- Compare student explanatory models from Lesson 1 and Lesson 7.
- Look for evidence of change in student thinking about where the matter comes from as seeds grow into plants and trees.
- Are students able to clearly show and explain that water and air are entering the plant?
- Optional Phenomena Extension:
- How does the extra matter actually get into the plant? Students can research to discover more about the structure and function of the plant that supports this process. Students can physically examine their local plant leaves and roots. Support phenomenon resources for this are:
- Bean plant time lapse video What pattern do we see of plant growth and adding matter? (roots, stem, leaves, leaves get bigger, more leaver, stem is growing the whole time.
- close up image of leaf
- Epidermis peel
- Guard Cells and Stomates
- microscope video of stoma opening and closing (play without sound)
- microscopic stomata video
- root structures
- *(ELA) Develop Academic Vocabulary: The Atmosphere 5 minutes
- There is a scientific name for all the air on Earth. Does anyone know what prefix means, “air on Earth”? Atmos
- What do you think we call the part of Earth’s systems that includes all its air? “Atmosphere”. What does it mean?
- Have students add notes on the Atmosphere to Lesson 7’s learning-catcher document, add to the class KLEWS chart.
- How does the Atmosphere connect to our lesson today? What other sphere(s) is it interacting with?
- Lesson Synthesis: 5 minutes
- Debrief the lesson with students: record new ideas, data, photos, and science words on the KLEWS chart.
- Which of our KLEWS questions were answered today and what new questions do we now have?
- * (ELA) Independent Synthesis of Learning: (Opportunity for formative assessment) You might have students complete asynchronously
- Students record their Lesson Learning Summary in their notebooks for Lesson 7.
- Thinking about assessment: This is an opportunity to observe how students are summarizing and synthesizing the lesson learning.
- Family Connection:
- Teach your family what the word atmosphere means and ask for their thoughts and experiences with it.
- At Home Assignment (formative assessment opportunity):
- Students choose informational reading/videos from the Lesson 7 choice board.
- They summarize their new learning in their Learning Catcher notebook.
- Thinking about assessment: This is an opportunity to observe how students are comprehending and summarizing independent learning.
Lesson 8 Resources
In Lesson 8, students learn about energy and analyze qualitative and quantitative data to make sense about the role light plays in growth of plants. They make final claims about the relationship between light, matter and plants. Students independently engage with informational sources and summarize what they learn.
Format: Zoom Classroom and Working at Home Time: Part 1: 45 minutes, Part 2: 60 min
Lesson Phenomena: Plants with different amounts of light have differences in size and leaf/flower color. Plants are observed to move towards light sources.
Lesson Driving Question: How do plants get their “food” to grow larger?
Lesson Focus Performance Expectation:
- Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. 5-LS1-1
Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that plant matter comes mostly from air and water, not from the soil.
- 5-PS3-1 Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (
used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth)was once energy from the sun.
Lesson Focus SEP(s):
- Make observations and/or measurements to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence for an explanation of a phenomenon or test a design solution. INV-E3
- Use evidence (e.g., measurements, observations, patterns) to construct or support an explanation or design a solution to a problem. CEDS-E2
Lesson Focus CCC(s):
- A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions. (5-LS2-1)
- Energy can be transferred in various ways and between objects. (5-PS3-1)
Lesson Focus DCI:
- PS3.D: The energy released [from] food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water). (5-PS3-1)
Lesson 3D Learning Objective:
Students will make observations and analyze and interpret data to draw conclusions about how and why light affects plant growth.
ELA Standards:
Reading
- RI.5.2 Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.
- RI.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Writing
- W.5.2.D Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
- W.5.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Speaking/Listening
- SL.5.1.A Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
- SL.5.2 Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
- SL.5.1.B Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
- SL.5.1.C Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.
- SL.5.1.D Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussion
Math Standards:
- 4.NBT.A.2 ... Compare two multi-digit numbers based on meanings of the digits in each place, using >, =, and < symbols to record the results of comparisons.
