Name: Kristen Vanderhelm
Grade Level: 5th
Science Topic: Survival of Organisms
Science Pacing Guide for Organism Unit
Instructional Sequence and I-AIM Functions Template
No.
1
2
3
4
Activity Description –
what hands-on, minds-on, inquiry
activities students will be
doing.
Students will first have an interactive
Acquired
discussion about what an inherited trait
and Inherited versus and acquired trait is. Then
Traits
students will examine their own traits
and discover inherited (body scars,
learned behaviors) vs. acquired
(skeletal structure, eye color)
Hand out worksheet with a variety of
Where did
traits.
that come
http://teach.genetics.utah.edu/content/b
From?
egin/traits/familytraitsandtraditions.pdf
Students first activity will be to decide if
the trait is inherited or acquired and
record their predictions.
Give students a genetic inventory
Finding your worksheet. Students are to work
Genetic
through the traits and record whether
Match
the trait fits them or not.
We will record the findings of who has
what as a class, students will then be
finding their genetic match
Students will now be tying the two
previous activities together. Students
Family Tree will be creating a family tree to see
genetic traits and where they came from
Activity
Label/Title
I-AIM Functions identified for each
activity with a rationale for how the
activity fulfills the identified I-AIM function.
Experience Phenomena- students will examine a familiar
experience of their own selves and their peers.
Establish a question- Students will begin to ask the
question of what causes these changes between
themselves and their classmates.
Elicit students’ initial ideas- this is where students will
be able to share their beliefs about what the difference is
between traits that are inherited or acquired
Explore Phenomena for Patterns- Students here will start
to identify the patterns that make a trait either inherited
or acquired
Explore Ideas about patterns- Students will now see the
patterns that lie between themselves and their
classmates.
Identify Patterns- Here students will be evaluating their
evidence to find patterns. Specifically, they will look at
the traits within the own family and see the patterns of
how the traits are passed down to generations, or
5
6
7
within their family. Students will present
their findings to their classmates.
Assess prior knowledge of adaptation.
Animal
Brain storm what we know about bird
Adaptations: beaks, are they an adaptation? Pass
Bird Beaks out a worksheet of a variety of bird
beaks. Have the students work hands
on with a variety of materials, seeds,
water, gummy bears etc and make
predictions to which bird beak would
work the best in each situation.
Break students into groups. Give each
Observing
group one mealworm and one
Mealworms earthworm to investigate. Have
and
students sketch worms, record length, if
Earthworms it makes any noise, texture (if desired).
Give each group a different stimulus to
work with and observe the worms
reaction. Stimuli- black vs white
surface, flashlight, barriers, moisture,
temperature, food. Share findings as a
group.
Have students navigate through website
Fossil
with partners
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/exp
Records
lorations/tours/stories/guide/index.html
8
Sequencing
Time
9
What Came
First?
Students will create a timeline of their
own life to understand sequencing of
events over time. Events that should be
included here are learning to ride a bike,
starting school etc. Have students then
create a much bigger timeline, such as
when dinosaurs roamed the Earth until
now. Have students compare the two
timelines
Hang a timeline and go through the
terms of pre-Cambrian, Paleozoic,
Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. Discuss
acquired through generations.
Identify Patterns- Students will explore and begin to
analyze the patterns for the bird beaks. Harder beaks are
good for hard materials such as seeds while longer beaks
are going for drinking water.
Students explain patterns- students will analyze why it is
that these patterns exist.
Compare student and scientific ideas- students will
record and analyze information and share it between
their classmates. Students will investigate the variability
between worms.
Introduce scientific ideas- here students will be
presented with fossil replicas. They will need to explore
and examine traits through these fossils and understand
why tit is we study fossils in the first place.
Apply to similar contexts with support- Students will
start to understand sequencing of events, by first
sequencing a very familiar subject---their own life.
Apply to similar contexts with fading support- As a
class; we will compare our timelines to the timeline of
major historical time periods, such as when the
dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Apply to similar contexts with fading support- Students
will now learn the correct terminology for time eras and
understand the events that fall into each period.
10
Creepy
Critters
Etc.
what was first and the sequence
between them. Give students several
examples of organisms and have them
make predictions of when these
organisms may have first lived.
Examples are bacteria, ants, grass, and
sharks.
This is where students will use traits to
classify living things. Pass out paper
with several critters to students. Have
the students analyze the critters and
figure out the traits each has, then try to
organize the critters into groups based
on their traits.
Reflect on changes in Ideas- Now that the students have
a basic knowledge in traits, this activity will be reflective
of how their original ideas have changed. Students will
now be able to classify the critters much easier than they
initially could at the beginning of the unit.
Reflect on doing Science- Students will compare how
they identified traits to the beginning of the unit. At this
point, they will have a much deeper knowledge of how
to classify living things, based on a variety of traits.