K - ESS2 Earth's systems - FINAL (CJT 12-17-13)

Module: Organisms Impact Environment

DCI: ESS2.E Biogeology – Plants and animals can change their environment.

DCI: ESS3.C (A) Human Impacts on Earth Systems – Things that people do to live comfortably can affect the world around them.

PE: K-ESS2-2 Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs.

The essential knowledge in this standard seems to be...

-plants can change the environment

-animals can change the environment

-humans can change the environment (by doing things they do in order to "live comfortably")

Besides simply recognizing the above ideas, kids should be able to recognize evidence for these ideas.

POSSIBLE QUESTION STARTERS:

A plant can change what in the garden? (the soil)

Birds make a change to a tree when they - (build a nest)

Humans make the biggest change to a forest by doing what? (making a new road)

Which part of this plant shows that snails live in the garden? (leaves [eaten])

Which was added to the lake by humans? (boat)

K - ESS3 Weather hazards - FINAL (CJT 12-17-13)

Module: Weather Hazards

DCI: ESS3.B Natural Hazards – Some kinds of severe weather are more likely than others in a given region. Weather scientists forecast severe weather so that the communities can prepare for and respond to these events.

DCI: ETS1.A Defining and Delimiting an Engineering Problem – Asking questions, making observations, and gathering information are helpful in thinking about problems.

PE: K-ESS3-2 Ask questions to obtain information about the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for, and respond to, sever weather.

The basic ideas that kids need to grasp are as follows.

-Some kinds of weather don't happen very often. (hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.)

-Scientists tell us about sever weather so we can be ready.

The engineering connection is hard to get a hold on. It seeks as if we could ask kids to make an observation or gather information about weather.

The PE seems excessively verbose. It seems to be more complicated than wanting kids to ask questions about weather so they can prepare. They seem to want kids to ask questions "to obtain information about the purpose of weather forecasting." That, I hope, is not really what they want.

POSSIBLE QUESTION STARTERS

During one year, you might never see any (hurricanes)

We want to know about rain so we will know to bring - (an umbrella)

[image of...?]

When we look at this weather tool we know -

If we want to know what clothes to wear, what question should we ask?

MS - ESS1B Formation of the Solar System - FINAL (WND 12-23-13)

Module: Formation of the Solar System

DCI: ESS1.B (C) The solar system appears to have formed from a disk of dust and gas, drawn together by gravity.

Connections to Nature of Science: Scientific Knowledge Assumes and Order and Consistency in Natural Systems: Science assumes that objects and events in natural systems occur in consistent patterns that are understandable through measurement and observation.

PE: MS-ESS1-2 Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis for the model is on gravity as the force that holds together the solar system and Milky Way galaxy and controls orbital motions within them. Examples of models can be physical (such as the analogy of distance along a football field or computer visualizations of elliptical orbits) or conceptual (such as mathematical proportions relative to the size of familiar objects such as students' school or state).] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include Kepler’s Laws of orbital motion or the apparent retrograde motion of the planets as viewed from Earth.]

Note: This is only part of a standard and comes immediately after a statement that reads: "The solar system consists of the sun and a collection of objects, including planets, their moons, and asteroids that are held in orbit around the sun by its gravitational pull on them".

The main ideas that we see in this standard are:

-the solar system formed from a disk

-that disk was made up of gas and dust

-the gas and dust were drawn together by the force of gravity

-the disk was rotating in the same direction as current planetary orbital rotation

The clarification statement elucidates the types of models that are safe to use in order to address the PE.  We will want to make sure that students understand that gravity holds the solar system together, maintains the rotation of the planetary objects, and keeps it on its course within the galaxy. 

Possible Question Starters: 

"Which of the following best explains why all of the planets in our solar system are orbiting the sun?"

correct answer - gravity is controlling the motion of all of the planets

K - ESS2 Weather conditions - FINAL (CJT 12-17-13)

Module: Weather Conditions

DCI: ESS2.D(A) Weather and Climate – Weather is a combination of sunlight, wind, snow or rain, and temperature in a particular region at a particular time.

PE: K-ESS2-1 Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.

Students need to be able to recognize the conditions that are components of weather, namely

-wind

-snow

-rain

-temperature

The more important skill, it appears from the PE, is that kids can use observations to see a pattern.

Possible Question Starters

To know the weather, we must know if outside it is (hot or cold)

When we talk about weather we can talk about - (rain)

Better questions will have three or more days of weather data and ask for a pattern.

HS - LS1 Cellular Respiration - FINAL (ACM 12-13-13)

Module: Cellular Respiration

DCI: LS1.C (D) As a result of these chemical reactions, energy is transferred from one system of interacting molecules to another. Cellular respiration is a chemical process in which the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and new compounds are formed that can transport energy to muscles. Cellular respiration also releases the energy needed to maintain body temperature despite ongoing energy transfer to the surrounding environment.

