This curriculum unit was developed from the Learning Through Performance in Middle School Math and Science Project. The goal of the project was to develop, pilot, and research the efficacy of a 6th grade math course and science course that are designed to align with 6th grade Common Core Mathematics Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. The curriculum was designed to exemplify the use of project-based learning as the primary instructional approach, and instructionally embedded performance-based assessments as the primary assessment strategy. The rationale for building project-based learning units was to support greater student engagement and deeper learning of rigorous content through authentic, real-world applications of math and science. The rationale for building performance-based assessments into each unit of study was to support more reliable and valid measurement of individual students’ learning and performance on relevant math and science concepts and practices.
All of the curriculum materials were designed to have teachers participate in professional development to help support them in the design approach as well as implementing the materials in their classroom. If you would like further information about professional development services, please contact us.
Unit Overview
This summary is based on information found in the NGSS Framework.
Disciplinary Core Ideas
LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
LS3 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
This unit spans two different Disciplinary Core Ideas: LS1, From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes, and LS3, Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits.
In the Cells and Body Systems unit, students began studying LS1, From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes, by formulating an answer to the question “How can we explain the ways cells contribute to the function of living organisms?” Students continue their work on Disciplinary Core Idea LS1 in this Variation and Heredity unit by focusing on the sub-idea LS1B, Growth and Development of Organisms. In the context of this Disciplinary Core Idea, students will achieve the following goals by the end of this unit:
- Construct an explanation about how environmental and genetic factors affect growth of organisms.
- Connect their explanation to the role of animal behaviors in reproduction of animals, as well as the dependence of some plants on animal behaviors for their reproduction.
Meanwhile, the performance expectations in LS3, Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits, help students formulate an answer to the question “How do living organisms pass traits from one generation to the next?” The LS3 Disciplinary Core Idea from the NRC Framework includes two sub-ideas—LS3A, Inheritance of Traits; and LS3B, Variation of Traits—both of which are covered in this unit. By the end of this unit, students will be able to use models to describe the ways gene mutations and sexual reproduction contribute to genetic variation. The crosscutting concept of cause and effect is of paramount importance in this unit.
In this unit, students plan and carry out an investigation to provide evidence of environmental effects on plant growth. They combine their results with other evidence gathered throughout the unit to construct sound explanations about the environmental and genetic influences on the growth of organisms. Students also identify characteristic animal behaviors and plant structures that increase the probability of successful reproduction, and then model the variation that results as a consequence of reproduction.
Note that students have not previously been introduced to much of the basic vocabulary related to genetics, such as trait, heredity, gene, and reproduction. Students may have an experiential understanding of the effects of the environment and genetics on organisms, but they have not yet learned the internal processes and evidence-based thinking in the context of genetics.
