The activities in the Engage phase are designed to help students make connections between past and present learning experiences, expose prior conceptions, and organize thinking toward the essential questions and learning outcomes of the learning sequence.

Students will use prior knowledge regarding the ocean and climate change to begin to process the phenomenon and impacts of acidification and hypoxia in certain parts of the ocean along the Oregon Coast. Students will be presented with a problem that large amounts of crabs and sea life in a certain area are mysteriously dead.  They  will assume stakeholder roles to identify, understand, explain why the crabs are dead. Embedded descriptive videos, demonstrations,  and interactive simulations will keep students engaged during the learning process. 

STUDENT BEHAVIORS

• Ask questions such as, “Why did this happen?” “What do I already know about this?” “What can I find out about this?” “How can this problem be solved?”

• Shows interest in the topic through curiosity and expression of wonderings

• Demonstrates engagement by expressing ideas, sharing observations, and creating initial models

• Expresses current understanding of a concept or idea

TEACHING STRATEGIES

• Raises questions or poses problems

• Elicits responses that uncover students’ current knowledge

• Helps students make connections to previous work

• Posts learning outcomes and explicitly references them in the lesson

• Invites students to express what they think

• Invites students to raise their own questions

Once students have engaged in activities, they need time to explore ideas. Explore activities are designed so all students have common, concrete experiences which can be used later when formally introducing and discussing scientific and technological concepts and explanations. 

Students will conduct research regarding crab life cycles,  ocean currents, upwelling, and ocean chemistry. They will apply principles to conduct simulations and process data collection of variables that influence economic and environmental impacts on the Oregon Coastal Communities.  

STUDENT BEHAVIORS

• Tests predictions and hypotheses; Forms new predictions and hypotheses

• Discusses problems with others

• Plans and conducts investigations in which they observe, describe, and record data

• Tries different ways to solve a problem or answer a question

• Creates initial models

• Compares ideas with those of others

TEACHING STRATEGIES

• Provides or clarifies questions or problems

• Provides common experiences

• Observes and listens to students as they interact

• Acts as a consultant for students

• Encourages student-to-student interaction

• Asks probing questions to help students make sense of their experiences and redirect them when necessary

• Provides time for students to puzzle through problems

The Explain phase consists of two parts. Students can share their initial models and explanations from experiences in the Engage and Explore phases. Resources and information are presented to support student learning and introduce scientific or technological concepts.

Students will discuss potential problems, explanations and solutions to acidification and hypoxia while reviewing and discussing resident scientist documentaries from Oregon State University  and scientific journals. Students will understand and demonstrate knowledge of concepts and  vocabulary, included but not limited to: 

Concepts/Vocabulary Developed:

• Microbes

• Dissolved Oxygen (DO)

• Apoxia vs. Hypoxia

• Deoxygenation

• Dead Zone

• Respiration

• Heterotroph vs. Autotroph

• Upwelling

STUDENT BEHAVIORS

• Shows models, explanations, answers, or possible solutions, to other students

• Listens critically to and questions explanations offered by others

• Explains using evidence from investigations

• Uses labels, terminology, and formal scientific language

• Compares current thinking with former thinking

• Records ideas and current understanding

• Adjusts ideas, models, and explanations as new evidence or reasoning is presented

TEACHING STRATEGIES

• Encourages students to explain concepts and definitions in their own words

• Asks for justification (evidence) and clarification from students

• Formally provides definitions, explanations, and information through mini-lecture, text, internet, or other resources

• Builds on student explanations

• Provides time for students to compare their ideas with others and if desired revise their ideas

Once students have constructed explanations of the phenomenon,  it is important to involve them in further   experiences that apply, extend, or elaborate the concepts, processes, or skills they are learning.

Students may engage in role plays of stakeholders and policy makers to come up with new proposals for funding to help further research for the  impacting problems of the Oregon Coast due to hypoxia and acidification. Students will extend their learning by creating a policy briefing that could be presented to government and non-government agencies for awareness and action plans.  In addition, students will investigate possible career connections to marine and environmental sciences. 

