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Educ 535 lt2 Unit Plan
Educ 535 lt2 Unit Plan
1. Investigate and describe relationships between humans and their environments, and identify related issues
and scientific questions
• illustrate how life-supporting environments meet the needs of living things for nutrients, energy
sources, moisture, suitable habitat, and exchange of gases
• describe examples of interaction and interdependency within an ecosystem
• identify examples of human impacts on ecosystems, and investigate and analyze the link between
these impacts and the human wants and needs that give rise to them
• analyze personal and public decisions that involve consideration of environmental impacts, and
identify needs for scientific knowledge that can inform those decisions
2. Trace and interpret the flow of energy and materials within an ecosystem
• analyze an ecosystem to identify biotic and abiotic components, and describe interactions among
these components
• analyze ecosystems to identify producers, consumers and decomposers; and describe how energy
is supplied to and flows through a food web, by:
− describing and giving examples of energy and nutrient storage in plants and animals
• − describing how matter is recycled in an ecosystem through interactions among plants, animals,
fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms
− interpreting food webs, and predicting the effects of changes to any part of a web
• describe the process of cycling carbon and water through an ecosystem
• identify mechanisms by which pollutants enter and move through the environment, and can
become concentrated in some organisms
3. Monitor a local environment, and assess the impacts of environmental factors on the growth, health and
reproduction of organisms in that environment
• investigate a variety of habitats, and describe and interpret distribution patterns of living things
found in those habitats
• investigate and interpret evidence of interaction and change
• identify signs of ecological succession in local ecosystems
4. Describe the relationships among knowledge, decisions and actions in maintaining life-supporting
environments
• identify intended and unintended consequences of human activities within local and global
environments
• describe and interpret examples of scientific investigations that serve to inform environmental
decision making
• illustrate, through examples, the limits of scientific and technological knowledge in making
decisions about life-supporting environments
• analyze a local environmental issue or problem based on evidence from a variety of sources, and
identify possible actions and consequences
1. Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to manage ideas and information.
2. Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to respect, support and collaborate with others.
Math
Art
Students will:
• How life supporting environments meet the • Ask questions about the relationships between and
needs of living things for nutrients, energy, among observable variables, and plan investigations
moisture, gas exchange and suitable habitat to address those questions
• That there are interactions and • Conduct investigations into the relationships
interdependencies within ecosystems between and among observations, and gather and
• That human wants and needs cause impacts record qualitative and quantitative data
on ecosystems • Analyze qualitative and quantitative data, and
• That personal and public decisions involve develop and assess possible explanations
environmental impact considerations, • Work collaboratively on problems; and use
informed by scientific knowledge appropriate language and formats to communicate
• That an ecosystem is comprised of ideas, procedures and results
interactions between biotic and abiotic
factors Students will be encouraged to . . .
• How to identify producers, consumers, and
decomposers in an ecosystem • Show interest in science-related questions and
• How to identify how energy is supplied and issues, and pursue personal interests and career
flows through a food web possibilities within science-related fields
• That carbon and water both cycle through • Appreciate that scientific understanding evolves
ecosystems from the interaction of ideas involving people with
• How pollutants enter and move through the different views and backgrounds
environment, and can become concentrated • Seek and apply evidence when evaluating alternative
in some organisms approaches to investigations, problems and issues
• That a variety of habitats exist and there are • Work collaboratively in carrying out investigations
reasons behind the distribution patterns of and in generating and evaluating ideas
living things in those habitats • Demonstrate sensitivity and responsibility in
• How to monitor and find evidence of pursuing a balance between the needs of humans and
interaction and change in an environment a sustainable environment
• How to find signs of ecological succession • Show concern for safety in planning, carrying out
in an ecosystem and reviewing activities
• That human activities have intended and
unintended consequences for local and Students will also develop competencies in…
global environments
• That scientific investigations inform • Critical Thinking
environmental decision making • Problem Solving
• That there are limits to our scientific and • Managing Information
technological knowledge that impact • Creativity and Innovation
decision making about ecosystems • Communication
• How to research a local environmental • Collaboration
issue and determine the possible actions • Cultural and Global Citizenship
and consequences • Personal Growth and Well-Being
• In determining a solution to their researched issue, students will be given the opportunity to design and (if
possible) test a proposed solution to ensure it will work, and to determine how much it can help improve
the environment. They will also have the opportunity to work alongside experts in the field of ecology,
mentors from the Watershed Project, and Elders/Knowledge keepers from local Indigenous communities
to deepen their knowledge of ecosystems and interactions, and to help them understand how/whether their
proposed solutions will be accepted and realistic for local communities.