Social Studies Standards:
- SSS4.5.3 Use evidence to develop claims in response to compelling questions.
- SSS2.5.3 Critique arguments.
- SSS2.5.4 Critique explanations.
Art Standards: N/A
Materials:
- Instructional Slide Deck
- Student Learning Catcher notebook for all Lessons
- See-Think-Wonder Whole Class response sheet
- Group Sense-Making Slide Deck for Gretchen Brinza Data (one slide deck will support 28 students, delete slide 7 if you have 24 or less students in your class)
- Lesson 8 Informational Choice Board
- Paul Andersen Assessment- What do trees need to grow bigger?
Attending to Equitable Access for All Students:
- How to avoid possible pitfalls associated with culturally responsive instruction STEM Teaching Tools #53
- Scaffolds for English Language Learners/students reading well below grade level:
- Label visuals
- Provide a word bank for the lesson with illustrations
- Verbally read directions and check for understanding
- Provide an investigation template with visual supports
- Scaffolds for vision:
- Students dictate their ideas to teacher for input or a family member can input their ideas
- Describe the phenomenon for the student
- Describe the plant data for the student
- Scaffolds for hearing:
- Turn on closed captioning. Google Meet has a built in live option. In Zoom, someone will need to type it in.
- Provide visual directions
- Capture student thinking in a Google Doc to make class talk visible
- Scaffolds for attention:
- Schedule short movement breaks.
- Schedule short breathing breaks.
- Alternate tasks or methods of response:
- Students can dictate or record their explanatory ideas if there are barriers. Nearpod provides this feature.
- Alternate or additional phenomena for scaffolding or extension:
Preparation:
- Review the resources below to support you in facilitating student discourse about plants and light and growing your understanding of three-dimensional teaching and learning.
Shift to NGSS Pedagogy:
- Scientific Inquiry in Five Steps -Paul Andersen on The Wonder of Science
- A New Vision for Science Education Nextgenscience.org Infographic
- How Today’s Students Learn Science NGSS.NSTA.org Infographic
Science Background for the Teacher:
Content Integration Points:
- Look for content integration points for English Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Art within the procedures below. They will be marked by an asterisk (*) and labeled. (SS= Social Studies, M = Math, A= Art, ELA = ELA)
Procedures
Part 1 time 45 minutes
- * (ELA) Share learning since last class meeting: (opportunity for formative assessment) time 5 min
- Debrief student summaries of their learning from choice board readings/videos.
- Collect on sticky notes to add to the class KLEWS chart.
- What new questions do students have prompted by the readings/videos? Discuss and add to KLEWS chart. Look for ways to leverage student questions to drive the learning.
- Review What We Have Figured Out So Far, Connect to Today’s Lesson: time 5 minutes
- Refer back to the model from Lesson 5 of the matter that surrounds and is an input for plants.
- Is matter input by itself enough for plants to grow or do plants need any other inputs?
- Compare to other living things. What do people and animals need to live and grow larger? (food)
- What is “food”? How do living things get “food”?
- Have we observed plants “eating” anything? What is food for plants that gives them energy to live and grow larger?
- * (ELA)Revisit Anchoring Phenomenon: (opportunity for formative assessment) 15 minutes
- View the avocado phenomenon video again.
- What other input can we see going into the plant that is not matter? (light)
- What patterns of light do we see and how does the plant respond to these patterns?
- Leaves lean toward light during the day and back at night.
- Leaves reach upward at night and relax back down during the day
- What do we think is causing the plant to move in these patterns? Why?
- Can we see the same behavior in other plants? Watch Time Lapse Video of Plants and Light, Positive Phototropism Demo
- What do these plant behaviors tell us? Why do plants do this? (plants must need light for something, as they reach towards it)
- View the avocado phenomenon video again.
- Mystery Investigation * (ELA) (opportunity for formative assessment) time- synchronous 20 minutes
- Follow directions below, students will analyze observational data from an investigation that was conducted by another fifth grade class.
- Make Observations of Phenomena:
- Show students image 1 of investigation plants and image 2 of investigation plants
- What do we see? What do we think? What do we wonder?
