Download APS Science Curriculum Unit Planner

APS Science 2011
APS Science Curriculum Unit Planner
Grade Level/ Subject Grade 7 Life Science
Stage 1: Desired Results
Enduring Understanding
Evidence gathered from the past is used to explain origination of an event, phenomenon, species, and
system, and help make predictions.
Correlations
Unifying Understanding
Humans use science to organize their understanding of the natural
world.
Change is constant.
LS.13
The student will investigate and understand that populations of
VA SOL
organisms change over time. Key concepts include
a) the relationships of mutation, adaptation, natural selection,
and extinction;
b) evidence of evolution of different species in the fossil record;
and
c) how environmental influences, as well as genetic variation,
can lead to diversity of organisms.
NSES (grade level)
AAAS Atlas
C
The Living Environment: Heredity, Evolution of Life
Biological Evolution (pg. 81)
“The basic idea of biological evolution is that the earth’s present-day
species developed from earlier, distinctly different species.”
Essential Questions
 Why are there so many different kinds of living things?
 How do living things change as the environment changes?
 What relationships exist between organisms?
Knowledge and Skills
Students should know:
 Biological diversity is ultimately a product of mutation.
 Adaptations allow some individuals a competitive advantage in survival.
 Those more likely to survive are also more likely to reproduce.
 Sexual reproduction produces more genetic diversity than nonsexual reproduction.
 How genetic variations lead to changes over time.
 All living things have similar chemical composition.
 Natural selection may happen through variety of methods.
 The fossil record provides information about the past.
 The correlation of the environment and other organisms’ on a species adaptation.
Students should be able to:
 Identify common traits in various taxonomic groups.
 Speculate convincingly on the adaptation provided by some characteristic feature (trait).
APS Science 2011
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Explain that evolution occurs in a species, not an individual.
Identify changes occur between generations.
Use the fossil record to analyze data about when adaptations occurred.
Compare and contrast beneficial mutations vs. fatal mutations.
Observe evidence of similarities between organisms.
Explain the use of homologous structures to explain evolution.
Recognize that individuals of a population may exhibit different traits, but beneficial traits for
survival will be spread through the following generations.
 Discuss the views of how evolution occurs; gradualism vs. punctuated equilibrium
Stage 2: Assessment Evidence
Prior Knowledge and Skills
 Understanding of the concept of biological species
 Knowledge of some of the causes of geological change
 How genetic variation occurs.
 The difference between asexual and sexual reproduction.
Formative Assessment
Summative Assessment
 Lab activities;
 Not yet identified
 Quizzes;
 Group project(s)
 SOL quiz developed by WMS PLC (coming soon)
Stage 3: Learning Plan
References to Adopted Materials
 PH Science Explorer: Life Science - Mutations (pp. 136-137); DARWIN’S THEORY (pp. 172179); BIODIVERSITY (pp. 794-95)
 Prentice Hall “Life Science”- Chapter 6 (pg. 170-199)
 FOSS Diversity of Life
Suggested Investigations
 Homologous Structure Correlation Lab
 Natural Selection Lab – students “create” an organism and then observe if the organism can survive
a series of natural events.
Outdoor Education Applications
 Collection activities – such as seeds – allow for deductive inferences about how traits are linked to
survival (in this case, the relationship between seed dispersal and survival of the plant population).
Resources
Web Sites
 http://www-cger.nies.go.jp/geo1/fig/fig4_14.htm (Causes of Biodiversity Gains and Losses)
 http://www.ericdigests.org/2000-2/biodiversity.htm (Very good instructional overview)
 http://www.lessonplanet.com/directory/Science/Evolution (Free 10-day trial period – labs!)
 NSTA Learn Center – nsta.org
 Explorelearning.com
Videos
 “Master and Commander”
Online clips
 Understanding Biodiversity (6-8) (17:00), Discovery Streaming
APS Science 2011
 Program Introduction: How Evolution Has Led to Biodiversity (6-8) (0:40), Discovery Streaming
Field Trips
 Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History has several collections (the cat family, for
example) that display a wide range of differences within one relatively small taxonomic group.
Other
 None