Increasing Achievement in Science: a New Perspective on the Role of Language Arts in Science

Increasing Content Learning in Science while Building Literacy Skills

Richard D. McCallum, Ph.D

University of California, Berkeley &

The California Science Project

Arthur Beauchamp, M.A.

University of California, Davis &

The California Science Project

Orange County

April 21

April 22

2008

Contact information:

Fitness Lesson - 1

Understanding Natural Selection:

The concept of Fitness

Step #1: Problematizing Fitness

Adapted from Evolution by Natural Selection

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/sci_edu/waldron/pdf/NaturalSelectionProtocol.pdf.

Adapted from the University of California, Los Angeles Life Sciences 1 Demonstration Manual

Below are descriptions of four male lions. Which lion would biologists consider the “fittest”? Have a dialogue about this problem in your group. Use “Talking Sticks” to structure your conversation. Be prepared to explain your thinking about which is the “fittest” lion.

Name / George / Dwayne / Spot / Tyrone
Age at death / 13 years / 16 years / 12 years / 10 years
# of cubs fathered / 19 / 25 / 20 / 20
# of cubs surviving to adulthood / 15 / 14 / 14 / 19
Size (length) / 10 feet / 8.5 feet / 9 feet / 9 feet
Other information / George drove away more male lions trying to take over his family group than the other males did. / Dwayne had the most lionesses in his family group. / A fire burned Spot’s home territory, and he moved his family group to a new area. / Tyrone’s family group included four lionesses.

Talking Sticks

Each person places his or her pencil/pen in the middle of the table.

• Take turns making a comment about the reading.

• Once you are finished with your comment, keep your pencil/pen and you are not allowed to comment again until all the other group members have had a turn (group members may pass and remove their “talking stick”).

• After everyone in the group has had a chance to comment, repeat the process.

Paired Reading

1. Pair up.

2. Designate partner A and partner B.

3. Partner A reads the first paragraph, then partner B gives a summary or main point statement for the paragraph.

4. Partner B reads the second paragraph, then partner A gives the summary statement.

5. Repeat the alternating pattern until the end of the reading.

Fitness Lesson - 2

Step #2: Guided Reading- Exploring Natural Selection

The concept of natural selection rests on the idea of fitness.

We make use of the high school textbook Biology by Miller and Levine, Prentice-Hall, to explore the idea of fitness.

Read the designated sections in textbook using a “Paired Reading” strategy, where one person reads the first paragraph aloud, and the second person paraphrases the main idea of the paragraph. Then alternate roles for each succeeding paragraph. After reading the section answer the question(s) associated with it in your own words, NOT the words in the textbook.

1. Section 13-1, p. 270-271, “Fitness: To Survive and Reproduce”:

What was Darwin’s definition of fitness?

According to Darwin, how do organisms develop fitness?

2. Section 14-2, p. 296-297 “Evolution by Natural Selection”:

What did Darwin mean by survival of the fittest?

3. Section 14-3, p. 300-301, “Evolution as Genetic Change; Genes, Fitness and Adaptation; A Genetic Definition of Species”: Read p. 301 very carefully.

a. How do we define evolutionary fitness in terms of the organism’s genes?

b. How is this different from Darwin’s idea of fitness?

c. How would you recognize which members of a population have the highest fitness?

Fitness Lesson - 3

Step #3: Applying the Fitness Concept

Review the original data on the lions in light of what you learned from the reading.

Writing Task:

You are a wildlife biologist working in Africa. Another biologist makes the statement that “George was the largest lion, so he had the best chance of fighting off enemies. George must have the most evolutionary fitness.” Write a letter to your colleague either agreeing or disagreeing with him. In your letter make sure you support your position with evidence from the data, from text sources, and from your own thinking.

Science Literacy Lesson Planning Template© 1

What’s the conceptual understanding or main concept? Write this critical concept as a sentence.
The concept of natural selection rests on the idea of fitness: that some organisms in a population are more likely to have babies who also have babies. Those organisms have a greater effect on the future characteristics of the population than other, less successful organisms do (they successfully pass on their genes).
Standard(s) addressed:
7. a. Students know why natural selection acts on the phenotype rather than the genotype of an organism.
7. d. Students know variation within a species increases the likelihood that at least some members of a species will survive under changed environmental conditions.
8. Evolution is the result of genetic changes that occur in constantly changing environments. As a basis for understanding this concept:
8. a. Students know how natural selection determines the differential survival of groups of organisms.
8. d. Students know reproductive or geographic isolation affects speciation.
Where does this conceptual understanding or main concept fit into the Big Picture of your unit or course? What must come before? What will come after? (Frame the lesson.)
Before: This lesson probably occurs well into a unit on evolution. Students should have an understanding of environmental variables and how they influence survival as well as understanding natural variation in populations and what genes and alleles are and what they do.
After: Students should integrate the concept of fitness into the large picture of natural selection and biological evolution, connecting ideas in genetics, reproduction, adaptation, competition among organisms, the environment, and change.
What should students know and/or be able to do when they have completed this lesson?
Students should be able to understand the concept of fitness well enough to apply it in different scenarios. They should be able to construct a list of factors influencing fitness and explain how the modern view of fitness is related to reproduction, genetics, and organism’s traits (phenotypes).
Additionally, they should gain practice in using evidence to support a scientific claim and in writing a scientific argument in response to a claim.

Developed by: Revised on:

Science Literacy Lesson Model Template© 2

The lesson incorporates the parts of the Science Literacy Cycle – Reading, Writing, Inquiry and Dialogue. They can occur in any order. On the diagram above, number in sequence each part of the cycle you plan to use, and fill in the areas with the tools, skills, or processes you will use.