- Provide the Google See-Think-Wonder sheet for students to record their thinking. Discuss observations and questions. Seek to engage with student wonderings in the lesson.
- Alternately, you could push the image out to students using Whiteboard.Fi and ask them to make claims with evidence and reasoning on their image.
- What question do we think students were trying to answer in the investigation?
- Make Sense of the Observations:
- In this case, fifth grade students designed an investigation to answer the question, “How does the amount of light affect plant health and ability to grow?”
- The three plants started out being the same size, same color, and same degree of health. For 2 weeks, one plant was grown in no light at all (underneath a bucket), one plant received light during the day only, and one plant received light 24 hours a day. All plants received the same amount of water and were the same temperature in the same classroom.
- Which plant in the image do we think received no light, which was daylight only, and which received 24 hours a day light? (Make a claim)
- What evidence and reasoning supports your claim?
- The plant with no light is yellow and dying (plant on the left), the plant with daylight only is partly yellow (middle plant), the plant with 24 hours of light is dark green and very healthy with vibrantly colored flowers.
- Connect Phenomenon Observations to Unit Question:
- What do our observations make us think about the relationship between plants and light?
- What plant parts seem to be most involved in using light? What makes us think that?
- Do plants need light to live and grow?
- After discussion, students complete the Mystery Investigation Claims-Evidence-Reasonin statements in their Learning Catcher Notebooks..
- Thinking about assessment: This is an opportunity to observe how students are analyzing and making sense of data, collaborating, and drawing conclusions about the unit phenomenon.
Part 2 time: 60 minutes
- * (ELA, Math) Gretchen Brinza’s Class Data: Analyze and Interpret Quantitative Data, testing for Air, Light, and Water (opportunity for formative assessment)
- Create context for data
- Tell students that they will see the data collected by a different fifth grade class to help us make our final decisions about plant growth.
- This other fifth grade class planned and conducted their own investigation to see if plants need air, water, and/or light to grow.
- The data tables are accessed from Gretchen Brinza’s Fifth Grade Class site. She and her class gathered this data while helping to develop the OER Lesson “Why Do Dead Things Disappear Over Time?” developed by NextGenStorylines.
- Each test environment had 4 plants in it, named by a letter of the alphabet.
- For teacher information:
- Test Environment 1: Light, air, and water (all plants steadily increase in matter/growth, measured by their weight., Plants/trees need light, air, and water to increase their matter and grow)
- Test Environment 2: Light and air, no water (all plants steadily decrease in weight, as the water is leaving their system)
- Test Environment 3: Light and water, no air (no increase-all plants stay the same size and weight, plants must have air to grow and add matter)
- Create context for data
- Predict Using Unit Learning and Reasoning (opportunity for formative assessment) 5 minutes
- Ask students to predict what they think the plants will do in each of the test environments and why.
- Go over expectations for group digital collaboration.
- Group Analysis/Explicitly Support Patterns Thinking (opportunity for formative assessment) 15 minutes
- Assign each group of 4 students to their slide in the “Data from Gretchen Brinza’s Investigation” slide deck. (teacher example slide)
- Each student will sign up to analyze a plant on their assigned slide by typing their name on one of the green sticky notes. Their sticky note tells them which plant they will analyze.
- Each Environment slide has a blank data table with a row for each plant. Students should use the blank data table row to describe the pattern of their plant’s growth as measured by its weight.
- Students can use Insert, Line, Scribble to draw on the slide to circle data, make arrows etc…
- Students should write an inequality to compare the weight of their plant in Week 0 to Week 12. They can delete the red symbols that don’t apply (< = or >).
- Each student should look at the data for each plant in the environment and answer the questions on their green sticky note.
- Students should use the comment feature in the top right corner of the slide to “talk” once they have completed their parts and need to make a group decision about that environment data and what it means.
- If they need more space, students can add text boxes in the blank space outside of the actual slide.
