MYP unit planner
Unit title
All wired up!
Teacher(s)
Sapp, Woods, Brown, Fried
Subject and grade level
Physical Science, grade 8, level 3
Time frame and duration
3 weeks
Stage 1: Integrate significant concept, area of interaction and unit
question
Area of interaction focus
Significant concept(s)
Which area of interaction will be our focus?
Why have we chosen this?
What are the big ideas? What do we want our
students to retain for years into the future?
Human Ingenuity, This AOI fits naturally as
we discuss the discovery and development
of electricity
1) Electric forces arise from the presence
of unbalanced electric charges.
2) Magnetic forces arise from the
movement of an electrical charge
3) Circuits (series and parallel) can be used
to control the amount of energy produced.
MYP unit question
How is the creation of electricity related to the Law of
Conservation of Energy and how can electricity bring about
magnetic forces?
Assessment
What task(s) will allow students the opportunity to respond to the unit question?
What will constitute acceptable evidence of understanding? How will students show what they have understood?
Culminating Activity:
Students will do a classroom presentation tracing the energy transformations necessary to move energy
from a power plant to a household appliance. The classroom presentation may be in any of the following
formats:
-written expository paper
-diagram
-virtual tour
-multimedia presentation
- a model
-a flow chart with foot notes
The presentation should include the following topics: types of energy transformations occurring,
description of the household appliance and how it works, explanation of how energy is produced at the
power plant, description of wiring required for the house and appliance.
Summative Assessments for each sub-topic – scored on 100 point scale
Electricity
Magnets
Vocabulary Quizzes on all vocabulary throughout the unit
Anchor Activities for each subtopic
-Questions over each objective
-Options for completing vocabulary: defining in 5 words or less, drawing examples of each term, writing
stories using all terms including all elements of a plot line
Which specific MYP objectives will be addressed during this unit?
Communication; Inquiry
Which MYP assessment criteria will be used?
B and D
Stage 2: Backward planning: from the assessment to the learning
activities through inquiry
Content
What knowledge and/or skills (from the course overview) are going to be used to enable the student to respond to the unit
question?
What (if any) state, provincial, district, or local standards/skills are to be addressed? How can they be unpacked to develop the
significant concept(s) for stage 1?
GPS.08.SC.C.S8P5.b: Demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of series and parallel circuits and how
they transfer energy.
GPS.08.SC.C.S8P5.c: Investigate and explain that electric currents and magnets can exert force on each other.
GPS.08.SC.C.S8P2.a: Explain energy transformation in terms of the Law of Conservation of Energy.
GPS.08.SC.C.S8P2.c: Compare and contrast the different forms of energy (heat, light, electricity, mechanical
motion, sound) and their characteristics.
Approaches to learning
How will this unit contribute to the overall development of subject-specific and general approaches to learning skills?
Students will be engaged in all aspects of the ATL’s throughout the 3 week unit.
The unit is differentiated: including tasks that appeal to all learner types: visual, kinaesthetic, oral, concrete, etc.
Skills will include: Knowledge, application, observation, information processing, organization, communication,
inquiry, analysis, integration and summarization, evaluation, collaboration, reflection
Learning experiences
How will students know what is expected of them? Will
they see examples, rubrics, templates?
How will students acquire the knowledge and practise
the skills required? How will they practise applying
these?
Do the students have enough prior knowledge? How will
we know?
Sub topic 1: Electricity
 Rapid Pre-Assessment
 students will manipulate a battery, light
bulb and one piece of wire to determine
the four ways to make the bulb light
with little to no direction or instruction
 students will manipulate series and
parallel circuits in an online simulation
 students will create series and parallel
circuits using wires, bulbs and
batteries. After all circuits have been
checked they will be encouraged to find
any other ways to produce light using
alternative conductors or alternative
battery and bulb arrangements
 Notes,
 oral and written reviews
 Video: Bill Nye: Electricity
Teaching strategies
How will we use formative assessment to give students feedback
during the unit?
What different teaching methodologies will we employ?
How are we differentiating teaching and learning for all? How have
we made provision for those learning in a language other than their
mother tongue? How have we considered those with special
educational needs?
Formative assessment occurs almost daily in the form of
oral reviews and previews and vocabulary quizzes.
Differentiation: Throughout the unit students will work
individually, in cooperative groups, and pairs. Whole
group instruction is limited to less than 15 minutes per
day, except for one day within the 2 weeks on which
students who need to will be taking notes. Review
assignments are either tiered or menu options. Anchor
activities are provided for each sub-topic and include
several menu options as well.
Cross cultural experiences are supported – students are
encouraged to complete posters and other visual
elements in their mother tongue, OR a second
language.
Special Education: Students will be served according to
their modifications; material will include, but is not
limited to, copies of notes, fill in the blank notes,
modified quizzes and tests, modified and shortened
assignments, peer helpers, cooperative groups, and
preferential seating.
Subtopic 2: Magnetism
 Rapid Pre-Assessment
 oral and written reviews,
 lab activity (manipulating magnets)
 video presentation (Bill Nye)
 Lab activity: creating and comparing
electromagnets
Resources
What resources are available to us?
How will our classroom environment, local environment and/or the community be used to facilitate students’ experiences during
the unit?
CPO Science:. Physical Science.Nashua, NH; CPO Science 2007.
http://venus.coe.uga.edu/moodle/course/view.php?id=2: This site contains units and tasks designed by the state,
available to all teachers.
Safari montage: http://10.15.50.50/SAFARI/montage/login.php?fromlogoutlink=true
Quia: www.quia.com
Brainpop: www.brainpop.com
Ongoing reflections and evaluation
In keeping an ongoing record, consider the following questions. There are further
stimulus questions at the end of the “Planning for teaching and learning” section of
MYP: From principles into practice.
Students and teachers
What did we find compelling? Were our disciplinary knowledge/skills challenged in any way?
What inquiries arose during the learning? What, if any, extension activities arose?
How did we reflect—both on the unit and on our own learning?
Which attributes of the learner profile were encouraged through this unit? What opportunities were there for student-initiated
action?
Possible connections
How successful was the collaboration with other teachers within my subject group and from other subject groups?
What interdisciplinary understandings were or could be forged through collaboration with other subjects?
Assessment
Were students able to demonstrate their learning?
How did the assessment tasks allow students to demonstrate the learning objectives identified for this unit? How did I make
sure students were invited to achieve at all levels of the criteria descriptors?
Are we prepared for the next stage?
Data collection
How did we decide on the data to collect? Was it useful?
Figure 12
MYP unit planner