Digital Unit Plan Goals, Objectives and Assessments

Unit Title: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Name: Thong Thi Dinh

Content Area: Foundational Level General Science

Grade Level: 7 graders

th

Next Generation Science Standards/Performance Expectations

MS-LS1-1: Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of
cells.
MS-LS1-2: Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways parts of cells contribute to the function.
MS-LS1-3: Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.
MS-LS1-8: Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior.
Anchoring Activity

Anchoring Phenomenon: All living things are made of cells. Cells come in different shapes and sizes and carries out many different functions. In our
body, interaction between different systems of cells helps us live day to day.
You are curious about what makes you function day to day so your teacher who has a magical shrinkage machine decides to shrink a train and all
students in the class, including you, to explore a celebritys body organization. Your teacher then guides you to different stops/ milestones to further
understand how the human body works as a WHOLE. Your job, as a scientist, is to collect data (information through various tasks) to present to
other seventh grade classes about your new gained knowledge.
Driving Question of the Unit

Driving Question: How does the human brain maintain homeostasis on a cellular level?
Unit Goals---Describe what you want students to be able to do. For example, I wanted my students to be able to know when to use the epistemic practices when I
gave them verbal or visual cues. Students will need to be able to recognize science even if it is not in the verbal form. See the article Outside the Pipeline:
Reimagining Science Education for Nonscientists. A summary of the article is in the appendix of this unit plan template.

To help students understand how scientists evaluate evidence and how research is packaged for presentation. Engaging
student in argumentation.
To help students engage in peer review (argumentation)

I want students to be able to understand how scientists constantly use Scientific Thinking such as, observing, asking questions, collecting data, etc,
etc to better understand certain phenomena. Thus, I want students to be familiar with epistemic practices like argumentation, investigation, and

modeling. Students will be able to use cross cutting procedures from all epistemic practices to demonstrate their understanding in the overall
driving question. Through, a scenario storyline students will be able to experience (through visualization) about the human bodys organization
and how that plays a crucial role in maintaining homeostasis which allows us to function day to day.
-

Students will conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells.
Students will describe the structure and function of a cell as a complex structure by creating a model.
Students will demonstrate their understanding of subsystems found within the body by making a claim and supporting the claim with
evidence/ support.
Students will be able to explain how homeostasis is important to the human body by analyzing how external environment effects the
internal environment of an individual.
Students will be able to demonstrate mastery of how the human body organization is important for humans to function as a whole.

Lesson 1 [Where makes us so similar on a cellular level?]

Your first stop is the most basic unit of life a cell! Write down your observations as your teacher is providing you with facilitative questions and information.
Student Learning Objective:

Acceptable Evidence Formative and/or Summative Assessment:

Students will be able to explain what we (living

things) are made of on a cellular level.

Students will conduct an investigation (research) to provide an understanding that living

things are made of cells; either one or many different type of cells.

Lesson 2 [Peanut Butter is to Jelly as Structure is to Function]

Your second stop is inside a cell. Gather information about the different structures and functions.
Student Learning Objective:

Acceptable Evidence Formative and/or Summative Assessment:

Students will be able to make the connection that

structure and function go hand and hand in regards
to the complex structure of a cell.

Students will gather information in regards to how cells work as a whole to creatively develop
a model (drawing) of a cell to depict its complex makeup and functions. Students will also
create their own analogies (parts of a cell to real world experiences) to demonstrate the
relationship of structure and function.

Lesson 3 [Eleven this; Eleven that; Eleven organ systems!]

Your second stop is making your way through all these organ systems! Through various trips, gather information about each organ systems.
Student Learning Objective:

Acceptable Evidence Formative and/or Summative Assessment:

Students will be able to differentiate and explain

that the human body consists of various organ
systems which allows for humans to work as a
whole.

Students will make a claim and create their own response to the following question: The
human body is composed of 11 different organ systems do you think one organ system is
more important than the others? If so, which one --- provide support/ evidence telling why? If
no, explain why not with support/ evidence.

Lesson 4 [Im. Going to Let You Finish BUT HOMEOSTASIS has one of the most significant needs for the human body]
Your fourth stop is to determine what is happening to the body due to external environment changes. Collect information and write down your observations
when the human body is experiencing changes to the body.

Student Learning Objective:

Acceptable Evidence Formative and/or Summative Assessment:

Students will be able to define homeostasis and

explain why it is important to the human body.

Students will design an experiment to investigate the bodys ability to self-regulate. Students
will then transfer their data collected from the investigation to a formal written response
(mini lab write up).

Lesson 5 [Organization is Key!]

Now, that you made your way out, it is your responsibility to gather all information you collected and make it accessible for other students.
Student Learning Objective:

Acceptable Evidence Formative and/or Summative Assessment:

Students will work together in groups to

demonstrate their understanding of the bodys
organization level. [Cells Tissues Organs
Organ Systems Organism]

Students will demonstrate their knowledge of the bodys organization level [Cells Tissues
Organs Organ Systems Organism] by creating their own graphic organizer showing
the relationship of each organization level.

Unit Summative Assessment

Students will demonstrate their understanding of the overall driving question How does the human brain maintain homeostasis on a cellular level?
Students will work together in groups to explain/ present the importance of the human bodys organization. Students will be given four different
options to demonstrate their mastery of the driving question by tying all concepts/ ideas together. As a group, students will choose one out of the
four options to creatively present their mastery of the overall driving question. A rubric will be provided for students to understand and know what
is expected for them to present.
Useful Websites:

WEBSITES/ resources for the teacher (use if applicable/ needed)

Lesson 1
Bill Nye intro to Cells
http://www.schooltube.com/video/5883521fda9293df5bc9/Bill-Nye-on-Cells
Brain Pop about Cells
https://www.brainpop.com/health/bodysystems/cells/
Brain Pop about Cell Structures
https://www.brainpop.com/science/cellularlifeandgenetics/cellstructures/
Lesson 2
Interactive Web for Cell Structures/ Functions
http://www.wiley.com/college/boyer/0470003790/animations/cell_structure/cell_structure.swf
Lesson 3
Brain Pop about the Human Body
https://www.brainpop.com/health/bodysystems/humanbody/
Lesson 4
Brain Pop about Homeostasis

https://www.brainpop.com/health/bodysystems/homeostasis/
Lesson 5
Organization of the Human Body
http://www.ck12.org/biology/Organization-of-the-Human-Body/lesson/Organization-of-the-Human-Body-BIO/

Review: Outside the Pipeline: Reimagining Science Education for Nonscientists Science, April 19, 2013.

Summary of the Article:

How People Interact with Science
Individuals have different motivations for using scientific information. Factors that influence the use of science include social,
cultural, and demographic differences. In addition, the type of science that is useful differs from one problem or issue to
another. Science comes in a variety of forms such as experimentation, observational data or simulations or field research. One
goal of science education is to facilitate student understanding of what forms of science are best suited for the problems that
we are trying to solve. Students will need to understand that science is a flexible philosophical and methodological human
endeavor. The sub-goals of this BIG IDEA are as follows:
Students will need to understand the context of a problem to understand what type of methods are needed
Students will understand and interpret the scientific principles that speak to the driving questions and anchoring
activities presented in the coursework. The principles will change with subject matter.
Students will engage in ill-structured problems, defined in personal and practical terms, to practice using different
principles and epistemic practices.
Knowing Science: From Knowing the Textbook to Accessing the Science you need
Science education should prepare more students to access and interpret scientific knowledge at the time and in the context of
need. Students will need to be able to read articles and the text book, draw on prior knowledge to interpret the text, and be

able to cross reference what is read with other materials. This is not simply the application of science for a particular problem,
this is reconstructing the science in valid ways to construct solutions. When it comes to planning science for students some
sub-goals of this major goal are as follows:
To confront students with an ill-structured problem or challenge framed in an anchoring activity to extend their
existing knowledge and develop concrete solutions.
To create a learning environment where students develop the skills to recognize when and how science is relevant in
their daily lives.
To be able to cite textual based evidence to support or refute a claim (CCSS ELA)
To be able to convert a phenomena into a mathematical model (CCSS Math)
Thinking Scientifically: From Practicing Science to Judging Scientific Claims
Students will need to engage in the epistemic practices of science in flexible and creative ways. The procedures that make up
the epistemic practices of argumentation, experimentation, modeling, and the negotiation of expository text are not static but
are guided by the cycle of scientific thinking. Students will rarely need to go through ALL the steps in a given epistemic
procedure in order to engage in scientific problem solving or research design. However, students will need to make
sophisticated judgments about credibility of scientific claims based on cues like publication venue, institutional affiliation, and
potential conflict of interest. In order to plan lesson that allow students to engage in this big idea teachers will need to set
some of the following goals:
To help students understand how scientists evaluate evidence and how research is packaged for presentation. Engaging
student in argumentation and negotiation of expository text does this. Note: expository text will need to be presented in
more ways then just the textbook.
To help students engage in peer review when teachers are planning an argument or negotiation of expository text.
Students will engage in epistemic practices to examine a science-inflected social problem, with the goal of uncovering
epistemic and ethical nuances at the interface of science and daily life.
To help students engage in and interpret scientific text.
Appreciating Science: From Positive Feelings to Deep and Durable Involvement

Teachers will need to create learning environments where students develop an appreciation of science and recognize how
science influences their daily lives. Students will need to connect with science though interest areas and following their
personal curiosities. Therefore, some of the sub-goals of the work science teachers do will be to:
Facilitate students pursing their own science related interest, questions, and personal curiosities through projectbased; inquiry-based; and model based learning.
Facilitate socio-scientific issue discussion in class.
Help students identify and develop individual interest and expertise in the subject matter.
Connect students with science resources in the community such as clubs, museums, projects, science fair, and business
that specialize in science outreach.
Use science-based games to facilitate student interest and curiosity for science problem solving. Empowering students
to use the epistemic practices in their everyday lives and to own the practices for life long problem-solving.