- Students should type their conclusion based on the pattern data in the speaker notes section below the slide. What does the Test Environment data pattern tell us about whether plants need air, water and/or light to grow?
- Continually check in on group slide decks as students are working and give feedback/support/ask questions
- Thinking about assessment: This is an opportunity to observe how students are analyzing and making sense of data, comparing with inequality statements, collaborating, and drawing conclusions about plant needs for growth.
- Share and Discuss Group Work and Conclusions (opportunity for formative assessment) 10 minutes
- Give each group a couple of minutes to screen share their slides and give their interpretation.
- Connect to Unit Anchoring Phenomenon 5 minutes
- Show a picture of the growing avocado seed. Which of the 3 investigation setups does this match? What does this tell us?
- Predict Using Unit Learning and Reasoning (opportunity for formative assessment) 5 minutes
- Come to Consensus as a Class 5 minutes
- What do we now think about what inputs plants need to live and grow? (plants need air, water, and light to grow larger)
- Mini Lesson on Energy and Plants 10 minutes.
- Why do plants need both light input and matter inputs to grow?
- Show the video, Photosynthesis for Kids (5 min. 30 sec) which explains simply how plants use water, air, and light to grow. Note- this video goes beyond what 5th graders are accountable for in NGSS assessment, but it nicely makes all the connections between air, water, and light for plants and food that students have been figuring out.
- Ask students to summarize what they learned from the video. You many want to have them practice taking notes during the video. Type student summaries into slide # 34 as they share to capture their ideas. Alternately, have student type summary statements in the chat.
- *(ELA) Develop Academic Vocabulary: photosynthesis 5 minutes (this is introduced in the video)
- There is a scientific name for plants using light to make food. Does anyone know what prefix means, “light”? Photo
- The rest of the word is “synthesis”, which means putting together or making.
- So, what does photosynthesis mean?
- Have students add notes on photosynthesis to Lesson 8’s learning-catcher document, add to the class KLEWS chart.
- How does photosynthesis connect to our lesson today? What sphere(s) is it interacting with?
- Lesson Synthesis: 5 minutes
- Debrief the lesson with students: record new ideas, data, photos, and science words on the KLEWS chart.
- Which of our KLEWS questions were answered today and what new questions do we now have?
- * (ELA) Independent Synthesis of Learning: (Opportunity for formative assessment) You might have students complete asynchronously
- Students record their Lesson Learning Summary in their notebooks for Lesson 8.
- Thinking about assessment: This is an opportunity to observe how students are summarizing and synthesizing the lesson learning.
- Family Connection:
- Teach your family what the word photosynthesis means and ask for other words they can think of that start with the prefix “photo”. What do those words mean?
- At Home Assignment (formative assessment opportunity):
- Students choose informational reading/videos from the Lesson 8 choice board.
- They summarize their new learning in their Learning Catcher notebook.
- Thinking about assessment: This is an opportunity to observe how students are comprehending and summarizing independent learning.
- Optional Formal Summative Assessment:
- If desired, you can administer the OER assessment, “Where do Trees Get Their Mass?” from Paul Andersen’s site, The Wonder of Science .
- Select which elements of the assessment you wish to administer to students.
- If you need students to be able to type on the pdfs, use pdfescape to add fillable text paragraph boxes.
Lesson 9 Resources
In Lesson 9, students conduct research and create a presentation showing how a plant or tree of their choice is able to grow from a seed to an adult. In this project, they include all aspects of learning from earlier lessons and apply informational reading and writing strategies. They use data from their unit Learning Catcher Notebook and information from the Lesson Informational Choice Boards to support them, as well as finding information specific to their own plant or tree. Students create a mixed- media presentation including a scientific model, paragraphing, resource list, and narration that will be shared with family and peers. They confer with family and peers to improve and revise their work.
Format: Zoom Classroom and Working at Home Time: Zoom introduction- 15 minutes
Lesson Phenomenon: A ________ seed grows to become a much larger tree. (personalize by student choice of plant/tree and its seed)
Lesson Driving Questions: Where does all the extra matter come from as a small seed grows to become a much larger plant/tree? What inputs do plants need to grow larger?
