Stage 1: Integrate Significant Concept, Area of Interaction and Unit Question

MYP unit planner

Unit Title / “Fool’s gold it is”
Teacher(s) / Ed Huffman; Northview School; Statesville, NC
Subject and grade level / Earth/Environmental Design Cycle Level 4 - Unit 1
Time frame and duration / Sept. 2010 ~ 7 weeks

Stage 1: Integrate significant concept, area of interaction and unit question

Area of interaction focus

Which area of interaction will be our focus?
Why have we chosen this? / /

Significant concept(s)

What are the big ideas? What do we want our students to retain for years into the future?
Environment
Aims to help students understand & appreciate the natural resources Earth provides society / With understanding comes appreciation & value

MYP Unit Question
“What makes specific things on Earth more valuable than others?”

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?
Scientific Investigation:
A scientific investigation that requires the application of scientific knowledge & understanding to solve problems in familiar & unfamiliar situations. Students will be given a dozen different rocks and/or minerals and asked to complete a thorough investigation utilizing the scientific method/design cycle to correctly identify these materials. They will be required to complete an in-depth researched PreLab, InLab and formal & final PostLab write-up detailing their approach to the problem, their investigative plan, procedures, techniques, equipment, results, evaluations and conclusions. Computer lab will be utilized for research and Final PostLab write-up which must be typed. Technology will be implemented throughout this and assessed as well.
Which specific MYP objectives will be addressed during this unit?
A – One world
·  Describe & discuss ways in which science is applied and used to solve local & global problems
B – Communication in science
·  Present scientific information in a variety of formats
·  Demonstrate honesty when handling data and information
C – Knowledge & understanding of science
·  Explain & apply scientific information to solve problems in familiar & unfamiliar situations
D – Scientific Inquiry
·  Define the problem or research question to be tested by a scientific investigation
·  Formulate a hypothesis & explain it using logical scientific reasoning
·  Design scientific investigations that include variables & control, material/equipment needed, a method to be followed, data to be collected and suggestions for its analysis
·  Evaluate the method, commenting on its reliability and/or validity
·  Suggest improvements to the method
E – Processing data
·  Organize & transform data into numerical & diagrammatic forms, including mathematical calculations and visual representations (tables, graphs & charts)
·  Draw conclusions supported by scientific explanations and a reasoned interpretation of the analysis of the data
F – Attitudes in science
·  Carry out scientific investigations using materials & techniques safely & skilfully
·  Work effectively as a team, collaborating, acknowledging & supporting others as well as ensuring a safe working environment
·  Show respect for themselves and others; deal responsibly with living & non-living environment
Technology
A.  Investigate
·  Identify the problem to be solved
·  Develop the design brief
·  Formulate a design specification
B.  Plan
·  Design the Product or Solution
·  Plan the Product or Solution
C.  Create
·  Use the appropriate techniques and equipment
·  Follow the plan
·  Create the solution
D.  Evaluate
·  Evaluate the product or solution
·  Evaluate the use of the design cycle
·  Which MYP assessment criteria will be used?
Criteria D – Scientific Inquiry Criteria E – Processing data Criteria F – Attitudes in science
Technology A-F

Stage 2: Backward planning: from the assessment to the learning activities through inquiry

