TEACHER NOTES
Mystery Organism Performance Task
Below are the six mystery organisms with short descriptions. Mystery organisms will be labeled A-F, ranging from least challenging to most challenging (which may assist with differentiating the task). Students will be given one organism and asked to determine if it’s living or nonliving based on its characteristics. They will also be asked if they can identify the name of the organism. After engaging in the content from the unit, students will first use the information provided to complete the Mystery Organism Decision Chart. The chart enables students to make a claim (the substance is living or non-living) based on the evidence and their understanding of the content. Secondly, students will complete a pre-writing graphic organizer (version 1 or version 2) to develop a scientific explanation that supports the claim. If time permits, students may use peer review before drafting the final scientific explanation for the mystery organism.
Note: If desired, the term organism in the task can be modified in the student handout to be: entity, specimen, object, etc
Name: ______Period: ______Date: ______
Mystery Organism: A
Directions: Use the information below to complete the task.
This organism has the ability to produce huge quantities of seeds, that forms food for some animals. Seeds are capable of becoming full grown organisms themselves. The normal height of these trees range between 70 to 100 feet. The trees have an average diameter of 5 feet. This organism is a native of North America and is the most commonly found species amongst the seven other types of maple trees.
The type of tree is best known for two things, it's helicopter seeds which fall to the ground spinning like the blades of a helicopter, and the syrup or sugar which is made from its sap. Sunshine and temperatures during the previous summer play a role in determining the amount of sugar the tree could produce and store in its roots. The leaves of this tree take in sunlight, organelles known as chloroplasts convert light energy to chemical energy. This chemical energy can be used to fuel the organism’s activities. This process is known as photosynthesis.
Complete the following:
1. Name of Mystery Organism A: ______
2. On your unit project handout, fill in the decision chart to determine if the organism is living or nonliving.
3. Provide an explanation using evidence from your decision chart to support your claim.
Name: ______Period: ______Date: ______
Mystery Organism: B
Directions: Use the information below to complete the task.
The top of this organism is called the cap – inside are gills, where it produces spores, instead of seeds. Some mushrooms can release 2.7 billion spores a day. These spores are the offspring of the mystery organism. This mystery organism interacts with others around it- it can live on trees while damaging the tree or it can live on the tree and help the tree grow.
A fungus is different from an ordinary green plant because it can’t make it’s own food. The mystery organism doesn’t need sunlight to grow. They survive by eating decaying matter, and are known as decomposers.
Complete the following:
1. Name of Mystery Organism B: ______
2. On your unit project handout, fill in the decision chart to determine if the organism is living or nonliving.
3. Provide an explanation using evidence from your decision chart to support your claim.
Name: ______Period: ______Date: ______
Mystery Organism: C
Directions: Use the information below to complete the task.
Mystery Organism E has an oval-shaped body structure.The bright green body color of this organism is owing to the presence of chloroplasts inside its cell. However, this single cell of it is different from the plant cells because it has no cell wall. There is a long, whip like thing attached on the right side towards the front of the body. This is the flagellum, tail-like portion, which works as a propeller and helps it to move through the water. This organism reproduces through mitosis. During this process, the cell divides into two halves, forming two new organisms from one.
A distinguishing characteristics of this organism is that it is both autotrophic as well as heterotrophic at the same time. In other words, it can produce its own food but it also consumes food from its environment. Another interesting physical feature of is the eyespot. The red colored organelle, known as the eyespot, is highly sensitive towards light. This adaptation is extremely important as it helps to detect the sunlight which is needed for photosynthesis. Once the sunlight is traced by the eyespot, the organism can orient its movements in that direction.
Complete the following:
1. Name of Mystery Organism C: ______
2. On your unit project handout, fill in the decision chart to determine if the organism is living or nonliving.
3. Provide an explanation using evidence from your decision chart to support your claim.
Name: ______Period: ______Date: ______
Mystery Organism: D
Directions: Use the information below to complete the task.
Mystery Organism D is not a coral, and is not a plant, it has neither brain nor central nervous system. They live on the ocean floor, they attach themselves permanently to a solid location under the water and they do not move around. The colors are commonly dark under the water, this is due to the dark membrane which covers the organism which acts like skin and protects the inner soft skeleton.
