Name: Erin Barger

TE 861B: Inquiry Lesson Sequence

I. Initial Plans (Due October 24th)

Clarifying Your Goals

Performance expectations:

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.
 LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
o 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.
 PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life
o The chemical reaction by which plants produce complex food molecules (sugars)
requires an energy input (i.e., from sunlight) to occur. In this reaction, carbon dioxide
and water combined to form carbon-based organic molecules and release oxygen.

MS-LS1-7. Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming
new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism.
 LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
o 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-LS2-3 Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and
nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
 LS2.B: Cycle of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems
o Food webs are models that demonstrate how matter and energy is transferred between
producers, consumers, and decomposers as the three groups interact within an
ecosystem. Transfers of matter into and out of the physical environment occur at every
level. Decomposers recycle nutrients from dead plant or animal matter back to the soil
in terrestrial environments or to the water in aquatic environments. The atoms that
make up the organisms in an ecosystem are cycled repeatedly between the living and
nonliving parts of the ecosystem.
MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or
biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
 LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience
o 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 of its
populations.

Science and Engineering Practices

  Developing and Using Models
 Analyzing and Interpreting Data
 Constructing Explanations
 Engaging in Argument from Evidence

Crosscutting Concepts
 Matter is conserved because atoms are conserved in physical and chemical processes.
 Within a natural system, the transfer of energy drives the motion and/or cycling of matter.
 The transfer of energy can be tracked as energy flows through a natural system.

Initial Plan

As of right now, these phases are not going to go straight through 1 – 5 in my lessons. I am going to use
my 4 whole-group LiveLessons during my entire unit to cover the above standards, and they will all be
connected back to the same Phase 1 (the driving question). (The lessons are 1 hour long and will occur
on Tuesdays over the course of 4 weeks.) Each lesson is going to stand alone in terms of the phenomena
or activity presented for them to learn from, and each lesson will have some discussion and presenting
of student ideas and explanations. (I will always plan to spend time connecting it back to the original
driving question, though.) So to make it easier, I'm going to break it up by lesson number and put phases
1 – 5 in each one.

Phase 1: Engaging with a problem/Questions.

 How does energy and matter enter, move through, and exit an ecosystem?

Lesson 1: Producers and Photosynthesis

Phase 1: Engaging with a problem/Questions.
 How does matter and energy first enter into an ecosystem?
Phase 2: Data or observations / Evidence.
 I will provide students with information about scientists who made discoveries that worked
toward our understanding of photosynthesis (such as Jan Baptista van Helmont, John
Woodward, Joseph Priestley, and Jan Ingenhousz). I will provide them with a worksheet and
table (or something) for them to be filling in as we go and they learn about the discoveries of
each scientist.
Phase 3: Finding and explaining patterns / Explanation.
 As I provide this information to students about each scientist, I will ask students to think about
and write down (individually) what they think each piece of information tells us about what
plants need in order to grow and what they produce as they are growing. I will also ask them to
write an explanation of how photosynthesis works.
Phase 4: Alternate Explanations.
 I will ask students to share their ideas over the microphone with the class, and I am also
considering finding some sort of video or article for us to look at. I will ask students to evaluate
the ideas that they wrote down themselves, asking them if hearing other students'
ideas/explanations and watching the video or reading the article made them think differently
about their own, and then make changes if it does.
Phase 5: Communicate and Justify:
  This phase is supported by asking students to share and justify their ideas over the microphone.
The students are also being asked to write down their explanations and reasoning on their
worksheet. I am also now strongly considering asking my students to participate in a quick
Google Form where I ask them to explain photosynthesis (or something), giving me data.

Lesson 2: Cellular Respiration in Living Things

Phase 1: Engaging with a problem/Questions.
 How do animals use matter and energy from the ecosystem?
Phase 2: Data or observations / Evidence.
 I will ask the students to name things that they need to do every day in order to live. (Aiming for
eating, drinking, breathing, sleeping, etc.) I will ask students to write down and then share what
happens if they do not eat or breathe for extended periods of time.
 I will also ask students to describe what happens when they exercise vigorously (aiming for
getting hot and breathing really hard). I will ask them to write their ideas down.
Phase 3: Finding and explaining patterns / Explanation.
 I will ask students to write down their own explanations of why they cannot go without eating
and breathing, then ask students to share their ideas over the microphone and provide evidence
for their ideas. Students should be able to explain that we need oxygen from the air, and we
need the stored chemical energy from food. Maybe some could go further to explain what
happens in our cells (cellular respiration).
 I will ask students to write down their own explanations of why they get hot and breathe so hard
during vigorous exercise, then ask students to share their ideas over the microphone and
provide evidence for their ideas. Hopefully some can explain that when their bodies are working
hard, they need more oxygen, and their bodies warm up and release extra heat into the
environment.
Phase 4: Alternate Explanations.
 I will ask students to share their ideas over the microphone with the class, and I will also look for
a video or article for us to look at that explains the very basics behind cellular respiration. I will
ask students to evaluate the ideas that they wrote down themselves, asking them if hearing
other students' ideas/explanations and watching the video or reading the article made them
think differently about their own, and then make changes if it does.
Phase 5: Communicate and Justify:
 This phase is supported by asking students to share and justify their ideas over the microphone.
The students are also being asked to write down their explanations and reasoning on their
worksheet. I am also now strongly considering asking my students to participate in a quick
Google Form where I ask them to explain cellular respiration (or something), giving me data.

