PBLUnitOverview

Title:

Humans and Their World

Teacher:
Content
Focus:

Lang Patt
Science

Project
Idea:

All human activities draw on natural resources and have both short
and long-term consequences, positive as well as negative, for the
health of people and the natural environment. (MS-ESS3-1),(MSESS3-4)

Summary of the
issue, challenge,
investigation,
scenario, or
problem

Essential
Question:

Content and
Skills
Standards to be
addressed:
(CCCSS, NGSS,
Calif.)

How do humans and their

environment interact?

Est. Start Date:

Duration: 6
October
weeks
Grade Level: middle school
Other subject areas to be included:
math, history, English Language Arts,
and physical education

Driving
Questi
on

What effects do human

actions and their
environment have on each
other?

Science
ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
ESS3.D: Global Climate Change
MS-ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring
and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
MS-ESS3-4. Construct an argument supported by evidence for how
increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural
resources impact Earths systems.
MS-ESS3-5. Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have
caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
ELA/Literacy
RST.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and
technical texts. (MS-ESS3-1),(MS-ESS3-2),(MS-ESS3-4),(MS-ESS3-5)
RST.6-8.7 Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in
words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in
a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table). (MS-ESS3-2)
WHST.6-8.1 WHST.6-8.2 Write arguments focused on discipline content.
(MS-ESS3-4)Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and
convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection,
organization, and analysis of relevant content. (MS-ESS3-3)
WHST.6-8.7 Conduct short research projects to answer a question
(including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and
generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple
avenues of exploration. (MS-ESS3WHST.6-8.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital
sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy

of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others
while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation. (MSESS3-3)
WHST.6-8.9 Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis,
reflection, and research. (MS-ESS3-1),(MS-ESS3-4)
Mathematics
MP.2

Reason abstractly and quantitatively. (MS-ESS3-2),(MS-ESS3-5)

6.RP.A.1 Understand the concept of a ratio and use ratio language to

describe a ratio relationship between two quantities. (MS-ESS3-3),(MSESS3-4)
7.RP.A.2 Recognize and represent proportional relationships between
quantities. (MS-ESS3-3),(MS-ESS3-4)
6.EE.B.6 Use variables to represent numbers and write expressions when
solving a real-world or mathematical problem; understand that a variable
can represent an unknown number, or, depending on the purpose at hand,
any number in a specified set. (MS-ESS3-1),(MS-ESS3-2),(MS-ESS3-3),(MSESS3-4),(MS-ESS3-5)
7.EE.B.4 Use variables to represent quantities in a real-world or
mathematical problem, and construct simple equations and inequalities to
solve problems by reasoning about the quantities. (MS-ESS3-1),(MS-ESS32),(MS-ESS3-3),(MS-ESS3-4),(MS-ESS3-5)
History
7.11 Students analyze political and economic change in the sixteenth,
seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries (the Age of Exploration, the
Enlightenment, and the Age of Reason).
WHST.6-8.7 Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including
a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating
additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of
exploration. (MS-ESS3-3)

Physical Education

1.4 Demonstrate body management and object-manipulation skills needed

for successful participation in individual and dual physical activities.
1.5 Demonstrate body management and locomotor skills needed for
successful participation in track and field and combative activities.
1.6 Demonstrate body management and object-manipulation skills needed
for successful participation in introductory adventure/outdoor activities.
T+
A
st

21 Century
Skills and

Collaboration
Critical Thinking

T+
A

x
x

MPS to be
explicitly taught
and assessed
(T+A) or that
will be
encouraged (E)
by Project work
but not taught or
assessed:

Communication

Research skills

Group:

Culminating
Products
and
Performanc
es

Individual:

Humans and the Environment

Concept Map
Humans and Earth Action Plan
Informative Essay

Presentation Audience
Class
x
School
Experts
Web
Other:

Project Overview
Entry event

Group discussion about the photographs of the different

to launch
inquiry, engage
students:

environments.