Lesson Focus Performance Expectation(s):
- Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. 5-LS1-1
Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that plant matter comes mostly from air and water, not from the soil.
- (Building towards) 5-ESS2-1 Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.
- 5-PS3-1 Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (
used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth)was once energy from the sun.
Lesson Focus SEP:
- Construct and/or support an argument with evidence, data, and/or a model. ARG-E4
- Communicate scientific and/or technical information orally and/or in written formats, including various forms of media and may include tables, diagrams, and charts. INFO-E5
- Read and comprehend grade-appropriate complex texts and/or other reliable media to summarize and obtain scientific and technical ideas and describe how they are supported by evidence. INFO E-1
- Obtain and combine information from books and/or other reliable media to explain phenomena or solutions to a design problem. INFO-E4
- Develop a model using an example to describe a scientific principle. (5-ESS2-1)
Lesson Focus CCC:
- Energy can be transferred in various ways and between objects. (5-PS3-1)
- Matter is transported into, out of, and within systems. (5-LS1-1)
- A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions. (5-LS2-1)
Lesson Focus DCI:
- ESS2.A: Earth’s major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things, including humans). These systems interact in multiple ways… (5-ESS2-1)
- PS3.D:
-The energy released [from] food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water). (5-PS3-1)
-Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water. (5-LS1-1)
Lesson 3D Learning Objective:
Students will collect information from a variety of sources and synthesize it into claims supported by evidence to explain how matter and energy are inputs plants need for growth.
ELA Standards:
Reading
- RI.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- .RI.5.1 Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
- RI.5.4 Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.
- RI.5.7 Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.
- RI.5.9 Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
Writing
- W.5.2.A Introduce a topic clearly, provide a general observation and focus, and group related information logically; include formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
- W.5.2.B Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic.
- W.5.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
- W.5.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
- W.5.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
- W.5.6 With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting.
- W.5.7 Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
- W.5.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work and provide a list of sources.
- W.5.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Math Standards:
N/A
Social Studies Standards:
- SSS1.5.2 Construct arguments using claims and evidence from multiple sources.
Art Standards:
Performance Standard (MA:Pr6.1.5)
- a. Compare qualities and purposes of presentation formats, and fulfill a role and associated processes in presentation and/or
distribution of media artworks.
Performance Standard (MA:Pr5.1.5)
- a. Enact various roles to practice fundamental ability in artistic, design, technical, and soft skills, such as formal technique, production, and collaboration in media arts productions.
- c. Examine how tools and techniques could be used in standard
and experimental ways in constructing media artworks.
Materials:
- Student Learning Catcher Notebooks
- Information Choice Boards from Lessons 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8
- Class KLEWS Chart
- Research Project Rubric for students, peers, parents, teacher- example that can be revised for your class (also in Learning Catcher)
- Research Project Checklist for Students- example that can be revised for your class (this is also in the Learning Catcher Notebooks)
Attending to Equitable Access for All Students:
- How to avoid possible pitfalls associated with culturally responsive instruction STEM Teaching Tools #53
- Scaffolds for English Language Learners/students reading well below grade level:
- Label visuals
- Provide a word bank for the lesson with illustrations
- Verbally read directions and check for understanding
- Scaffolds for vision:
- Students dictate their ideas to teacher for input or a family member can input their ideas
- Describe the phenomenon for the student
- Scaffolds for hearing:
- Turn on closed captioning, provide visual directions
- Capture student thinking in a Google Doc to make class talk visible
- Scaffolds for attention:
- Schedule short movement breaks in between class tasks. Go Noodle is one resource for this.
- Schedule short breathing breaks in between class tasks. Copingskillsforkids.com is one resource for this.
- Alternate tasks or methods of response:
- Students can dictate or record their explanatory ideas if there are barriers. Nearpod provides this feature.
- Alternate or additional phenomena for scaffolding or extension:
Bean plant time lapse video, Mango time lapse video, Radish time lapse video
Preparation:
- Review the research assignment and revise or adapt to meet the needs of your students.
