OpenSciEd Unit 8.6 · Lesson 13 · 13.B
Look for: Students’ written responses include explanati…
From Teacher Edition
Facilitation guidance from the lesson plan — what to notice in student thinking and how to respond while teaching.
Building towards
13.B Construct a scientific explanation proposing relationships between all modern penguins and ancient penguins using the similarities and differences in accumulated body structure changes over time to estimate how relatively long ago they shared a recent ancestor.
What to look / listen for
Students’ written responses include explanations that use
natural selection in differing environments as well as the accumulation of mutations to explain the differences in body structures they observe,
the relationship between differences in body structure and lengths of time to justify which penguin species share recent ancestors, and
the relationship between differences in body structure and lengths of time to claim a species of penguin was either a direct ancestor of a certain modern penguin or group of penguins or that a species of ancient penguin went extinct.
What to do
If students are struggling to begin, encourage them to focus on how just two species of penguins are connected by a common ancestor, and then they may branch out from there. Make sure students are consulting their Penguin Ancestry Model as well as the General Model for Natural Selection the class developed previously. If you have given students Version 1: Ancient and Modern Penguin Explanation and you notice they are not supporting their claims with evidence and reasoning, you may choose to provide them a copy of Version 2: Ancient and Modern Penguin Explanation for additional scaffolding. If students are struggling to put their ideas in words, encourage them to include a drawing or model as part of their response to help clarify their writing.
Universal Design for Learning
Students will use various forms of expression to transfer into a written explanation the ideas they developed while creating their Penguin Ancestry Model. Version 2: Ancient and Modern Penguin Explanation is provided for students you think would benefit from additional scaffolding. Also, if students are struggling to put their ideas into words, encourage them to include a drawing or model sketch as part of their response to help clarify their writing.