Lesson 3: Food Webs

Phase 1: Engaging with a problem/Questions.
 How do consumers and decomposers obtain energy and matter from the ecosystem?
Phase 2: Data or observations / Evidence.
 How will your students collect data or make observations?
 I will pull up a share pod with an image of a food web. I will ask students to write down
observations, things that they notice about the food web. I will also ask them to identify where
 they think energy and matter are located within this food web/ecosystem. I will ask students to
share some of their observations over the microphone.
Phase 3: Finding and explaining patterns / Explanation.
 How will your students find and explain patterns in the data?
 I will ask students to then write an explanation for how energy and matter flow through this
ecosystem, using the food web as evidence, as well as any other prior knowledge they have that
can be used to support their ideas. I will ask them to recall what we learned in our first lesson
(about how plants use the sun’s energy to make food for themselves in order to
photosynthesize) and ask them to use this to help them.
 I will ask students to share their explanations over the microphone of how matter and energy
are flowing through the ecosystem, providing evidence from the food web and their prior
knowledge to support their ideas.
 Along the way, I will be prompting the use of certain vocabulary words to describe the organisms
we see there (producers, consumers, decomposers) and asking students to explain the roles of
each type of organism.
Phase 4: Alternate Explanations.
 How will your students evaluate the quality of their data or resolve conflicting explanations
between groups?
 Different students will present different ideas over the microphone. I will also look for a video or
article for us to look at that explains the flow of matter and energy through food webs. I will ask
students to evaluate the ideas that they wrote down themselves, asking them if hearing other
students' ideas/explanations and watching the video or reading the article made them think
differently about their own, and then make changes if it does.
Phase 5: Communicate and Justify:
 How will your students illustrate their understanding through written or oral communication?
 At the end of this lesson I will give the students a short Google Form to complete asking them to
present their explanation for how matter and energy move through an ecosystem.
 Around the time this lesson is presented, students will be required to complete a “portfolio” (a
project) in which they create a food web using organisms that live in Michigan. They will
complete this on their own time.

Lesson 4: Changes to Ecosystems

Phase 1: Engaging with a problem/Questions.
 How do changes in populations in an ecosystem affect the flow of energy and matter through
the ecosystem?
Phase 2: Data or observations / Evidence.
 I will share my screen with the students with a "Gizmo" pulled up with a food chain showing
grass, rabbits, snakes, and hawks. In the gizmo we can manipulate the numbers of each organism
as well as the populations being healthy or diseased. Once you hit play, you can observe a bar
graph that changes in real time, a data table, and a line graph. (The line graph is most useful.) I
will play out a few different scenarios, changing the populations. Beforehand I will always ask the
students to write down a prediction of what they think will happen and why.
Phase 3: Finding and explaining patterns / Explanation.
  After each of the above scenarios is played out and we are able to see the line graph of the data,
I will ask the students to write down an explanation of what happened and why. Then I will ask
students to share over the microphone an explanation of what happened and why, always
pointing to the graph for evidence and using any prior knowledge.
Phase 4: Alternate Explanations.
 The students will be writing down their ideas and sharing over the microphone, giving students
the opportunity to hear the explanations of other students. They can then change their
explanations if necessary.
 I will also consider sharing a video from Cash Course Kids about food webs, and how if you
remove just one organism from a food web the entire ecosystem could fall apart, but how
ecosystems also have a tendency to try to remain balanced. Instead, I may choose to show a
video related to the removal and return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park and the changes
that took place when the wolves were reintroduced. (I'll need to look carefully at which videos
best suit the purpose of this lesson and the standard.)
Phase 5: Communicate and Justify:
 Some students will be sharing their ideas over the microphone, but I will also design a short
Google Forms assessment where the students can write out an explanation for a scenario that I
will provide about how an ecosystem would change based on a specific change.

Scoring Rubric: Total points = /30

Note that grades will be based on how good this lesson sequence would be the next time you teach it.
Some things don’t work when you’re trying something new. That’s OK, as long as you can explain how
you have learned from the experience and how you will make changes for next time.

Component Points Comments

Performance Expectations/Objectives (1.5
pts)
Plans and teaching Phase 1: Establishing
problem (2.5 pts)
Plans and teaching Phase 2: Observation and
data collection (3 pts
Plans and teaching Phase 3: Finding and
explaining patterns in data (3 pts)
Plans and teaching Phase 4: Alternate
explanations (2.5 pts)
Plans and teaching Phase 5: communication
and justification (2.5 pts)
Final report: Students’ learning (6 points)
Final report: Revisions and reflection (6 pts)
Final report: Continuing to work with
students (3 pts)