TCAP-Alt Science Content Module 1 - Tennessee

[Pages:2]Science Module 1

Life Science: Structure and Function/Growth and Development of

Organisms

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Module Goal

The goal of this module is to provide information that will help educators increase their knowledge of grade-appropriate science concepts, knowledge, and skills to support effective planning or modification of their existing science instructional units for students with significant cognitive disabilities. The module includes important concepts, knowledge, and skills for the following instruction: Structure and Function (elementary)--plants and animals have internal and external structures to

help them survive, grow, and meet their needs. Information Processing (elementary)--most animal behaviors help an animal survive and reproduce. Structure and Function (middle)--all living things are made of cells; cells in multi-cellular organisms

function together to form tissues, organs, organ systems, and organisms.

Module Objectives The content module supports educators' planning and implementation of instructional units in science by: Developing an understanding of the concepts and vocabulary that interconnect with information in

the module units. Learning instructional strategies that support teaching students the concepts, knowledge, and skills

related to the module units. Discovering ways to transfer and generalize the content, knowledge, and skills to future school,

community, and work environments. The module provides an overview of the science concepts, content, and vocabulary related to Life Science: Structure and Function/Growth and Development of Organisms and provides suggested teaching strategies and ways to support transference and generalization of the concepts, knowledge, and skills. The module does not include lesson plans and is not a comprehensive instructional unit. Rather, the module provides information for educators to use when developing instructional units and lesson plans.

The module organizes the information using the following sections: I. Tennessee Academic Standards for Science and Related Knowledge and Skills Statements and Underlying Concepts; II. Scientific Inquiry and Engineering Design; III. Crosscutting Concepts;

IV. Vocabulary and Background Knowledge information, including ideas to teach vocabulary; V. Overview of Units' Content; VI. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Suggestions; VII. Transference and Generalization of Concepts, Knowledge, and Skills; and VIII. Tactile Maps and Graphics.

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Section I

Tennessee Academic Standards for Science and Related Knowledge and Skills Statements and Underlying Concepts

It is important to know the expectations for each unit when planning for instruction. The first step in the planning process is to become familiar with the identified academic standards and the Knowledge and Skills Statements (KSSs) and Underlying Concepts (UCs) covered in the module. The KSSs are specific statements of knowledge and skills linked to the grade-specific science academic standards. The UCs are entry-level knowledge and skills that build toward a more complex understanding of the knowledge and skills represented in the KSSs and should not be taught in isolation. It is important to provide instruction on the KSSs along with the UCs to move toward acquisition of the same knowledge and skills.

Table 1 includes the academic standards and related KSSs and UCs for Life Science: Structure and Function/Growth and Development of Organisms. While only the academic standards targeted for the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program/Alternate (TCAP/Alt) are included, instruction on additional standards will aid in student understanding. Standards that are not included still represent important content for students to master. Therefore, the KSSs and UCs included in the table do not cover all the concepts that can be taught to support progress and understanding aligned to the standards.

Table 1. Tennessee Academic Standards for Science and Related KSSs and UCs 1

Academic Standards

Knowledge and Skills Statements (KSSs)

Underlying Concepts (UCs)

Structure and Function (elementary)

3.LS1.1: Analyze the internal and external structures that aquatic and land animals and plants have to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.

3.LS1.1.a: Ability to identify how animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs (e.g., having thick fur in polar regions)

3.LS1.1.UC: Identify the function of a particular animal or plant structure (e.g., fins for swimming in aquatic environments).

3.LS1.1.b: Ability to identify how plants use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs (e.g., thorns discourage predators)

3.LS1.1.c: Ability to identify how animals use their internal parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs (e.g., the heart pumps blood to the body)

3.LS1.1.d: Ability to identify how plants use their internal parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs (e.g., pollen or seeds in plants help them to reproduce)

Information Processing (elementary)

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Academic Standards

5.LS1.1: Compare and contrast animal responses that are instinctual versus those that are gathered through the senses, processed, and stored as memories to guide their actions.

Knowledge and Skills Statements (KSSs)

5.LS1.1.a: Ability to identify how animals use their sense receptors (e.g., eyes contain light receptors) to respond to different types of information (e.g., sound, light, odor, temperature) in their surroundings with behaviors that help them survive

5.LS1.1.b: Ability to identify how animals use their memories to help them survive

5.LS1.1.c: Ability to differentiate between an instinctive behavior and a learned behavior

Underlying Concepts (UCs)

5.LS1.1.UC: Identify types of information animals use from their surroundings (e.g., sound, light, odor, temperature) to guide their actions.

7.LS1.1: Develop and construct models that identify and explain the structure and function of major cell organelles as they contribute to the life activities of the cell and organisms.

Structure and Function (middle)

7.LS1.1.a: Ability to identify that cells have internal structures

7.LS1.1.b: Ability to identify components of a cell

7.LS1.1.c: Ability to identify the functions of the components of a cell

7.LS1.1.UC: Recognize that all living things are made of cells.

7.LS1.4: Diagram the hierarchical organization of multicellular organisms from cells to organism.

7.LS1.4.a: Ability to identify a model of the hierarchical organization of multi-cellular organisms (i.e., cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, and organisms)

7.LS1.4.UC: Recognize that animals are multi-cellular organisms.

7.LS1.5: Explain that the body is a system comprised of subsystems that maintain equilibrium and support life through digestion, respiration, excretion, circulation, sensation (nervous and integumentary), and locomotion (musculoskeletal).

7.LS1.5.a: Ability to identify the basic functions of major organ systems (i.e., circulatory, excretory, digestive, respiratory, muscular, or nervous systems)

7.LS1.5.b: Ability to identify examples illustrating how the body is a system of interacting subsystems, which work together to carry out life processes for the entire organism

7.LS1.5.UC: Recognize major organs of animals.

7.LS1.5.c: Ability to match an organ to an organ system

1 Instruction is not intended to be limited to the concepts, knowledge, and skills represented by the KSSs and UCs listed in Table 1.

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Section II

Scientific Inquiry and Engineering Design

It is important for students with significant cognitive disabilities to have the opportunity to explore the world around them and learn to problem solve during science instruction. This approach to science instruction does not involve rote memorization of facts; instead it involves scientific inquiry. A Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012) unpacks scientific inquiry, providing eight practices for learning science and engineering in grades K?12. These practices provide students an opportunity to learn science in a meaningful manner. Students should combine the science and engineering practices as appropriate to conduct scientific investigations instead of using a practice in isolation or sequentially moving through each practice. Support should be provided as necessary for students with significant cognitive disabilities to actively use the practices. A link to Safety in the Elementary Science Classroom is in the resources of this section. See Section VI. Universal Design for Learning Suggestions for support ideas. Following are the eight science and engineering practices (National Research Council, 2012) with added examples. Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering).

Examples: Why do birds have different shaped beaks? How do spiders know how to make a web? Why do both my heart rate and breathing rate increase when I exercise? How do lions and leopards learn to hunt? How can humans improve technologies or develop new ones to increase their benefits (e.g., better artificial limbs)?

Developing and using models. Examples: Create a model illustrating the type of information different sense receptors gather from the environment. Use a model of a cell to identify its basic structures. Create a model of the different body systems. Use a model to explain the hierarchical organization of multi-cellular organisms. Modeling with mathematics by graphing the average number of organisms that make up a group among a variety of species.

Planning and carrying out investigations. Examples: Conduct an investigation to discover how animals use external body parts to get food. Conduct an investigation on students' reactions to various objects through the sense of touch. Conduct an investigation to determine the purpose of the cell wall using a balloon and protective sleeve (e.g., pantyhose). Conduct an investigation to determine the best type of artificial light (e.g., florescent, LED, incandescent, etc.) for plant growth in order to design lighting for a plant shop. Data can be collected about rates of growth, height, and heartiness of plants.

Analyzing and interpreting data. Examples: Create a chart of birds with different shaped beaks and the food they eat to discover the purpose of the beak shape. Analyze data of migration patterns of polar bears, caribou, or Monarch butterflies over a period of years and describe the pattern or changes. Analyze data comparing breathing rate and heart rate over extended period of time to determine effective exercises.

Using mathematics and computational thinking. Example: Using computers to process large amounts of breathing and heart rate data to reveal patterns that suggest relationships. Organize data on plant growth to compare alternative types of lighting.

Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering). Examples: Identify evidence that animals can use their senses to take in information, process, store as a memory, and use later to make a decision. Explain how the structure of the cell membrane or cell wall relates to the function of the organelles and the whole cell. Describe how different organs

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can work together as subsystems to form organ systems that carry out complex functions (e.g., the heart and blood vessels work together as the circulatory system to transport blood and materials throughout the body). Design a device mimicking human muscles and bones that can grab and release an object. Engaging in argument from evidence. Examples: Use evidence to describe the function of an animal's external parts. Use reasoning to connect the relevant and appropriate evidence and construct an argument that includes the idea that animals store information gathered through their sense receptors to guide their actions. Construct an argument with evidence (e.g., internal and external structures of aquatic and land animals and plants) that in a particular habitat these structures can support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. Examples: Gather information from texts or reliable media on the functions of internal plant parts and communicate it using multi-media. Communicate the idea that the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells to others. Students engage in a portion of engineering design process in order to investigate the merit of solutions to problems caused when the environment changes.