Content Integration Points:
- Look for content integration points for English Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Art within the procedures below. They will be marked by an asterisk (*) and labeled. (SS= Social Studies, M = Math, A= Art, ELA = ELA)
Procedures
- In Lesson 9, students apply everything they have learned in Lessons 1-8 to show what they now know about how plants/trees use matter and energy inputs to grow.
- Students will select a specific plant or tree as their explaining lens for this project. In Lesson 3, they selected a local plant or tree to focus on, they can change to a different plant or tree at this point if they wish.
- Students will conduct research to find specific information, images, and video of their plant/tree.
- They will create an explanatory multimedia presentation that includes developed informational writing passages combined with images, video and possibly narration.
- This project will take multiple days as written, as students will create rough drafts, confer with family, teacher, and peers (if possible), revise and improve, then create final drafts to publish their projects. In Lesson 10, students present to family and their class and engage in self-evaluation as well as peer, family, and teacher evaluation using a detailed rubric.
- * (ELA) Writing Mini-Lessons to Support Students in this Project
- Provide learning on the topics below as needed to support your students:
- Collecting and organizing research information
- Developing an introduction to the topic
- Organizing into subtopics
- Developing subtopics with supporting details (facts, anecdotes, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples)
- Developing a conclusion
- Revising and editing
- In-text citation of sources
- Creating a list of sources
- Multi-media elements (slide deck, video, animation, images, recording narration etc…)
- Provide learning on the topics below as needed to support your students:
- * (ELA) Students research their own selected plant or tree (topic) to explain these subtopics in writing:
- Plant/Tree Background Information
- Appearance of their plant/tree
- Location and range of their plant/tree
- Specific needs of their plant/tree (amount of light, water, temperature)
- Science Explanation for Growth
- Where and how the plant/tree acquires matter to grow larger
- That the plant/tree uses energy from the Sun to make its own food
- Science Explanation for Interaction Between Spheres
- How the plant (biosphere) interacts with elements of the local hydrosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere
- Plant/Tree Background Information
- *(ELA, Art) The project should include:
- Informational paragraphs on the 3 subtopics with supporting details.
- A realistic, labeled scale drawing of their full size plant/tree compared to its seed.
- The drawing should be used to explain (model) how their plant/tree uses matter and energy to grow.
- The words: matter, energy, biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, growth, system, input
- Images showing their plant/tree’s change from a seed to a plant/tree
- A time-lapse video if possible, showing their plant/tree’s growth from seed to plant/tree.
- At least one in-text citation of a source used
- A reference page listing sources used
- Text features such as titles, headings, bold/italics, captions, sketches, colored text etc…
- *(ELA, Art) Potential Project Formats: adapt as needed
- Informational essay with images/video embedded and linked.
- Slideshow with text, images, video and perhaps voice-over
- PowerPoint has a built in screen recorder.
- Explain Everything allows for recording of voice-over if your students have access to it.
- Google Slides does not have a built in recorder, students would need to use a screen recorder tool such as Screencastify if it is available to them through your district.
- Documentary video (in concert with a written script, citation, source page)
- Digital Poster with images, video, and informational paragraphs
- Informational booklet with images, video, and informational paragraphs
- Infographic with images, video, and informational paragraphs
- Webpage or Blog with images, video, and informational paragraphs
- *(ELA)Sources for Project Information:
- Students should refer to and use information and learning from:
- The choice boards from earlier lessons (Lessons 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8)
- Their Learning Catcher Notebook
- “Now I Know” final model
- Class KLEWS chart
- Evidence and observations from class activities
- Learning/observations from Family Walks (if applicable)
- Students will also need to conduct some Internet research for the specific information, images, video of their selected plant/tree.
- Students should refer to and use information and learning from:
- *(ELA)Set-Up Students for Success
- Use the provided rubric to introduce the project or develop a project rubric with students if possible.
- Including students in designing the project increases student engagement and buy-in and allows the project to work specifically for your class skills, interests, and access.
