Understanding By Design Unit Template



|Title of Unit |     Cells |Grade Level |     7th |

|Curriculum Area |     Life Science |Time Frame |     13-15 50min class periods |

|Developed By |     Ryan Younkerman, Logan Burke |

|Identify Desired Results (Stage 1) |

|Content Standards |

|      |

|National: A: Science of Inquiry, C: Life Science |

|Colorado: 2.7.3: Cells are the smallest unit of life that can function independently and perform all the necessary functions of life |

|2.7.4: Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are important processes by which energy is acquired and utilized by organisms |

|Understandings |Essential Questions |

|Overarching Understanding |Overarching |Topical |

|      |      |      |

|-Cell structure and components make the function of the cell possible |-How is cell structure related to cell |-What are the similarities and |

|-The cell is the smallest unit of life |function? |differences between plant and animal |

|-Knowledge of cells has come about over time, by many scientists, through many experiments and observations, and continues to |-What are some similarities among all |cells? |

|be refined over time |cells, and what distinguishes some types |-What are the roles of each organelle? |

|-Plants are essential for all ecosystems and for |from others? | |

|human health |-What are tumor cells? What distinguishes|- What are the phases of, outcome of, |

|-The relationship between photosynthesis and cellular respiration within a single plant, and between a plant and animal |them from normal cells? |and reason for mitosis? |

| |-How are cells able to live and reproduce|- How are photosynthesis and cellular |

| | |respiration related |

| | |-What is the role of carbon in |

| | |photosynthesis and cellular respiration|

|Related Misconceptions | | |

|      | | |

|Confusing mitosis, meiosis, budding, and fission | | |

|Confusing the difference between plant and animal cells with the difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. | | |

|Thinking that all parts of every plant have chloroplast. | | |

|The cell is not made up of many different parts. | | |

|Students may not understand that tumor cells arise from the body’s own cells | | |

|Students may not understand that mutations accumulate over time | | |

|Students may think that cancer is a virus, bacteria, or think of it as an infection | | |

|Students may think that water or sunlight is the most important factor for photosynthesis instead of CO2 | | |

|Students may confuse cellular respiration with respiration of lungs | | |

|Students may struggle in understanding that organelles are smaller parts inside a cell, which is the smallest unit of life | | |

|Knowledge |Skills |

|Students will know… |Students will be able to… |

|      |      |

|The content of the cell theory |Create a memorable way to think of each organelle through analogy |

|The name, structure and function of each organelle |Explain how different organelles in the cell are connected |

|Differences and Similarities between plant and animal cells |Record observations |

|How structure of plant and animal cells is related to function of each |Create a Venn Diagram to show similarities/differences |

|Plants require carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight to carry out photosynthesis and store sugar molecules |Summarize in an essay |

|Plants and animals both break apart sugar molecules to use stored energy through cellular respiration |Identify the plasma membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus in both types of cells and |

|Plants exchange gas through stomata, land vertebrates exchange gas through lungs |chloroplast in plant cells |

|Each stage of the cell cycle and the result of 1 cell cycle |Use a microscope with appropriate zoom, course focus, and fine focus in order to |

|The names of each phase of mitosis, what happens in each phase, and why mitosis occurs |draw what they see |

|Factors proposed to cause cancer and supporting evidence of factors |Identify as well as describe phases of mitosis |

|The steps and outcomes of each phase of the cell cycle |Explain the purpose and necessity of mitosis in their own lives |

| |Explain roles of proto-onco genes and tumor suppressor genes in short answers |

| |Answer cause and effect questions about mutations |

| |Synthesize and analyze evidence to explain roles of factors in cancer |

|Assessment Evidence (Stage 2) |

|Performance Task Description: Students will complete 3 out of 5 Project-based assessments. Project A is mandatory for all students to complete, and students will choose 2 out of the remaining 4 projects (B-E).|

| |

|Project A (Mandatory): Cell Analogy Project |

|Project B: Carbon Cycle Short Story |

|Project C: Cancer Research Newspaper Article |

|Project D: Cell Cycle/Mitosis Project |

|Project E: 3rd grade lesson |

|(All rubrics attached at the end of the unit plan) |

| |Goal |A. To create and demonstrate an analogy for cell structure/cell function |

| | | |

| | |B. To explain the cycle of carbon through photosynthesis and cellular respiration |