ContentWhat 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?
Students will develop an understanding of the science concepts of energy (fuels & energy production and effects of atmospheric heating and climate change), structure of matter (rock composition and formation; atmospheric phenomena) and the concept of change (rock cycle). Conceptual as well as procedural knowledge will be required in this unit as it relates to earth & environmental science. Students will use analysing, evaluating, experimenting, inferring, inquiring, observing & predicting skills and processes to name a few.
COMPETENCY GOAL 1: The learner will develop abilities necessary to do and understand scientific inquiry in the earth and environmental sciences.
1.01 Identify questions and problems in the earth and environmental sciences that can be answered through scientific investigations.
1.02 Design and conduct scientific investigations to answer questions related to earth and environmental science.
1.04 Apply safety procedures in the laboratory and in field studies:
1.06 Identify and evaluate a range of possible solutions to earth and environmental issues at the local, national, and global level.
COMPETENCY GOAL 2: The learner will build an understanding of lithospheric materials, tectonic processes, and the human and environmental impacts of natural and
human-induced changes in the lithosphere.
2.01 Analyze the dependence of the physical properties of minerals on the arrangement and bonding of the atoms.
2.03 Investigate and analyze the processes responsible for the rock cycle.
2.06 Investigate and analyze the importance and impact of the economic development of earth’s finite rock, mineral, soil, fossil fuel and other natural resources to society and our daily lives.
2.07 Analyze the sources and impacts of society’s use of energy.
Technology Goals:
3.01 Use scientific instruments to perform experiments.
3.02 Use appropriate technology tools to efficiently collect, analyze, and display data.
3.03 Use electronic resources for research.
3.05 Select and use technology tools for class presentations.
INTERNATIONAL FOCUS: Students will research a minimum of 6 alternative energy resources and choose one to focus upon for their project. They will then match this source with a country outside the U.S. that is a viable location for utilization of this alternative energy. They will design a sales proposal around their chosen energy source (nuclear, geothermal, wind, solar, tidal, hydroelectric, etc) and present to the class who will act as Leadership of their aligned country. Their goal is to persuade us to buy & allow construction of their alternative energy plant based on the sales product they have designed, created and evaluated. Project will require a written paper, a sales proposal with designed promotional literature/project board and slogan, advantages over a minimum of 5 other alternative energy sources and a highlight of an international scientist who contributed human ingenuity to the energy source. Leadership (classmates) will challenge and question presenters about why we should buy their product. Presenters (students) must be prepared to defend their product & show why its design is a natural fit for our country.
Technology objectives will be taught and design cycle implemented throughout this international project.

Approaches to learning

How will this unit contribute to the overall development of subject-specific and general approaches to learning skills?
During this unit students will be conducting laboratory experiments in addition to participating in teacher demonstrations exploring earth’s composition & natural resources. Student inquiry will require the application of the scientific method. Proper and safe laboratory procedures will be utilized and the understanding of basic concepts of chemistry required. Thus, scientific inquiry skills, analysing skills, knowledge-acquisition skills and evaluation skills, along with the subject specific skills mentioned under Stage 2 “Content”, will be developed. Since students will be working together as lab partners, collaboration skills will also be stressed.
Learning experiencesHow 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? / Teaching strategiesHow 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?
Rubrics will be provided on assessments along with examples and teacher models. Student exemplars will be used when available.
Powerpoints, practicing with familiar & unfamiliar situations such as known minerals & rocks versus unknown, and teacher lead/student participation demonstrations will provide the knowledge & skills required. Students will apply knowledge choosing investigation project and participating in labs. Vocabulary games, concept mapping, work sheets & study guides, non-linguistic drawings/interpretations and other such high yield strategies will be incorporated to facilitate learning.
Student’s prior knowledge will be assessed via baseline/benchmarks. / Multiple labs and demonstrations - students will analyze rock samples to show their understanding of mineral properties and their applications including hardness, cleavage, color, streak, refraction, acid test & fracture; density lab integrating math to determine volumes and mass of unknown materials in order to calculate densities.
CFA: Common Formative Assessment on unit
Cooperative Learning - students lab partners will work together during experiments/ inquiry and together will analyze & evaluate results.
Students will keep process journals throughout the cycle.
Research projects and presentations - refer to International Focus discussed under Stage 2 “Content”. Essay writing along with technology powerpoint and/or artistic display board required during presentation.
Traditional assessments will be utilized throughout unit such as tests, oral quizzes, exams, etc.
Use of media articles and current events (newspapers, periodicals, etc) to show relevancy.

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?
Powerpoint technology examples and presentations will be utilized. Teacher demonstrations and modelling will be used along with cooperative learning as student teams conduct inquiry investigations during labs. Everyday examples from day-to-day life will be explored/exemplified/discussed.
Textbook available. Internet suitable websites will be used. Discovery education videos used; media articles/periodicals/newspapers/current events as well.
Possible trip to local emerald mining operations where students will have the opportunity to mine for rocks and minerals.
~ 100 minerals and rocks will be available for viewing and study during hands-on labs and final MYP Assessment.
Guest speakers to address natural resources and internationalism.