PE: HS-LS1-7 Use a model to illustrate that cellular respiration is a chemical process whereby the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and the bonds in new compounds are formed resulting in a net transfer of energy.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the conceptual understanding of the inputs and outputs of the process of cellular respiration.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment should not include identification of the steps or specific processes involved in cellular respiration.]

The statement just prior to this section of the standard reads "As matter and energy flow through different organizational levels of living systems, chemical elements are recombined in different ways to form different products." So, that's the 'these chemical reactions' referred to in the DCI. 

Here are the ideas we see within the framework of this standard. 

• energy is transferred between systems of interacting molecules as a result of chemical reactions
• cellular respiration involves the breaking of food and oxygen molecules to form new compounds that transport energy to muscles
• cellular respiration releases energy needed to maintain body temperature

The term "model" can be used to mean some sort of a conceptual representation of the ideas here. Any concept mapping we include will need to focus simply on the inputs and outputs of cellular respiration.  Knowledge of specific steps is not included.  Additionally, a comparison to the inputs/outputs of photosynthesis is not include. 

Possible Question Starters

"Which of the following best summarizes the process of cellular respiration?"

correct answer - food and oxygen molecules are broken down to form new compounds and release energy 

incorrect answers - food molecules are created using energy from the sunlight and compounds in the air (then describe three other processes)

"Which of the following statements regarding the energy produced during cellular statements is most correct?"

correct answer - the amount of energy produced is greater than the amount of energy required 

incorrect answer - the energy produced is immediately lost to the environment as heat

K - ESS2 Measurement of Weather - FINAL (CJT 12-13-13)

Module: Measurement of Weather

DCI: ESS2.D(A) Weather and Climate – People measure these conditions (sunlight, wind, snow or rain, and temperature) to describe and record the weather and to notice patterns over time.

PE: K-ESS2-1 Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.

This DCI is the second half of a larger DCI in the original NGSS standards. In the original, the definition of weather (with the list of conditions in the parentheses above) made up the first part and the second part was what we see here. 

What we see here has two components. First, kids have to know that humans measure weather conditions. Second, they have to know that humans can see patterns over time.

It seems that we can include as appropriate content here the following.

Weather = conditions

-sunlight

-wind

-snow

-rain

-temperature

Humans measure those conditions.

Repeated observations show patterns

For the Process Skill part of the standard, we need to have kids use observations to describe patterns.

Possible Question Starters:

[image of clear cups of water w/ lines]

Students put a cup outside and looked at it every day. What are they measuring?

(rain)

[image of thermometer]

A thermometer can tell us if the day is -

(hot or cold)

One way to know the weather is to look at -

wind blowing (seeds growing) etc.

[thermometers with decreasing temperatures]

how did the weather change?

[days of data with only one constant]

The weather this week was mostly -

MS - ESS2 Geoscience Processes and Earth's Surface - FINAL (WND 12-13-13)

Module: Geoscience Processes and Earth’s Surface

DCI: ESS2.A (B) The planet’s systems interact over scales that range from microscopic to global in size, and they operate over fractions of a second to billions of years. These interactions have shaped Earth’s history and will determine its future.

PE: MS-ESS2-2 Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales.

Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how processes change Earth’s surface at time and spatial scales that can be large (such as slow plate motions or the uplift of large mountain ranges) or small (such as rapid landslides or microscopic geochemical reactions), and how many geoscience processes (such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and meteor impacts) usually behave gradually but are punctuated by catastrophic events. Examples of geoscience processes include surface weathering and deposition by the movements of water, ice, and wind. Emphasis is on geoscience processes that shape local geographic features, where appropriate.]

This will be very similar to a high school standard which also emphasizes the work done on the Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales.  Earth's internal and surface forces are involved in the changing of the Earth's surface.  

We should not ask specifics on these processes, or ask for names of certain processes, but general questions about the "interactions [that] have shaped Earth's history" should be acceptable.

 The focus should be the varying time and spatial scales.  

Possible Question Starters: 

"Which of the following changes to the Earth's surface is most likely to occupy the least amount of space and time?"

-correct answer - chemical reactions taking place deep inside the earth's core

incorrect answer - the rising of mountain ranges to higher elevations

Provide a data table showing gradual change to some process, but rapid changes in a short amount of time (maybe tectonic plate movement?) We can ask - 

"Which of the following conclusions is best supported by the data?

correct answer - changes to the earth's surface can happen gradually, with periods of sudden change

incorrect answer - changes to the earth's surface can only occur very slowly, etc.