Understanding By Design Unit Plan
Title of Unit
Curriculum Area/Pg
Developed By
Big Idea
Ecosystems
Science
Nora Pettyjohn
Grade Level
Time Frame
5
5 weeks
No organism on earth lives isolated and independent from all others.
Stage 1: Identify Desired Results
Established Goals
NJCCCS (5.5) Life Science –
B. Diversity and Biological Evolution
1. Compare and contrast kinds of organisms using their internal and external characteristics.
2. Discuss how changing environmental conditions can result in evolution or extinction of a species.
3. Recognize that individual organisms with certain traits are more likely to survive and have offspring.
Understandings
Essential Questions
Students will understand that…
An ecosystem is a community of organisms and its interaction with its
environment.
Natural and human-made events can “disturb” an ecosystem.
Pollutants can affect the stability of an ecosystem; solutions can be
developed to minimize or alleviate the effects of pollutants.
Overarching
Why types of interactions take
place within an ecosystem?
How do natural or human-made
events effect an ecosystem?
Topical
How do living and nonliving things
depend on one another within an
ecosystem.
Ex. Pollution, earthquakes, etc.
Common Misunderstandings and Related Misconceptions
Knowledge
Skills
Students will know…
Students will be able to…
Organisms can be categorized by the functions they serve in an ecosystem:
producers, consumers, or decomposers.
Organisms in an ecosystem have dependent and interdependent
relationships, which can be illustrated by food webs.
Using a hand lens, pH paper, measuring devices, and other testing
equipment appropriately.
Conduct, record, and organize daily observations.
Plan, implement, and analyze experiments and draw conclusions from the
results.
Make and test predictions.
Factors that affect growth and reproduction of organisms in an ecosystem
include light, water, temperature, and soil.
A pollutant is anything that can harm living organisms when too much of it is
released into an ecosystem. Pollution is the condition that results when
pollutants interact with the environment.
Identify ecosystems as stable or disturbed and recognize whether the
cause of a disturbed ecosystem are natural or human-made.
Stage 2: Assessment Evidence
Performance Task Description
Goal
Role
Audience
Situation
Product/Performance
Criteria/Standards
Build upon students’ growing interest in their environment by giving them opportunities to better understand
the complex trade-offs that must be made to reach acceptable solutions to environmental challenges.
Researcher
Peers, teacher
Science Lab
Students will create an eco-column comprised of an aquarium and a terrarium.
Students will create both ecosystems separately: aquarium & terrarium. Then, living things will be introduced
into the ecosystem, and careful observations will be made. When both ecosystems are created, they will be
combined into an eco-column. Then, students will investigate the effects of pollution and simulation of natural
occurrences to observe their impact on an ecosystem.
Other Evidence
Formative assessments (FA):
1. Prompted group discussions
2. Participation in Lab and Inquiry activities
3. Evaluation of team performance.
4. Completion of Ecocolumn.
Summative assessments (SA):
1. Lesson Assessment and/or Lesson Review Questions for Lesson 1 (G)
2. Lesson Assessment and/or Lesson Review Questions for Lesson 2 (G)
3. Lesson Assessment and/or Lesson Review Questions for Lesson 3 (G)
4. Unit Test (G)
(G) = graded
Stage 3: Learning Plan
A. Where are your students headed? How will
you make sure the students know where they
are going?
B. Where have your students been? What
background do they bring to this learning?
Student s will focus on the ‘Big Idea’ that living and non-living things depend on one another
within an ecosystem.
C. How will you hook students at the beginning
of the unit?
Students will be hooked through this inquiry-based unit focused on hands-on learning
experiences, working in lab teams, and taking ownership for their discoveries.
D. What events will help students experience
and explore the big idea and questions in the
unit? How will you equip them with needed
skills and knowledge? How will you organize
and sequence the learning activities to optimize
the engagement and achievement of all
students?
Activities, skills/knowledge needed, in sequence
1. Introductory brainstorming session Lesson 1: Thinking about Ecosystems.
2. Lesson 2: Setting up the Terrarium NSRC Unit Lesson
3. Lesson 3: Setting up the Aquarium NSRC Unit Lesson
4. Lesson 4: Adding Animals to the Aquarium NSRC Unit Lesson
5. Lesson 5: Observing the Completed Aquarium NSRC Unit Lesson
6. Lesson 6: Adding Animals to the Terrarium NSRC Unit Lesson
7. Read and discuss Scott Foresman Unit A Chapter 4 lesson 1: ecosystems
8. Lesson 7: Joining the Aquarium and Terrarium NSRC Unit Lesson
9. Read and discuss Scott Foresman Unit A Chapter 4 lesson 2: How do Living Things Get
Energy?
10. Read and discuss Scott Foresman Unit A Chapter 4 lesson 3: How Does Energy Move
Through an Ecosystem?
11. Lesson 8: Upsetting the Stability NSRC Unit Lesson
12. Lesson 9: Reporting on Pollutants NSRC Unit Lesson
13. Lesson 10: Planning Pollution Experiments NSRC Unit Lesson
14. Lesson 11: Setting Up Our Pollution Experiments NSRC Unit Lesson
15. Lesson 12: Observing Early Effects of Pollution NSRC Unit Lesson
16. Lesson 13: Where Do the Pollutants Go? NSRC Unit Lesson
17. Lesson 14: Drawing Conclusions about our experiment NSRC Unit Lesson
18. Read and discuss Scott Foresman Unit A Chapter 4 lesson 4: What are Some Natural
Cycles in an Ecosystem?
19. Lesson 15: Examining a Real environmental Problem NSRC Unit Lesson
20. Lesson 16: Holding the Mini-Conference: A Look at Trade-offs NSRC Unit Lesson
E. How will you cause students to reflect and
rethink? How will you guide them in rehearsing,
revising, and refining their work? How will you
Reflection & self assessment
1. Students will participate in class and small group discussions in which they reflect on
and connect ideas presented in the unit.
The students have just completed a unit on adaptations, learning how animals adapt to their
environment. Therefore, inquiring about ecosystems is a logical progression to further their
understanding of life science.
help students to exhibit and self-evaluate their
growing skills, knowledge, and understanding
throughout the unit?
F. How will you tailor and otherwise personalize
the learning plan to optimize the engagement
and effectiveness of all students, without
compromising the goals of the unit?
2. Students will complete reflective questions for each inquiry based activity they
participate in.
Differentiation of instruction
1. Teacher will modify assessments and class work according to individual needs of the
students in the class.
Based on Wiggins, G., & Mc Tighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
DAILY LESSON PLAN