| | | |

| | |C. To evaluate evidence and create their own idea for a topic for cancer research, integrating related social and economic impacts. |

| | | |

| | |D. To demonstrate knowledge of the process of, results of, and reason for the cell cycle, including each phase of mitosis |

| | | |

| | |E. To demonstrate knowledge of one of the concepts covered in this unit by explaining it in a way that 3rd grade students would understand. Students must |

| | |simplify ideas and be very clear, so that a 3rd grade student could sufficiently learn the topic. |

| |Role |A. Students will take the role of a “designer” who will design the cell analogy (factory, school, etc.) with all appropriate components |

| | | |

| | |B. Each student is a single carbon molecule |

| | | |

| | |C. Each student is a scientific researcher first, then a news columnist |

| | | |

| | |D. Each student will be the producer of a song, recorded video, computer-generated video, or comic book, or comic strip |

| | | |

| | |E. The student is guest teacher in a 3rd grade classroom |

| |Audience |A. The teacher |

| | | |

| | |B. The intended audience is the student’s parents, friends, peers, etc. |

| | | |

| | |C. The audience is the general public, anyone that would read/hear news |

| | | |

| | |D. Other students who do not think the cell cycle and mitosis are important/do not like mitosis/do not care/etc. |

| | | |

| | |E. 3rd grade class |

| |Situation |A. The students will design a cell analogy with each part of the cell structure and each organelle having a corresponding role. The students will have to think |

| | |of both the structure and function of each component and explain their reasoning (e.g. Lysosome is composting center of a restaurant, breaks down waste). |

| | |Students must pick either a plant cell or animal cell to create an analogy for. |

| | | |

| | |B. The students will write a short story from 1st person perspective describing their life as a carbon molecule. The students must explain their chronological |

| | |journey through the carbon cycle, including what form they are in (CO2, sugar, etc.), and include at least one cycle through both photosynthesis and cellular |

| | |respiration. |

| | | |

| | |C. The students will research cancer cells, building upon knowledge gained from cancer webquest. From the research, they will take the role of a researcher to |

| | |create their own idea of a cure for cancer and how to test this. They will then take on the role of a news columnist to write a newspaper article as if their |

| | |research had successfully found a cure for cancer. They would discuss what the cure is and why it is successful, how the hypothesis was tested, how the |

| | |researcher came up with the idea to test, and the effects this will have on society. |

| | | |

| | |D. Students now know the importance of the cell cycle and must present the cell cycle in a creative way to other students who do not care about it. In this |

| | |presentation students must include the phases of the cell cycle and what happens in each, the phases of mitosis and what happens in each, the outcome of one |

| | |cycle, and why it is important. (Students may use friends or family if filming a video or song) |

| | | |

| | |E. Students must create a “lesson” to explain the concept of their choice from this unit to 3rd grade students. Students may choose from plant vs. animal cells, |

| | |cell cycle/mitosis, photosynthesis/cellular respiration, or cancer cells, but must be a different topic than what is covered in their other 2 projects (e.g. if a|

| | |student chooses option C, they cannot do project E over the topic of cancer cells). Students must include a quiz for the 3rd grade class in this lesson that |

| | |covers each important topic that the 3rd graders should take away from the lesson. |

| | | |

| | |etc.her students who do not think mitosis is important/do not like mitosis/do not careo, or comic book, or comic striptten in 3 |

| |Product/ |A. Students will submit a project (computer generated, hand drawn, picture cut-out, model, etc.) to demonstrate their analogy (e.g. drawing of “Cell as a |

| |Performance |Factory”). Each individual component of the analogy (composting center, security guards, packing and shipping team, etc.) can either be written on the project or|

| | |turned in on a separate piece of paper with the project. |

| | | |

| | |B. Students will turn in a short story |

| | | |

| | |C. Students will submit a newspaper article written in 3rd person. |

| | | |

| | |D. A song, recorded video, computer-generated video, or comic book, comic strip, or any other teacher-approved option |

| | | |

| | |E. Students will submit their “lesson” (an explanation of what the lesson would consist of and in what order) and the quiz for the hypothetical 3rd grade class. |

| |Standards | 2.7.3: Cells are the smallest unit of life that can function independently and perform all the necessary functions of life |

| | |2.7.4: Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are important processes by which energy is acquired and utilized by organisms |

|Other Evidence |

|      |

|Lesson 1- Cell Structure and Function: |

|Formative: |

|The teacher should informally listen/observe group discussions to see if the students seem to be finding the key points and discussing cell structure and function. |

|The teacher should also periodically check in with individual groups to check for understanding, to check for group achievement and to guide the group in the right direction if need be. |

|The students will be encouraged to participate in classroom discussions. |

|The teacher should observe the individual groups to see how they work together and to make changes to students in groups if need be. |

| |

|Summative: |

|The research paper will be formally graded with the guidance of a rubric. |

|The students will also be formally assessed on The Journey into the Cell group project and will be graded with the guidance of a rubric. |

