OpenSciEd Unit 8.6 · Lesson 06 · 6.B
How are penguins and polar bears adapted to where they live?
Assessment guide
How to read student work on this assessment — standards alignment, what strong understanding looks like, and common gaps.
Learning progression
Target understanding
6.B Ask questions related to what is causing changes in a whole population of organisms.
Standards alignment
6.B Ask questions related to what is causing changes in a whole population of organisms.
What understanding looks like
Strong
- Students should express ideas that include wondering about variation in a population, where new traits come from, and in particular, mechanisms related to how things change. Such mechanisms may include the following ideas:
- environment changes or differences such as
- climate
- availability or distribution of food, water, shelter
- type and number of predators
- availability of mates
- disease or absence of disease
- something that happens within the individual in response to the environment
- learning or experience resulting in acquiring new traits
- changes in genes passed on (e.g., mutation) or inherited (recombination of genes through sexual reproduction)
- something that time causes (e.g., long periods of time always lead to some change, change is constant)
- something that is random
From Teacher Edition
View assessment opportunity →Facilitation guidance from the lesson plan — what to notice in student thinking and how to respond while teaching.
Building towards
6.B Ask questions related to what is causing changes in a whole population of organisms.
What to look / listen for
What to look and listen for
Students should express ideas that include wondering about variation in a population, where new traits come from, and in particular, mechanisms related to how things change. Such mechanisms may include the following ideas:
environment changes or differences such as
climate
availability or distribution of food, water, shelter
type and number of predators
availability of mates
disease or absence of disease
something that happens within the individual in response to the environment
learning or experience resulting in acquiring new traits
changes in genes passed on (e.g., mutation) or inherited (recombination of genes through sexual reproduction)
something that time causes (e.g., long periods of time always lead to some change, change is constant)
something that is random
What to do
Use talk moves to lift ideas about how populations could be changing, such as asking another student to rephrase what they heard a classmate say. If students mention variation between individuals, ask them to clarify their statement about how that alone could be causing a population to change over time. If that leads them to realize they can’t explain it with variation alone, encourage them to write a question about it.
Materials
Last updated from official OpenSciEd on 8/17/2026
Student handout
8.6 Lesson 6 Assessment “How are penguins.docx
Google Form
Digitized — add an editable copy to your Google Forms
Teacher guide
8.6 Lesson 6 Teacher Edition.docx
Answer key (recommended)
8.6 Lesson 6 Answer Key Key Argument for.docx