Outline or
Conceptual
Flow
Include
assessment
points:

I. Human Impacts on Earth Systems

A. Human activities have significantly altered the biosphere.
1. Human actions have damaged natural habitats.
2. Humans have endangered or caused the extinction of some
species.
3. Human populations and consumption of natural resources
can increase the negative impacts on the environment.
B. Some human activities can be carried out in a way as to cause
very little changes to the environment.
II. Global Climate and Humans
A. Human activities can result in global climate change.
1. The burning of fossil fuels causes the release of greenhouse gases.
2. The increase in temperature leads to climate change and changes
in ocean level.
3. Human activities like burning fossil fuels lead to global warming.
*Assess group concept map (30 pts.)
III. Applying the Knowledge About Systems
Understanding the relationship between climate science and
3

engineering with human behavior, and the application of that

knowledge can reduce human vulnerability that result from
deterioration of their environment.
A. Understanding the interaction of living things and their
environment can help humans achieve balance. *Assess
reflections
B. Deforestation has a variety of long-term implications for both
humans and other species.
*Assess group action plan using rubric. (50 pts.)

Assessment
s

Formative
Assessments
(During Project)

Quizzes/Tests

Journaling/Learning Log

Preliminary Plans/Outlines
Rough Drafts

Summative
Assessments
(End of Project)

Resources
Needed

On-site people,
facilities
Equipment
Materials
Web resources

Discussions

Written Product(s), with

rubric

Other Products

Oral Presentation, with

rubric

Peer Evaluation

Multiple Choice/Short
Answer Test

Self-Evaluation

Essay Test

Other

P.E. Teacher (collaboration helpful for Hunger Games Stations)

Computers and projector

Access to the internet
Chart paper, graph paper, copies of activities sheets, Oil Spills
and Carrying Capacity activity materials, 3x5 index cards
p.e. equipment

1. National Geographic. Impacts of Deforestation.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/videos/mansimpact/
2. World Wildlife. Deforestation Threats. (2015).

https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation#impac
ts
3. BSRI. The Rainforest Report Card
http://www.trfic.msu.edu/rfrc/status.html
4. Nature Conservancy. Rainforest Facts.
http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/rainfores
ts/rainforests-facts.xml
5. Introduction to global warming video.
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/101videos/global-warming-101
6. Environmental Protection Agency Site on Global
Warming
http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/climate/index.html
7. Food and Agricultural Organization. Global Forest
Resources Assessment. (2010)
http://www.fao.org/forestry/fra/fra2010/en/
8. PE Central. Hunger Games Stations.
http://www.pecentral.org/lessonideas/HungerGamesStatio
nDirections.pdf

Reflection
Methods

(Individual, Group,
and/or Whole
Class)

Journal/Learning Log

Focus Group

Whole-class Discussion

Fishbowl Discussion

Survey

Other

Project Teaching and Learning Guide

Knowledge and Skills Needed by Students
(to successfully complete culminating projects and to do well on summative assessments)
Student needs to be able to:

Student needs to be able to:

Know the definition of global warming and the

cause/effects of global warming.

Understand the relationships between

variables in real world problems and write an
algebraic model.

Student needs to be able to:

Student needs to be able to:

Understand the impacts of human actions on

the other living things.

Read and interpret informational texts and

represent the information in charts and
tables.

Student needs to be able to:

Student needs to be able to:

Understand and write informative document

(action plan).

Conduct research assignments to answer

project questions.

Student needs to be able to:

Write and use ratios to represent the

relationship between two quantities .

Questions to be Provided by the Project Teacher

(to successfully complete culminating products and to do well on summative assessments)
Teacher asks questions to recall facts, make observations, or
demonstrate understanding:

Teacher asks questions to summarize, analyze, organize, or

evaluate:

What is the relationship between the

number of people in a family and the
amount of trash produced?
Based on the labels going down on the left
and going across the top, what information
is being compared?
What contributes to global warming? What
are the effects?
What human actions result in negative
impacts on other living things?

Why should humans be concerned about oil

spills?
What happens to marine life when oil spills
in the ocean?
What parts of our daily waste products could
be kept out of the trash? How could we
manage the waste products that we keep
out of the trash?

Teacher asks questions to apply or relate:

Teacher asks questions to predict, design,

or create:

How do humans, the environment, and other

living things interact with each other?
How could you encourage others to take part
in carrying out actions that do not negatively
impact other living things and Earth?

Based on what youve learned about the

effects of human actions on the
environment, how could humans reduce the
negative impacts on other living things?

Teacher Reflection:
How did the unit flow? What worked well? What needs to be changed for next time? What did the students learn? What evidence do
you have to support students learning?