Science Practices Resources2 Safety in the Elementary Science Classroom provides safety information for teachers and students.

actices/safety-in-the-elementary-school-science-classroom.pdf This site categorizes inquiry into three types: structured inquiry, guided inquiry, and open inquiry. Each type provides a wide range of example lessons grouped by elementary and middle school. These are a variety of sites that provide models or directions to build models. o o o provides a variety of life science activities and experiments.

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Section III

Crosscutting Concepts

Grade-level science content includes Crosscutting Concepts, which are concepts that connect information between different science strands and grade levels. The Crosscutting Concepts are intended to work together with the science inquiry and engineering practices, in addition to core content, to enable students to reason with evidence, make sense of phenomena, and design solutions to problems. Helping students make connections between these types of concepts and new content information supports comprehension of the concepts, knowledge, and skills as well as transference and generalization (see Section VII for more information). Crosscutting Concepts that are specific to this module connect to content across the units within the module as well as across modules.

Crosscutting Concepts are a common link between multiple standards and units of study. The Crosscutting Concepts, by being revisited and linked to multiple units of study, become a strong foundation of understanding, and support the students in learning new concepts. Life sciences focus on patterns, processes, and relationships of living organisms. For example, understanding patterns of change is a Crosscutting Concept that applies to growth and development of organisms, symmetry of flowers, and the repeated base pairs of DNA. Some Crosscutting Concepts may apply across multiple content areas and instructional emphases (e.g., cause and effect in reading science texts). This content module, Life Science: Structure and Function/Growth and Development of Organisms, addresses the type of animal responses (i.e., instinctual versus learned) for elementary school and how individual organisms are configured and how these structures function to support life, growth, behavior, and reproduction for middle school. A critical concept is the unifying principle that cells are the basic unit of life.

Teaching Crosscutting Concepts The following strategies pulled from the principles of UDL (CAST, 2011) are ways in which to teach Crosscutting Concepts to help students understand the concepts and make connections between different curricular content. During instruction, highlight:

patterns (e.g., Point out patterns in the shape of a graph or repeating pattern on a chart.) critical features (e.g., Provide explicit cues or prompts such as highlighting that help students to

attend to the important features.), big ideas (e.g., Present and reinforce the "big ideas" that students should take and apply throughout

their lives.), and relationships (e.g., Make the connection between the unit concepts and how they apply to the

students' lives.).

Following are Crosscutting Concepts for this Content Module-- Life Science: Structure and Function/Growth and Development of Organisms. According to A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (2012), these concepts help provide students with an organizational framework for connecting knowledge from the various disciplines into a coherent and scientifically based view of the world.

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Patterns

Patterns Patterns can be observed when learning about cells by pointing out that we are made of cells,

animals are made of cells, plants are made of cells, etc.

Causality

Structure and Function Complex and microscopic structures and systems, as well as groups of populations functioning as

systems can be visualized, modeled, and used to describe how their functions depend on the shapes, composition, and relationships among their parts; therefore, complex natural and designed structures/systems can be analyzed to determine how they function (e.g., a model can show how cell parts contribute to a cell's function).

Systems

Systems and System Models A system is a group of related parts that make up a whole and can carry out functions its individual

parts cannot (e.g., internal and external parts of plants and animals help them survive, grow, and meet their needs; animals gather information through senses, process the information in their brains, and respond to the information immediately or store it as a memory; cell organelles work together to carry out the function of the cell). Systems may interact with other systems; they may have sub-systems and be a part of larger complex systems (e.g., cells work together to form tissues and organs; organs form organ systems that perform body functions needed to live). A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions.

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity Scales include macroscopic scales that we experience through our senses and lifetime, as well as

those that may be too large or slow to observe or too small or fast. Phenomena that can be observed at one scale may not be observable at another scale (e.g., cells).

Crosscutting Concepts Resources Grant Wiggins talks about "big ideas" in this article.



A Framework for K-12 Science Education, Appendix G explains the crosscutting concepts and how the concepts help students deepen their understanding of the information.

Teacher Vision provides ten science graphic organizers that are free and printable.

Utah Education Network provides a variety of student interactives for:

o grades three through six.

o grades seven through twelve.

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