- Schedule opportunities for students to confer one-on-one with you on their writing and project development.
- Partner students strategically to review and comment on peer drafts and give feedback.
- Consider offering “webinars” for students who want/need support in their chosen format. For example, offer a half hour training session on creating slide-decks, or screen recording with PowerPoint, or editing video to create their video-documentary. Recruit your district educational technology staff to help provide these sessions as well.
- *(ELA)Family Connection: Students confer with family members to receive feedback, revise, and improve their project.
Lesson 10 Resources
In Lesson 10, students present their projects from Lesson 9; first to their family, then to peers. Students self-evaluate using a rubric. Family and peers also evaluate the presentation and give feedback using the rubric. Students may use what they learned in the unit to begin a family garden at home.
Lesson 10: Project Presentations/Sharing (interaction between the biosphere and geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere)
Format: Zoom Classroom, Digital Classroom, and Family Classroom Time: will vary
Lesson Phenomenon: A ________ seed grows to become a much larger tree. (personalized by student choice of seed and plant/tree)
Lesson Driving Question: Where does all the extra matter come from as a small seed grows to become a larger plant/tree? What inputs do plants/trees need to grow larger?
Lesson Focus Performance Expectation(s):
- Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. 5-LS1-1
Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that plant matter comes mostly from air and water, not from the soil.
- (Building towards) 5-ESS2-1 Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact
- 5-PS3-1 Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (
used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth)was once energy from the sun.
Lesson Focus SEP(s):
- Construct and/or support an argument with evidence, data, and/or a model. ARG-E4
- Communicate scientific and/or technical information orally and/or in written formats, including various forms of media and may include tables, diagrams, and charts. INFO-E5
Lesson Focus CCC(s):
- Energy can be transferred in various ways and between objects. (5-PS3-1)
- Matter is transported into, out of, and within systems. (5-LS1-1)
- A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions. (5-LS2-1)
Lesson Focus DCI:
- ESS2.A: Earth’s major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things, including humans). These systems interact in multiple ways… (5-ESS2-1)
- PS3.D:
- The energy released [from] food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water). (5-PS3-1)
- Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water. (5-LS1-1)
Lesson 3D Learning Objective:
Students will present claims supported by evidence to explain how matter and energy are inputs plants need for growth.
ELA Standards:
Reading
- RI.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- RI.5.4 Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.
Speaking/Listening
- SL.5.4 Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
- SL.5.5 Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
- SL.5.6 Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task and situation.
Math Standards:
N/A
Social Studies Standards:
- SSS4.5.3 Use evidence to develop claims in response to compelling questions.
- SSS4.5.4 Present a summary of arguments and explanations to others outside the classroom using print and oral technologies (e.g., posters, essays, letters, debates, speeches, and reports) and digital technologies (e.g., Internet, social media, and digital documentary).
Art Standards: N/A
Materials:
- Project Rubric- example from Lesson 9 that can be revised for your class
- Project Scoring Sheet with Rubric (Students will need multiple copies one for their family, one for a peer or peers, and one for the teacher. A copy for each student to self-assess is included in their Learning Catcher Notebooks in Lesson 10)
Attending to Equitable Access for All Students:
- How to avoid possible pitfalls associated with culturally responsive instruction STEM Teaching Tools #53
- Scaffolds for English Language Learners/students reading well below grade level:
- Consider adapting the task, amount required, and rubric to reflect an appropriate amount of demand
- Provide a word bank for the lesson with illustrations
- Verbally read directions and check for understanding
- Consider providing rubric and checklist in student family languages to support family collaboration
- Scaffolds for vision:
- Students dictate to a family member
- Read all directions, checklist, rubric items aloud
- Consider creating documents in a larger font size
- Scaffolds for hearing:
- Turn on closed captioning
- Provide visual directions
- Scaffolds for attention:
- Schedule short movement breaks in between class tasks. Go Noodle is one resource for this.
- Schedule short breathing breaks in between class tasks. Copingskillsforkids.com is one resource for this.