The organism reproduces by budding, where sperm is caught by nearby sponges and fertilization of the egg takes place internally. The resultant tiny larva is released and settles on the ocean floor where it develops and grows into an adult organism.
They feed by filtering plankton and organic particles from the ocean currents through thousands of tiny pores on the surface of their bodies. Oxygen and nourishment are obtained from the flowing water which passes by.
Complete the following:
1. Name of Mystery Organism D: ______
2. On your unit project handout, fill in the decision chart to determine if the organism is living or nonliving.
3. Provide an explanation using evidence from your decision chart to support your claim.
Name: ______Period: ______Date: ______
Mystery Organism: E
Directions: Use the information below to complete the task.
Mystery Organism E grows faster than tropical bamboo—about three to five inches each day in an aquarium and up to 10 to 12 inches in the bay. Under ideal conditions, it can grow an astonishing two feet each day. It grows straight up to the surface, where they spread across the top of the water to form a dense canopy.
This mystery organism often grows in rough water, which brings renewed supplies of nutrients, allowing it to grow up to a possible height of 175 feet. The stemlike stipes are tough but flexible, allowing it to sway in ocean currents. Unlike a proper root system, the holdfast—a cone shaped mass of branching extensions called haptera—doesn't carry nutrients or water; it anchors the kelp to a rock.
This organism is multicellular uses photosynthesis to convert light energy to chemical energy. It uses and stores this energy. Many other tiny ocean organisms live within it. They feed on the blades, fish seek shelter in the fronds and thousands of invertebrates live in the holdfast—such as brittle stars, sea stars, anemones, sponges and tunicates. Sea otters like to hang out between organisms, where they find their favorite food.
Complete the following:
1. Name of Mystery Organism E: ______
2. On your unit project handout, fill in the decision chart to determine if the organism is living or nonliving.
3. Provide an explanation using evidence from your decision chart to support your claim.
Name: ______Period: ______Date: ______
Mystery Organism: F
Directions: Use the information below to complete the task.
Mystery Organism F is a non-moving, sac-like marine invertebrate filter feeder. They have a hardy matrix of molecules that help the animal attach itself to a hard surface on which it will carry out its days. The insides of this tunic are lined with a skin-like layer and a muscular band, and inside these layers lies the main part of the mystery organism.
It has two tube like air ways to connect it to the surrounding ocean, one for exhaling and one for inhaling. It eats by inhaling the water and filtering out the edible microscopic algae. The pharynx is connected to the animal’s digestive tract, which basically acts like a mouth.
Their blood is clear and can accumulate extremely high qualities of a mysterious and rare element called vanadium, which is toxic to most other organisms on Earth. It can often be found in densely packed groups of thousands or small handfuls of just a few, or they can be found on their own – in which case they must reproduce on their own, as there is no way of them moving to find a mate.
Complete the following:
1. Name of Mystery Organism F: ______
2. On your unit project handout, fill in the decision chart to determine if the organism is living or nonliving.
3. Provide an explanation using evidence from your decision chart to support your claim.
Name: ______Period: ______Date: ______
Unit 1: Mystery Organism
Goal: To determine if a mystery organism is living, non-living or unknown
Challenge: To use your findings from laboratory experiments and other class activities in order to make a decision about the mystery organism as it relates to the characteristics or life
Product: To outline your findings in the form of a completed decision chart that briefly includes textual evidence, which is further developed in the construction of your written explanation
Mystery Organism Decision Chart
Mystery Organism: ______
Characteristicof
Living Things / Does the mystery substance have this characteristic? / How does your organism exhibit this characteristic? Cite textual evidence if applicable.
If you don’t know, how could you find out more?
Homeostasis
(stability) / Yes / No
Organization
(cells) / Yes / No
Metabolism
(energy) / Yes / No
Growth / Yes / No
Adaptation / Yes / No
Response to Stimuli / Yes / No
Reproduction / Yes / No
Final Results (Is the thing living or non-living?): ______
Using complete sentences, provide a cohesive explanation that justifies your final result as to whether your mystery organism is living or non-living. Be sure to highlight evidence from the text wherever possible in order to make a more convincing argument.
Explanation: ______
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