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|Lesson 2- Plant Cells vs. Animal Cells: |

|Formative: |

|The teacher should informally listen/observe group discussions to see if the students seem to be finding the key points on their own such as a hard, square, cell wall compared to a blob-like plasma membrane, |

|green chloroplasts, large central vacuole, etc. |

|The teacher should review class notebooks after class to assess the Venn diagrams for understanding informally. Students should have characteristics such as chloroplast, cell wall, and large central vacuole as|

|differences, and characteristics such as nucleus and cytoplasm as similarities. |

|Summative: |

|The summary paragraph should make students synthesize information discovered in the lab, as well as evaluate beyond what they have seen to think of benefits of each cell in their appropriate environments (this|

|should touch on form vs. function). |

| |

|Lesson 3- Cellular Processes: |

|Formative: |

|The teacher should informally listen/observe group discussions to see if the students seem to be finding the key to building/breaking apart sugar molecules to make needed products. |

|The teacher should informally listen/observe class discussions |

|The teacher should also periodically check in with individual groups to check for understanding, to check for group achievement and to guide the group in the right direction if need be. |

|The teacher should observe the individual groups to see how they work together and to make changes to students in groups if need be. |

| |

|Summative: |

|The teacher will grade the journal prompt on two things that might be possible to cause the increase in CO2 in the atmosphere. |

|The teacher will also grade the ticket-out-the-door activity on the chemical formula for photosynthesis and cellular respiration, and the differences between them. |

| |

|Lesson 4- Cell Cycle/Mitosis: |

|Formative: |

|Informal assessment throughout making video, I will pay special attention to see if students appear to know what they should do for each phase, or if they are following the group, and on student evaluation of |

|the video |

|Summative: |

|Informal ticket out the door will be completed without student notebooks (probably grade for participation) , (ticket at the door can be found on last page of plan) |

|Lesson 5- Cancer/Tumor Cells: |

|Formative: |

|Teacher informally monitors student progress as they work together in pairs to complete the webquest. |

|Summative: |

|Formal assessment of completed “Activity: Cell Biology and Cancer” from along with the Write to Learn evaluation will be graded as a |

|formal summative assessment. |

|Learning Plan (Stage 3) |

|Where are your students headed? Where have they been? How will you make sure the students know where |     Students will first watch “Inner Life of a Cell” to get the students to brainstorm everything |

|they are going? |they know about cells individually, and then the teacher will write a class brainstorm on the board of|

| |the students’ ideas. This will provide an informal pre-assessment for the teacher to assess prior |

| |knowledge and misconceptions. This should be the first time that students are formally introduced to |

| |cells in school, and will be a main concept in the Life Science Unit. Many formative assessments will |

| |be done throughout each lesson, summative assessments will be done at the end of each lesson, and a |

| |large unit summative assessment will wrap up the unit. |

|How will you hook students at the beginning of the unit? |     The students will watch a short video on the life inside a cell to get them brainstorming their |

| |prior knowledge on cells. |

|What events will help students experience and explore the big idea and questions in the unit? How will |      |

|you equip them with needed skills and knowledge? |Lesson 1: Students will be introduced to cell structure and function, learning what organelles a cell |

| |contains and the way those organelles function. The students will engage in researching organelles and|

| |create a story about how a cell came to be. |

| |Lesson 2: Students will view cells through a microscope themselves, make their own observations, and |

| |compare and contrast what they are seeing and evaluating |

| |Lesson 3: Students will learn how photosynthesis and cellular respiration work and how they work |

| |together in the carbon cycle. Students will take part in a whole-class activity, using props to |

| |visualize molecules of carbon through photosynthesis and cellular respiration |

| |Lesson 4: Students will take on the role of a chromosome and work together to create a video of the |

