Download NGSS Lesson Plan Template

NGSS Lesson Plan Template
Topic(s)/Unit:
Adaptation and Fitness/Evolution Unit
Grade Level(s)/Course:
9th Grade Biology
Essential Questions/Understandings – the BIG IDEAS and CONCEPTS students will demonstrate/know
Essential Understandings
Essential Questions
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Students will be able to analyze an
organism’s environment and be able to
develop characteristics that are
advantageous for that organism to reside
there.
Students will be able to construct specific
adaptations that enable their organism to
survive in a given environment.
Students will be able to explain the role an
adaptation plays in survival.
Students will be able to create design
characteristics that make an organism
suitable for a specific environment in
regards to predation, hunger, and climate.
1-What is fitness?
2-What is the overall goal of a species?
3-How are adaptations developed?
4-What are the benefits/drawbacks of an
adaptation?
5-What role does the environment play on
organism adaptation?
Standard(s):
HS-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
-LS4.B: Natural Selection
-Natural selection occurs only if there is both (1) variation in the genetic information between
organisms in a population and (2) variation in the expression of that genetic information that is, trait
variation that leads to differences in performance among individuals.
-LS4.C: Adaptation
-Evolution is a consequence of the interaction of four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase
in number, (2) the genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3)
competition for an environment’s limited supply of the resources that individuals need in order to survive
and reproduce, and (4) the ensuing proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and
reproduce in that environment.
-Natural selection leads to adaptation, that is, to a population dominated by organisms that are
anatomically, behaviorally, and physiologically well suited to survive and reproduce in a specific
environment. That is, the differential survival and reproduction of organisms in a population that have an
advantageous heritable trait leads to an increase in the proportion of individuals in future generations that
have the trait and to a decrease in the proportion of individuals that do not.
Performance Expectations:
 HS-LS4-2 Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily
results from four factors: (1) The potential for a species to increase in number, (2) The
heritable genetic variations of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual
reproduction, (3) Competition for limited resources, and (4) The proliferation of those
organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.
 HS-LS4-4 Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to
adaptation of populations.
Related Previous Standard(s) (if applicable):
 MS-LS4-1 Analyze and interpret data for patters in the fossil record that document the
existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth
under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past.
 MS-LS4-4 Construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic variations
of traits in a population increase some individuals’ probability of surviving and reproducing
in a specific environment.
Scientific & Engineering Practices
X
X
X
X
X
Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
Developing and using models
Planning and carrying out investigations
Analyzing and interpreting data
Using mathematics and computational thinking
Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)
Engaging in argument from evidence
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
Practices: List the skills students should be able to demonstrate
-Students should be able to interpret data and recognize trends and make supported arguments as a
result of their interpretations.
-Students should be able to design advantageous adaptations for an organism based on the
surrounding biotic and abiotic factors of the environment in which it lives.
-Students should be able to predict how a population may change over time as a result of changes in
the surrounding environment.
-Students will be able to explain and defend their arguments as to what role each adaptation plays
in an organisms ability to survive.
Practices: Describe how the students engage in the Practices during the lesson(s) – what activities will be
used to incorporate the Practices?
-Case study data interpretation and analysis
-Adapting organisms based on a given environment
-Peer review analysis
Crosscutting Concepts
X
X
X
Patterns
Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanation
Scale, proportion, and quantity
Systems and system models
Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservation
Structure and function
Stability and change
Crosscutting Concepts
What connections will be made?
-Students will use their knowledge of the driving forces of evolution and apply that to a specific
environment. (Patterns)
-When provided an environment students should be able to design and create characteristics of
living organisms that will enable them to survive and pass on those traits to the next generation.
(Cause and effect)
-Students will understand the overarching role that an organism plays in the big picture of a thriving
ecosystem and how removing that organism has a negative effect on the surrounding organisms.
(Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservation)
How will students engage with the Crosscutting Concept(s)?
(What is the instructional delivery?)
-Prior knowledge and evolutionary theory review (discussion)
-Case study analysis (guided practice)
-Environmental breakdowns (Teacher to student discussion PowerPoint presentation)
Engineering Concepts/Activities
-Build a beast laboratory activity:
- For the exploration of this lesson the students will be working individually. Each student will
be asked to choose five numbers all between 1-6. They may choose the same number multiple times
as long as it is between the given parameters. Each number corresponds to a specific component of
an environment. So their given environment will be chosen at random. The meaning of each number
is listed below. The student will then compile the five characteristics and evaluate the environment
as a whole. They will then have to design an organism that could survive in that environment. Their
main focus should be on designing adaptations that would allow their organism to survive and
reproduce in that environment. Each adaptation must be thoroughly explained. They must go in
detail on how the adaptation has developed over time and what specifically makes it an
advantageous adaptation to have. They will be given a rubric to follow that lists everything that they
need to have.
Nature of Science Concepts/Activities
During this phase the students will be researching and studying there given environment. They will
have to evaluate the specific food sources, water supply, predators, and climate that apply to their
environment.
The following questions must be answered and explained upon completion.
1. What is the goal of natural selection?
2. What impact would environmental changes have on an organism? (Evaluate)
3. What types of organisms would thrive in this environment? (Evaluate)
4. What are some of the adaptations we discussed in class? What role do they play in
survival? (Remember/Analysis)
5. Can you predict how this population or how others might change over time? (Create)
3D Instruction - Lesson Procedure/Activities:
1- Adaptations YouTube video. What is an adaptation, and what roles can it play in organism
survival?
2- Classroom discussion on organism survival and adaptations. Speciation and predation will
also be discussed
3- “Build a Beast” activity. Students will be given a specific environment and as a result they
will be asked to assess characteristics an organism must have in order to thrive in that
given place and time.
4- Student work sharing. Students will explain and defend the adaptations that their
organism possesses.
Assessments:
Pre-Assessments
Formative Assessments
 The formative assessment that I use for this lesson is through peer review. Can the students
understand the value of an adaptation simply through observation? This allows me to assess
whether they understand the role that an adaptation can play in their survival.
Summative Assessments
 The summative assessment for this lesson is an evaluation of the students working using a
specific rubric. Organism adaptations must be beneficial for the organism and their role must
be well explained. They must also align with organism’s environment, food source, and
predators.
Relevant & Positive Learning Environment
-This lesson is used as a summary and/or review of our unit on evolution. It brings in and ties
together all of the concepts that I would have covered in class the previous few weeks and it is a
good segue into the following chapter on classification. I have found that the students are very
engaged and find this lesson extremely relevant and beneficial as a way to sum up the evolutionary
theory.
Materials/Preparation
-Extensive background knowledge on the theory of evolution
-Build a beast PowerPoint presentation
-Basic classroom supplies
Reflections/Notes:
This is an activity that I always look forward to doing in class because it allows the students to really
use their imagination and at the same time it reinforces the major principles that drive the
evolutionary theory.
I always receive positive feedback from the students both during and after this activity. Next year I
have thought about giving the students a specific type of organism to work with or at least maybe a
small set for them to choose from. Some students truly thrive when given a relatively blank canvas
where as others have a tough time getting started. By giving the students a set that they must draw
from it would give those students that struggle a good starting point. I could also still allow those
students that possess a better understanding to work more independently.