STUDENT BEHAVIORS

• Applies new labels, definitions, explanations, and skills in new, but similar, situations

• Uses previous information to ask questions, propose solutions, make decisions, design experiments, or complete a challenge

• Draws reasonable conclusions from evidence

• Critiques the models, explanations, or arguments made by others using evidence and reasoning

• Makes conceptual connections between new and previous experiences

• Communicates understanding to others

TEACHING STRATEGIES

• Expects students to use vocabulary, definitions, and explanations provided previously in new contexts

• Encourages students to apply the concepts and skills in new situations

• Provides additional evidence, explanations, or reasoning

• Reinforces students’ use of scientific terms and descriptions previously introduced

• Asks questions that help students draw reasonable conclusions from evidence and data

The Evaluate phase encourages students to assess their understanding and abilities and allows teachers to evaluate individual student progress toward achieving learning goals and outcomes.

Continual evaluation is happening throughout the entire unit of study, ranging formal to summative assessments. Guided scaffolded notes during scientist documentaries help students with comprehension skills, data and graphing activities help students with ratios and proportions while documenting data in a linear graph. Virtual simulations help evaluate synthesis of acidification and the effects on sea urchins. Role plays and policy referendum creations will assist in the highest of Bloom's taxonomies while students create their own understanding of the need for future research and funding for marine and environmental sciences by their observations, evidence and understanding throughout the lesson.  

STUDENT BEHAVIORS

• Gives feedback to other students

• Evaluates progress or knowledge

• Checks work with a rubric or against established criteria

• Assesses progress by comparing current understanding with prior knowledge

• Asks additional questions that go deeper into a concept or leads to additional learning

• Demonstrates understanding of Disciplinary Core Ideas, Crosscutting Concepts, and Science and Engineering Practices

• Answers open-ended questions by using observations, evidence, and previously accepted explanations

TEACHING STRATEGIES

• Asks open-ended questions such as, “Why do you think…?” “What evidence do you have?” “How would you answer the question?”

• Observes and records notes as students demonstrate individual understanding of concepts learned and performance of skills

• Uses a variety of assessments to gather evidence of student understanding

• Provides opportunities for students to assess their own progress

Common Core Math Standard: 6. EE .C 9 

Math Practices: Use variables to represent two quantities in a real-world problem that change in relationship to one another; write an equation to express one quantity, thought of as the dependent variable, in terms of the other quantity, thought of as the independent variable. Analyze the relationship between the dependent and independent variables using graphs and tables, and relate these to the equation. (MS-LS2-3)

NGSS Performance Expectation(s): 

MS-LS1-6.  Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms

MS-LS2-3.  Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions:

Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to include constructing explanations and designing solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.

LS1.C:  Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms

Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen. These sugars can be used immediately or stored for growth or later use. (MS-LS1-6)

Within individual organisms, food moves through a series of chemical reactions in which it is broken down and rearranged to form new molecules, to support growth, or to release energy. (MS-LS1-7

LS2.A:  Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

Organisms, and populations of organisms, are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors. (MS-LS2-1)

In any ecosystem, organisms and populations with similar requirements for food, water, oxygen, or other resources may compete with each other for limited resources, access to which consequently constrains their growth and reproduction. (MS-LS2-1)

Growth of organisms and population increases are limited by access to resources. (MS-LS2-1)

LS2.C:  Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience

Ecosystems are dynamic in nature; their characteristics can vary over time. Disruptions to any physical or biological component of an ecosystem can lead to shifts in all its populations. (MS-LS2-4)

 Biodiversity describes the variety of species found in Earth’s terrestrial and oceanic ecosystems. The completeness or integrity of an ecosystem’s biodiversity is often used as a measure of its health. (MS-LS2-5)

ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions

There are systematic processes for evaluating solutions with respect to how well they meet the criteria and constraints of a problem. (secondary to MS-LS2-5)

Patterns: MS-LS-2 Patterns can be used to identify cause and effect relationships. 

Cause and Effect: MS-LS-1 Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems. 

Energy and Matter: MS-LS-3 The transfer of energy can be tracked as energy flows through a natural system. 

Stability and Change: MS-LS-4, MS-LS-5 Small changes in one part of a system might cause large changes in another part.