• Quizzes • Questioning
• Peer assessment/Coaching • KWL Charts (Whole class)
• Interviews • Quizzes (formative)
• Using rubrics to Assess their own work • Pre-tests
• Exit Cards
• Where is the work headed? Why is it headed there? What are the student’s final performance
obligations, the anchoring performance assessments? What are the criteria by which student work will
be judged for understanding? (These are questions asked by students. Help the student see the answers
to these questions upfront.)
• Hook the student through engaging and provocative entry points: thought-provoking and focusing
experiences, issues, oddities, problems, and challenges that point toward essential questions, core ideas,
and final performance tasks.
• Explore and equip. Engage students in learning experiences that allow them to explore the big ideas and
essential questions; that cause them to pursue leads or hunches, research and test ideas, try things out.
Equip students for the final performances through guided instruction and coaching on needed skill and
knowledge. Have them experience the ideas to make them real.
• Rethink and revise. Dig deeper into ideas at issue (through the faces of understanding). Revise,
rehearse, and refine, as needed. Guide students in self-assessment and self-adjustment, based on
feedback from inquiry, results, and discussion.
• Evaluate understandings. Reveal what has been understood through final performances and products.
Involve students in a final self-assessment to identify remaining questions, set future goals, and point
toward new units and lessons.
• Tailor (personalize) the work to ensure maximum interest and achievement. Differentiate the
approaches used and provide sufficient options and variety (without compromising goals) to make it
most likely that all students will be engaged and effective.
Organize and sequence the learning for maximal engagement and effectiveness, given the desired results.
EDUC 535 Unit Plan Learning Progression – Why Is Clean Water Important?
Lesson Overview
Day
1 Hook
Caring for our Watersheds presentation (60 minutes)
• Guest speaker – watershed ambassador
• Introduction of contest/culminating unit activity
Lesson Overview
Day
2 Carbon Cycle
• Start with mini-quiz of terminology learned so far (abiotic, biotic, producers, consumers,
decomposers, and an example of each) – formative assessment quiz to see if teacher needs to
go back and review any concepts before field trip to wetland
• Lesson: Specifically focus the carbon cycle in an ecosystem.
• Can show a video of carbon moving through the ecosystem, and also have hand-outs that
students can fill in for them to keep
• Then in groups students can create an image that they can use to teach others how the carbon
cycle works. They can put them up around the classroom at the end and do a gallery walk to
see and comment on each others work (positively)
Science Outcomes: 7-2.3
5 Water Cycle
• Have students watch a video of water cycling through an ecosystem
• Activity – Set up classroom as different places water particles pass through in water cycle and
have students pretend to be water particles and “flow through the ecosystem”
• Using wetland field trip as the ecosystem have students draw/write up a description of how
water cycles through that wetland
Science Outcomes: 7.2.3
Lesson Overview
Day
2 Distribution Patterns/Succession
• Students will be focusing on the plant distribution they observed in the wetland from last
week. The question that will guide their learning is, “why are plants distributed in specific
patterns”
• There will be small group discussions with resources that explain possible reasons, followed
by large group discussions where students can teach each other what they have learned
• There will also be an introduction/review of extinction and endangered species
• This will be more of a focus for field trip to dry-land ecosystem.
Science Outcomes: 7-1.1, 7-1.2, 7-1.3, 7-2.1, 7-3.1, 7-3.2, 7-3.3, 7-4.1
3 Visit local dry-land ecosystem (Forest, Prairie, etc.) with Ecologist Expert – This can be the school
yard if necessary
• Students will be given a workbook (similar to wetland fieldtrip format) where they will:
• Identify abiotic and biotic components and how they might interact
• Identify local consumers, producers and decomposers in the ecosystem
• Describe distribution patterns of species and predict causes of these patterns
• Estimate plant populations in a given area – create their own data collection chart to do this
• Students will measure factors in given area including – temperature, moisture, shelter, food
sources, etc., that might effect the distribution of species seen in area. They will use tools
appropriate to the discipline for measurement.
