OpenSciEd Unit 8.5 · Lesson 01 · 1.A
Initial Model
From Teacher Edition
Facilitation guidance from the lesson plan — what to notice in student thinking and how to respond while teaching.
Building towards
1.A Develop and/or use a model to predict what is causing these animals to have extra-big muscles.
What to look / listen for
What to look and listen for
These initial models provide an opportunity to learn more about the ideas your students bring to this unit, in general and about genetics specifically. Revealing these ideas early can help you be strategic in building from and leveraging student ideas throughout the unit. Look for the following possible causes of these muscle differences:
exercise
diet
possibly that other animals in that individual’s family might share this feature
What to do
If students are struggling to develop their initial models, remind them that we are using this model to predict and describe what we think may be causing this phenomenon, so the goal of this initial model is to get their thinking down on paper, not to have the “correct” answer. If they’re having trouble thinking of ideas for possible causes, ask them to consider any background knowledge they have about muscles (not necessarily for that specific animal). Also, do not worry if students do not bring up the family connection around musculature; there will be other opportunities to raise this possible cause as the unit progresses.
Pause here for now. Say, Thank your last partner for sharing with you, and thanks to you all for your great thinking today. Next time we’re together, we will combine our ideas into our consensus model. I’m looking forward to it!
Materials
Last updated from official OpenSciEd on 8/17/2026
Assessment opportunity guidance
L01-AO1.html
Student handout
8.5 Lesson 1 Handout Initial Model.docx
Google Form
Not digitized yet — teacher-ready Form required for Drive export
Teacher guide
8.5 Lesson 1 Teacher Edition.docx