| |phases of mitosis. |

| |Lesson 5: Students will engage in self-discovery by completing a webquest and corresponding activity. |

| |Students will evaluate information presented in videos to come to conclusions about cancer |

|How will you cause students to reflect and rethink? How will you guide them in rehearsing, revising, and|     Students will complete self-evaluations on their own learning through several tickets out the |

|refining their work? |door throughout the unit. Students will also record their initial thoughts about a topic, and then |

| |respond to a notebook prompt the next day about their new knowledge. |

| |In Lesson 5, students will have opportunities to view each video that their class creates about |

| |mitosis, and re-do the video with appropriate changes if they choose. |

|How will you help students to exhibit and self-evaluate their growing skills, knowledge, and |     Students will exhibit and self-evaluate knowledge and understanding through project-based |

|understanding throughout the unit? |assessments at the end of the unit through choices of summative assessment. |

| |Students will also create a video, a RAFT essay, a compare/contrast essay, and constantly evaluate how|

| |topics are relevant to their own lives throughout the unit.and cellular respirationnext day about |

| |their new knowledge.r th mitosis, and re-do the video wit |

|How will you tailor and otherwise personalize the learning plan to optimize the engagement and |      |

|effectiveness of ALL students, without compromising the goals of the unit? |Special Needs: |

| |Provide cartoon diagrams of cells or enlarged microscopy pictures to view and label or to compare to |

| |their actual slides, provide a list ahead of time of key features for the venn diagram for them to |

| |place in the correct spots, specifically group with students who are advanced in microscope skills, or|

| |group together so they can all work with one para-professional, provide an agenda for the day ahead of|

| |time, possibly let them have a special job, possibly provide skeleton notes,completed notes, or word |

| |banks ahead of class, provide outlined notes to correlate with the videos, provide outlined timelines |

| |for students to keep track of information from videos |

| | |

| |ELL: |

| |Provide a translated definition sheet or notes, translated pre-labeled cell diagram, provide full |

| |notes ahead of time or word banks, provide translated agenda and instructions ahead of class, provide |

| |translated worksheets |

| | |

| |G/T: |

| |Ask to not only compare/contrast but explain why they believe these similarities/differences exist, |

| |ask them to make extra inferences, option to create individual projects in place of class/group |

| |projects, replace introductory level 1 questions with deeper-level questions, |

|How will you organize and sequence the learning activities to optimize the engagement and achievement of |      |

|ALL students? |1. Introduction-Cell Structure/Function |

| |2. Plant Cells vs. Animal Cells |

| |3. Cellular Processes |

| |4. Cell Cycle/Mitosis |

| |5. Cancer/Tumor Cells |

| |6. Work day(s) for unit summative assessment |

| | |

| |Lessons all build upon each other |

From: Wiggins, Grant and J. Mc Tighe. (1998). Understanding by Design, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

ISBN # 0-87120-313-8 (ppk)

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|A. Cell Analogy Project |

|Student Name:     ________________________________________ |

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|CATEGORY |

|CATEGORY |

|CATEGORY |

|CATEGORY |

CATEGORY |4 |3 |2 |1 | |Accuracy of Facts |All facts are reported accurately |Almost all facts are reported accurately |Few facts are reported accurately. |No facts are reported accurately OR no facts were reported. | |Awareness of Audience |Student can clearly explain why they felt the vocabulary, audio and graphics they chose fit their intended audience. |Student can explain why they felt the vocabulary, audio and graphics they chose fit their intended audience. |There was some awareness of the audience, but not student cannot clearly describe how the vocabulary, audio and graphics they chose fit their intended audience |Limited attention to audience in designing AND/OR student cannot explain how the element relate to the audience. | |Point of View - Purpose |Lesson establishes a purpose at the beginning and maintains that focus throughout |Lesson establishes a purpose at the beginning, but occasionally wanders from that focus. |The purpose is somewhat clear but many apects of the lesson seem only slightly related. |It was difficult to figure out the purpose of the lesson. | |Quiz |Quiz has at least 6 clear questions that directly test student understanding of the topic |Quiz has 4-5 clear questions that directly test student understanding of the topic |Quiz has 3 clear questions that directly test student understanding of the topic OR questions do not clearly test understanding of the topic |Quiz has less than 3 OR unclear questions that do not directly test student understanding of the topic | |

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