Graduate Fellows in K-12 Education
Lesson Title: If you could be a noodle…?
Discipline Focus: Biology – taxonomy and organism diversity
Grade level: 10th
Length of lesson: 50 minutes
Stage 1 – Desired Results
Content Standard(s):
National Science Academic Standards:
Unifying Concepts and Processes; students will explore systems used to organize
organisms
Science as Inquiry; Students identify multiple models of organization, chose one as their
hypothesis and develop it, then evaluate the effectiveness of theirs and peers’ model’s
of categorizing pasta types and organism diversity
Nature of Science; Students evaluate different models produced by their peers (peerreview) to seek the best possible model for identifying organisms in the natural world
Minnesota Academic Standards in Science (2009):
9.1.1.2.1: Students choose and develop a method to organize and identify pasta types
and evaluate the method’s effectiveness.
9.1.1.2.2: Students evaluate their peers’ methods and consider which methods are best
for broader classification applications.
9.1.3.4.6: Students identify the strengths and weaknesses of theirs and their peers’
methods for organizing and identifying the different pasta types.
Understanding (s)/goals
Essential Question(s):
Students will understand that species

What information is needed for
identification requires detailed
correct species identification?
observations, and multiple methods for

How should information be
classification are possible. Some methods,
organized? Can there be many
however, are better than others.
ways?

Which forms of organization can be
used for identifying other types of
organisms?
Student objectives (outcomes):
Students will be able to:
- identify similarities and differences between several types of pasta
- develop a method others could use to identify each type of pasta
- work through and evaluate peers’ methods
- discuss which methods are best for broader applications to classifying organisms
Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence
Performance Task(s):
Other Evidence:
Derived method for identifying different
Work through other students’ methods and
pasta types.
evaluate one of them?
Stage 3 – Learning Plan
Learning Activities:
Start the lesson by asking students about their favorite hot dishes or pasta dishes. How
many types of pasta can they name, make a list. (1 minute)
Graduate Fellows in K-12 Education
Show and explain how a grocery store organizes their pasta on the shelf: by brand,
noodle type and noodle size. Finish by displaying a picture of all pasta types they will be
working with today. (2-3 minutes)
Guide and provoke their inquiry by reading through the activity sheet with the following
questions and instructions.
(in silence individually) What are some similarities and differences between
these pasta types? (2-3 minutes)
To provide another example of organization, point out some student’s favorite pastas
while using their name and a seating chart. Elaborate how I am using the seating chart
as a tool to correctly identify each student. Ask how I would learn their names without
a seating chart (what is your name?). Suggest to them there are multiple ways of
identifying people, other living organisms and objects, for example: think of how things
are organized in stores when you go to purchase something. (2 minutes)
(in silence individually for 2-3 minutes, then with a partner for 3-4 minutes making sure
to keep these two lists separate, will need to assign partners which will be peers across
from them) What are some methods a person could use to create a guide that
categorizes and separates each type of pasta? Explain methods as a guide
someone could use to identify a noodle if they didn’t know its name already. Recap the
grocery store and seating chart methods of differentiating by size and picture,
respectively. This list is a way to organize the similarities and differences listed in
question 2, not a relisting of pasta characteristics.
(total 10 minutes)
(give students plastic bags with pasta noodles) (with partners on another sheet of
paper) Choose and develop a method that can be used to identify the different
pasta types. (on the activity sheet) Write an explanation of your method with
the assumption no one knows what it is or how it works. (20-30 minutes)
(As students finish, have them take their method to lab tables and begin working
through other peers’ methods.) (5 minutes)
(students answer the following as they work through their peers’ methods) What types
of methods did other groups use? What are the advantages and
disadvantages of one of those methods? (2-3 minutes)
(have each group share briefly about their method, keeping a list on the board)
Examples could include:
Venn diagram
Pyramid based on size (size could be weight, length, width, volume)
Pie chart with each slice having characteristics of different pasta
List of names with characteristics
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Keys where you have options that lead to more options or names (dichotomous)
Pictures (seating chart)
Conclusion: Transition the discussion into thinking about how scientists use similar
methods or tools to identify millions of insects or thousands of plants. Ask them if they
thought their method would work for more than 10 pasta types or over 250,000 plant
species. Connect their categories to the idea that scientists use categories in similar
ways, but they generally use taxonomic keys with options leading to other options or
species names much like the aquatic insect key. Could show an example of a soils
identification key of sand, clay and silt proportions.(2 minutes) Would your method
work for identifying more types of noodles or the 250,000 known species of
plants? Please explain.
Lastly, ask students about their noodle identity preference.
Graduate Fellows in K-12 Education
If You Could Be a Noodle…?
Name:____________________
Period:____________________
1. What is your favorite pasta dish, and what type of pasta noodle is
in it?
_________________________________________________
2. Please list as many similarities and differences between these
pasta types as you can?
Simlarities
Differences
3. What are some methods a person could use to create a guide that
categorizes and separates each type of pasta?
Your Ideas
Your Group’s Ideas
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4. Please choose and develop a method that can be used to identify
the different pasta types on another sheet of paper. Write an
explanation of your method with the assumption that no one knows
what it is or how it works. (When your group finishes, take your
method to the lab tables and explore other groups’ methods)
5. Please list the types of methods used by other groups. What are
the advantages and disadvantages of ONE of those methods?
6. Would your method work for identifying more types of noodles or
the 250,000 known species of plants? Please explain.
7. Lastly, if you could be a noodle, which would you be and why?
___________________: why?
Graduate Fellows in K-12 Education
Pictures can be entered into power point and enlarged.