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 teachersWhat 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?
Overall, the unit came together nicely and all students were able to achieve the learning objectives as demonstrated by their success on the final assessment, a scientific investigation. The choice of “environments” lent itself well to the objectives which centered on understanding natural resources as provided by Earth. It allowed the students to continually view learning from a global perspective with an emphasis on personal responsibility. As they began to understand the numerous resources which our world provides, the students were asked to reflect upon their place in protecting these resources. They came to realize that resources, whether renewable or nonrenewable, are not evenly distributed on Earth (which in itself is an issue) and their understanding and actions will determine the future well being of our environment and the extent in which it will meet the needs of generations to come.
Feedback was obtained throughout the unit via classroom and personal PDSAs (Plan Do Study Act), CFAs (Common Formative Assessments), Journal Entries, Reflective Sheets and open classroom discussions.
The choice of a scientific investigation worked extremely well for the technology piece as we learned about the design cycle. Science students are familiar with the scientific method of investigation. They conceptually understand the process of identifying a problem, hypothesizing a solution based upon prior knowledge, observations and research, creating a plan to test the hypothesis, and then evaluating and analysing results and drawing conclusions to produce an end product. In other words, the design cycle in essence. So this unit of study proved to be a perfect fit for implementing our technology and reinforces the idea that science is a natural fit for design cycle applications.
General consensus was that the Learner Profile traits of Reflection, Open-minded, Inquirers, Knowledgeable and Thinkers were mostly utilized. There was most certainly an emphasis on scientific knowledge and critical thinking requiring scientific inquiry as numerous labs and hands-on investigations were conducted. A project requirement on alternative energies was completed by lab partners and presented. This assessment was noted for its open-minded focus as students were asked to evaluate and critique the student proposals compared to their own as each attempted to “sell” their idea to a country outside the U.S. Interestingly, this assessment contained a writing piece and oral presentation, yet it was Communication which was among the learner profiles traits students chose as most lacking within this unit. In reflection, there were certainly areas throughout the study of this unit where communication could have been greater used, such as a suggested creative writing pieces on minerals where students write as if they are indeed a specific mineral. After this discussion, it was evident to me how easy it is to include the discipline of writing and how many students enjoy learning this way.
Looking at Approaches To Learning, collaborative skills were critical to this unit as students worked together through labs, projects, presentations and research. Thus, information literacy and problem solving/thinking skills were taught and learned.
One of the biggest regrets within this unit involved interdisciplinary conceptual understanding which was lacking by the teacher and for the student. Though an attempt was made to work with teachers outside my area of science, the timing was off and no such unit was attempted. The hectic schedule requirements under which the entire staff was operating to start up this new school certainly played a part here. Nonetheless, I recognize areas for such interdisciplinary opportunities, such as geometric shapes and mathematics as it relates to crystal growth/formation and arrangements/bonding of atoms, and have already discussed these with our math department for next year. Through our grade level meetings we continue to discuss topics and look for opportunities to collaborate. Now that we have units and outlines and prior experience, I feel this will become much easier. Many of the teachers, myself included, are teaching specific classes for the very first time and gaining an understanding of our own curriculum will certainly improve this process.
There were opportunities within this unit for extension activities for the students and teacher. While conducting our research and presentation on alternative energies, a common thread became the affect on our atmosphere, primarily through pollution and greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide specifically. We took the opportunity to research this further and students were asked to take a stand on their belief of global warming from human activity and present through a power point. This fit nicely with the curriculum and provided an excellent teaching moment to broaden the students’ understanding of human implication on our global environment.
One of the more compelling aspects of this unit turned out to be the investigations. For example, upon understanding of mineral identification, students were presented with a dozen unknown minerals and asked to identify them based on their understanding of properties and mineral tests. In class we emphasize the application of knowledge, not just the understanding. We talk about science being inquiry, the intellectual pursuit of thinking. In that regard the initial plans for this unit succeeded.
In conclusion, the significant concept of this unit was with understanding comes appreciation and value. I wanted the students to learn that you cannot truly appreciate anything (or anyone) until you gain some understanding of it. And that only once you have gained this understanding and appreciate can you place value upon it. We talked about being open-minded, reflective, knowledgeable, thinkers, caring and risk-takers as it applies to the science objectives of this unit. I feel I can do a much better job next time teaching this unit as well as relaying this concept to my students’ life in general.

Figure 12