• Students will be asked to write a journal entry about how the experience made them feel or
how they personally connected to the land.
Science Outcomes: 7-1.1, 7-1.2, 7-3.1, 7-3.3, 7-2.1, 7-2.2, 7-1.1, 7-1.2, 7-4.1
4 Debrief fieldtrip
• Students will share and discuss distribution patterns of species noticed and predictions about
why they observed these patterns. They will also discuss any observations of succession (if
applicable).
• They will identify interactions within the ecosystem and with humans and any related
observations
• Students will compile their data as a class on the factors in the study plot from the dry-land
ecosystem and will be asked to display their data in an appropriate format
• Discuss strengths and weaknesses of different data collection methods and methods to display
information from the data
• If time: Students will create a class food web based on the consumers, producers and
decomposers found in dry-land day before
Science Outcomes: 7-1.1, 7-1.2, 7-2.1, 7-2.2, 7-3.1, 7-3.3, 7-4.1
Lesson Overview
Day
4 Introduction to Research
• Have ecologist expert in to talk to class about how to go about researching environmental
issues and what resources are considered valid
• Show students videos of other initiatives that have been created by students for the Caring for
our Watersheds Contest
• Teacher will model how to research an issue (eg. Key word usage) and show how knowledge
from research impacts public and personal decisions – will use this issue to model other steps
in research proposal (Choose something that has already been done so students don’t lose an
option)
• Teacher will also model note-taking and referencing skills
• Have students get into their groups for the final task and decide on areas of interest (Can use
contest website for ideas – teacher may decide to confine topics to overall unit question of
“Why is clean water important”)
Science Outcomes: Initiating and Planning
Lesson Overview
Day
Week 6: Proposals
Lesson Overview
Day
Stage 4 – Reflection
Considerations Comments
Is there alignment Yes. Activities and the learning progression directly correlate to program of
between the first 3 studies’ general and specific learner outcomes outlined in stage 1 of unit plan,
stages? while also providing the students with authentic learning experiences that go
beyond the classroom (Friesen, et al., 2015).
How has learner Scaffolding is used to ensure students of all levels can learn and gain the skills and
differentiation been knowledge necessary to complete the tasks. ELL students are provided images
addressed? alongside terminology to support their understanding. Accommodations and
supports are available for LD and/or ELL learners based on individual needs and
circumstances. Group work is done with intentional groupings based on student
strengths, skills and interests.
For final assessment task, teacher will check in with groups regularly, depending on
needs of each specific group (some may need more guidance than others). This will
ensure each group completes task successfully.
How does the unit The unit has indigenous pedagogical strategies as well as guest speakers from
design include a variety indigenous communities to present their knowledge and perspectives on the content
of teaching experiences being presented. Students from all cultures are invited to share their perspectives as
that includes: well. There are activities that also enable students to take on roles of experts in
Indigenous, different cultures/disciplines, and to learn about the experiences of places around the
multicultural, and world. The entire unit and cumulative assessment task are interdisciplinary to
interdisciplinary provide students with a deep integrated understanding of ecosystems and
activities? interactions within them and the social perspectives of them.
*See Rationale for more information
Adapted from:
Llewellyn, D. (2013). Teaching high school science through inquiry and argumentation.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
References
https://education.alberta.ca/media/482118/jhart.pdf
https://education.alberta.ca/media/160402/ela-pos-k-9.pdf
https://education.alberta.ca/media/3115252/2016_k_to_9_math_pos.pdf
https://education.alberta.ca/media/3069389/pos_science_7_9.pdf
september-30-2016.pdf
Friesen, S., Saar, C., Park, A., Marcotte, C., Hampshire, T., Martin, B., Brown, B., &
The Water Project Inc. (2019). Teaching Guide – MSHS: Lessons to challenge and inform.