- Alternate tasks or methods of response:
- Students can dictate or record their work if there are barriers. Nearpod provides this feature.
- Multiple project modalities are provided
- Alternate or additional phenomena for scaffolding or extension: N/A
Preparation:
- If you revised the project rubric in lesson 9, revise the scoring sheet to reflect the changes.
Content Integration Points:
- Look for content integration points for English Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Art within the procedures below. They will be marked by an asterisk (*) and labeled. (SS= Social Studies, M = Math, A= Art, ELA = ELA)
Procedures
- (* ELA, SS) Family Connection (Asynchronous): Students present projects to family members. (opportunity for formative assessment)
- Provide families with a digital copy (copies) of the Scoring Sheet with Rubric.
- Students present to one or more family members.
- The family member(s) uses the scoring sheet to score the student’s project and gives feedback for each score.
- The family member(s) confers with the student and gives feedback for improvement.
- The student reviews the feedback and makes any revisions.
- (* ELA, SS) Peer Connection (Asynchronous): Students evaluate and score a peer’s project. (opportunity for formative assessment)
- Provide each student with a digital copy (copies) of the Scoring Sheet with Rubric.
- Assign each student another student’s project to evaluate and score.
- The peer reviewer uses the scoring sheet to score the student’s project and gives feedback for each score.
- The project student reviews the feedback and makes any revisions.
- (* ELA, SS) Class Connection (Synchronous): Students present their project to the class, the teacher evaluates and scores the student projects using the scoring sheet. (opportunity for summative assessment)
- Make a digital copy of the Scoring Sheet with Rubric for you to use with each student.
- Each student presents their project to the class via Zoom. Students give feedback and compliments and ask questions.
- The teacher uses the scoring sheet to score the student’s project and gives feedback for each score.
- The project student reviews the feedback and asks any questions.
- (* ELA, SS) Student Self-Evaluation (Asynchronous): Each student evaluates their own project and scores it using the scoring sheet. (opportunity for summative assessment)
- Each student has a copy of the Scoring Sheet with Rubric in their Learning Catcher Notebooks in Lesson 10.
- Each student uses the scoring sheet to self-evaluate and gives reasons for each score.
- The teacher reviews the student scores and feedback and asks any questions.
- Extend Relevance and Reach: Use any available platforms to share student projects more widely if allowed: with the district, other classes, digital partner classes, class families etc...
- Family Extension: Provide resources to support growing plants at home or starting a family or community garden.
- A Resource Set from Oxbow with directions on how to grow different food plants is uploaded to Lesson 5 on the OER site in both English and Spanish
Next Steps: Coherence Standards to Address Next in the Learning Sequence
The logical 5th grade Performance Expectations to immediately follow this unit are:
- Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment. 5-LS2-1 Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that matter that is not food (air, water, decomposed materials in soil) is changed by plants into matter that is food. Examples of systems could include organisms, ecosystems, and the Earth. Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include molecular explanations.
- Use models to describe that that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun. 5-PS3-1 (address the part of this PE in parentheses that was not addressed in the Seed to Tree unit)Clarification Statement: Examples of models could include diagrams, and flow charts.
The PE 5-ESS2-1 was introduced in this unit to familiarize students with the geosphere, biosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. Later, when teaching Earth Science, revisit these ideas in the context of how these spheres interact to affect Earth’s surface.
- Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact. 5-ESS2-1Clarification Statement: Examples could include the influence of the ocean on ecosystems, landform shape, and climate; the influence of the atmosphere on landforms and ecosystems through weather and climate; and the influence of mountain ranges on winds and clouds in the atmosphere. The geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere are each a system. Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to the interactions of two systems at a time.
- Related DCI ESS2.A: Earth’s major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things, including humans). These systems interact in multiple ways to affect Earth’s surface materials and processes. The ocean supports a variety of ecosystems and organisms, shapes landforms, and influences climate. Winds and clouds in the atmosphere interact with the landforms to determine patterns of weather. (5-ESS2-1)