Developed by: Revised on:

Plate Tectonic Science Literacy Inquiry

Your job as a planetary geologist for NASA is to determine if Venus has plate tectonics like the Earth. This would mean that the surface of Venus would be formed of thin brittle slabs of rock that move around and interact to cause volcanoes and earthquakes.

People have never stood on Venus and probably never will. Surface temperatures on the planet approach 500° C (900°F), so we must investigate Venus from a distance.

1. Form a group using the Season Partners protocol. To explore the possibility of plate tectonics on Venus, you will first look for patterns on the surface of the Earth. Use the map of the Earth to fill in only the first (empty) column on the chart called “Plate Tectonics on Venus?” The map shows the topography of the Earth with the water removed. The elevation of the Earth’s surface is represented by color, with blue as the lowest, then green, yellow, and orange to red as the highest (mountains are shown as brownish-red). The blue areas are NOT WATER. They are low rock.

Look for patterns of high and low places on the earth map, using the chart to focus on different kinds of patterns. Describe each pattern you see in the appropriate place in the first column of the chart.

2. Compare the patterns you found in your group with the class.

3. Review the features of plate boundaries with your group. Use your textbook (pages 254-264 in Prentice Hall Earth Science) and the knowledge of members of your group to fill out the entire “Information About Plate Boundaries” chart.

4. Now fill in the second column of the “Plate Tectonics on Venus?” chart. How is each pattern you identified related to plate boundaries?

5. Talk about your conclusions with your group and/or the class.

6. Now examine Venus. Use the map of Venus to fill in the third column (Pattern on Venus) on the chart called “Plate Tectonics on Venus?” This map uses the same color scheme as the other map – blue is low and red is high. On this map, very high areas are white. This map is a cylindrical map (see picture on next page). This means that the areas near the North and South Poles are much larger on the map than they really are on the globe. Look for patterns of high and low places on Venus. Are they similar to the patterns on the Earth? At this point fill in the final column on the “Plate Tectonics on Venus?” chart.

7. For this activity, outline a “Proof Paragraph” in preparation of writing an essay.

For a student writing activity this can be extended to have them do the following: In your position as planetary geologist, write a one-page position paper (or Proof Essay) arguing either for or against plate tectonics on Venus. Be sure to explain your reasoning and cite your evidence.

If you imagine a paper cylinder wrapped around an illuminated globe, the projection onto the cylinder would resemble a cylindrical projection map. The shape of the continents near the middle of the cylinder would be relatively free of distortion, but the regions near the poles would be stretched out of proportion as in a cylindrical projection map.

From Encarta

http://encarta.msn.com/media_701501807/Cylindrical_Projection.html

Seasonal Partners

1. Divide your paper into quarters and list the four seasons - one in each quadrant.

2. Find a partner who has the same season open as you. Write down their name in that season square and have them write yours.

3. You may only write down a partner in a season that you both have open. Do this until all four seasons are filled in.

4. As directed, meet with your seasonal partner and discuss the topic given.

Repeat with new topics and a new seasonal partner as directed.

Text Mining

1. Text Mining provides students with a more targeted reading of text. There is a written product that will be used for a defined purpose.

2. Select the reading and provide a guide to relevant information through questions, graphic organizers, etc.

3. Students will read the selection and respond to the guide in whatever form dictated. These may include:

• Filling in a data table

• Completing a graphic organizer

• Writing a sentence on the context (big idea or conceptual relationship) of the writing

• Writing a description of the structure of the information

• Writing interpretations of pictures, data, or graphs included in the reading selection

What’s the conceptual understanding or main concept? Write this critical concept as a sentence.
Plate tectonics proposes that the surface of the earth is formed of thin brittle slabs of rock that move around and interact to cause volcanoes and earthquakes. The action of plate tectonics creates patterns in the topography of the earth and if plate tectonics is operating on other planets we might expect to observe similar types of geologic and topographic features.
Standard(s) addressed:
Grade 6
1. Plate tectonics accounts for important features of Earth's surface and major geologic events. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know evidence of plate tectonics is derived from the fit of the continents; the location of earthquakes, volcanoes, and midocean ridges; and the distribution of fossils, rock types, and ancient climatic zones.
Grade 9
3. Plate tectonics operating over geologic time has changed the patterns of land, sea, and mountains on Earth's surface. As the basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know features of the ocean floor (magnetic patterns, age, and sea-floor topography) provide evidence of plate tectonics.
Investigation and Experimentation
1. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations
d. Formulate explanations by using logic and evidence.
h. Read and interpret topographic and geologic maps.
Where does this conceptual understanding or main concept fit into the Big Picture of your unit or course? What must come before? What will come after? (Frame the lesson.)
Before: Lessons about the earth’s composition and layered structure, sources of earthquakes, earthquake zones, general geologic features (volcanoes, rift valleys, mountain ranges, ocean basins), types of plate boundaries, and perhaps on hypotheses prior to plate tectonics (i.e. Continental Drift).
After: Lessons on other evidence for plate tectonics – seafloor ages, paleomagnetic patterns, mechanisms of plate motion, and fossil evidence.
What should students know and/or be able to do when they have completed this lesson?
Students should be able to list the major types of plate boundaries, match geologic features with the associated type of plate boundaries, explain how plate tectonics results in recognizable geologic patterns. Make an argument bases on scientific evidence.
Additionally, they should gain practice in using evidence to support a scientific claim and in writing a scientific argument in response to a claim.

Developed by: Revised on:

What’s the conceptual understanding or main concept? Write the critical concept as a sentence.
Standard(s) addressed:
Where does this conceptual understanding or main concept fit into the Big Picture of your unit or course? What must come before? What will come after? (Frame the lesson.)
What should students know and/or be able to do when they have completed this lesson?

Developed by: Revised on: