Planning%20units%20of%20instruction

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Planning units of instruction
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Rationale for topic of unit

• 1) Why is it important that students understand
  this topic? What other big ideas is it connected
  to? How is this idea a prerequisite for more
  advanced ideas found in the Atlas and in the
  EALRs?
• 2) How will this idea help the student become a
  more science literate citizen? Will they
  encounter this idea in any form in their lives?
• 3) What kind of topics (encompassing particular
  types of knowledge and skills) would logically
  precede and follow this unit in a year long plan?

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Critical attributes

• Five to seven statements expressing a phenomena,
  a principle or set of relationships that are
  critical to a deep understanding of your
  overall unit topic.
• Should not express superficial vocabulary
  knowledge.
• Do not write these as student learning
  objectives.
• Go beyond knowledge nuggets-- if you have what
  you think is a nugget, ask If my student
  understood this fact, then what larger idea could
  they understand?
• Think integrating of ideas together in one
  statement.

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Critical attributes (for unit on plant succession
after a disturbance)

• Ecosystem disturbances create patterns of
  succession (primary, secondary, climax community)
  that vary in diversity and distribution, and are
  necessary for ecosystem health.
• Natural selection of species in a given ecosystem
  occurs via the availability of and species
  interactions with abiotic and biotic resources,
  thus shaping community composition.
• Plants partake in a variety of population
  interactions and reproductive strategies to
  outcompete and thrive in plant communities.
• Natural selection and competition create niches
  for organisms that are key to species and
  community success.
• The success of succession and overall ecosystem
  health can be assessed by studying common
  indicators of health, such as biodiversity,
  species distribution, and environmental context.

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Critical attributes (for unit on chemical bonding)

• A chemical bond is the attractive force between
  atoms as a result of electron interactions.
  There exists a continuum for bonds depending on
  if electrons are transferred, shared equally, or
  shared unequally.
• Each element has a different attraction for
  electrons, some have a strong attraction for
  electrons than others. This leads to electrons
  being shared unequally.
• The polarity of chemical bonds results in forces
  existing among molecules. These intermolecular
  forces affect how much energy is needed for a
  phase change and/or solubility.
• Lewis structures are models that show the
  structure of covalent molecules by highlight the
  placement of electrons.
• The strength of chemical bonds is related to bond
  length and energy. If a bond length is short,
  then there is more potential bond energy, so the
  bond is strong.
• Elements have tendencies to participate in
  specific bonds. Metals and nonmetals common bond
  by transferring electrons and typically two
  nonmetals bond by sharing electrons.

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Culminating project

• Some complex activity your students will do that
  demonstrates they understand at least two of your
  critical attributes.
• Could be
• inquiry
• creation of some original product
• some other meaningful activity students engage
  in

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Culminating project (for unit on chemical
bonding)

• Students will be posed with the question, What
  would happen if our bodies were made up of 80
  ethanol rather than 80 water? They will answer
  this question by thinking about how our bodies
  would function differently under the influence of
  ethanol. Students will make an experiment that
  looks at how these substances behave differently
  and why. The students experiments should
  represent functions that occur in the body, such
  as dissolving abilities, behavior due to
  temperature changes, reactions with chemicals,
  etc. In particularly, they will be encouraged to
  look at dissolving abilities, boiling points, and
  melting points (CA 3). Students will make
  predictions about how these substances compare
  using their knowledge of the types of bonds of
  the solute dissolved and the solvents (water and
  ethanol). They will draw diagrams using Lewis
  structures to support their ideas (CA 1 and 4).
  From their data students should explain the
  differences between the substances. They will
  then revise their model of the affect on the body
  if made up of ethanol rather than water.
  Although were not made up of ethanol and itll
  never happen, this project still helps students
  understand the powerful properties of water and
  how amazing it is. Also if students can see the
  negative affects of ethanol, perhaps I can draw
  connections to binge drinking. This can lead to
  an investigation of what happens when alcohol
  enters our system.

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Culminating project (for unit on plant
succession after a disturbance)

• As a summative assessment, students will assess
  the health of a local ecosystem by choosing an
  indicator of health and quantifying it using a
  data chart. This summative assessment will take
  the form of a guided inquiry. First, I will pose
  the question How do we tell if an ecosystem is
  healthy?, and students will choose indicators of
  ecosystem health that they deem most important,
  and give a rationale for their choices. Before
  collecting data, I will help the class create an
  initial model of the factors that indicate
  ecosystem health. This section will be heavily
  guided! Then, students will collect data on the
  ecosystem behind Bellevue High School, and
  analyze their data to make conclusions about
  community health. As a class, we will then
  refine our model and identify further questions
  created by the inquiry. The students will be
  responsible for turning in their data, complete
  with rationale, conclusions, and refined models.

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Essential Questions The endpoints of a journey
toward understanding.

• They open up a subject, its complexities, and
  its puzzles. They suggest fruitful research
  rather than lead to premature closure or
  unambiguous answers.
• Have no obvious right answer.
• Are deliberately framed to provoke and sustain
  student interest.
• Examples
• 1. Should Madison Middle School buy earthquake
  insurance?
• 2. Why do all triangles have 180 degrees?
• 3. How can a bodys acceleration decrease while
  its speed in still increasing?
• 4. How can you multiply two fractions together
  and get a smaller number?
• 5. Why is it warm in the summer and cool in the
  winter?

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FAQs

• Can the final project be for students to answer
  the units essential question in depth? Yes!
• Can the inquiry experience also be the
  culminating project? Yes!