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LIVE INTERACTIVE LEARNING @ YOUR DESKTOP
NGSS Core Ideas: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Presented by: Charles W. (Andy) Anderson and
Jennifer Doherty
February 11, 2014
6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT / 4:30 p.m. MT / 3:30 p.m. PT
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Introducing today’s presenters…
Introducing today’s presenters
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Ted Willard Director, NGSS@NSTA National Science Teachers Association
Jennifer Doherty Michigan State University
Charles W. (Andy) Anderson Michigan State University
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Developing the Standards
Instruction
Curricula
Assessments
Teacher Development
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2011-2013
July 2011
Developing the Standards
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July 2011
Developing the Standards
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Three-Dimensions:
• Scientific and Engineering Practices
• Crosscutting Concepts
• Disciplinary Core Ideas
View free PDF from The National Academies Press at www.nap.edu
Secure your own copy from
www.nsta.org/store
A Framework for K-12 Science Education
1. Asking questions (for science)
and defining problems (for engineering)
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations (for science)
and designing solutions (for engineering)
7. Engaging in argument from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
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Scientific and Engineering Practices
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1. Patterns
2. Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanation
3. Scale, proportion, and quantity
4. Systems and system models
5. Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservation
6. Structure and function
7. Stability and change
Crosscutting Concepts
Life Science Physical Science LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures
and Processes
LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and
Dynamics
LS3: Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of
Traits
LS4: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
PS1: Matter and Its Interactions
PS2: Motion and Stability: Forces and
Interactions
PS3: Energy
PS4: Waves and Their Applications in
Technologies for Information Transfer
Earth & Space Science Engineering & Technology
ESS1: Earth’s Place in the Universe
ESS2: Earth’s Systems
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
ETS1: Engineering Design
ETS2: Links Among Engineering, Technology,
Science, and Society
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Disciplinary Core Ideas
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Life Science Earth & Space Science Physical Science Engineering & Technology
LS1: From Molecules to Organisms:
Structures and Processes
LS1.A: Structure and Function
LS1.B: Growth and Development of
Organisms
LS1.C: Organization for Matter and
Energy Flow in Organisms
LS1.D: Information Processing
LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy,
and Dynamics
LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships
in Ecosystems
LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy
Transfer in Ecosystems
LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics,
Functioning, and Resilience
LS2.D: Social Interactions and Group
Behavior
LS3: Heredity: Inheritance and
Variation of Traits
LS3.A: Inheritance of Traits
LS3.B: Variation of Traits
LS4: Biological Evolution: Unity
and Diversity
LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry
and Diversity
LS4.B: Natural Selection
LS4.C: Adaptation
LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans
ESS1: Earth’s Place in the Universe
ESS1.A: The Universe and Its Stars
ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System
ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth
ESS2: Earth’s Systems
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale
System Interactions
ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s
Surface Processes
ESS2.D: Weather and Climate
ESS2.E: Biogeology
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
ESS3.A: Natural Resources
ESS3.B: Natural Hazards
ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth
Systems
ESS3.D: Global Climate Change
PS1: Matter and Its Interactions
PS1.A: Structure and Properties of
Matter
PS1.B: Chemical Reactions
PS1.C: Nuclear Processes
PS2: Motion and Stability: Forces
and Interactions
PS2.A: Forces and Motion
PS2.B: Types of Interactions
PS2.C: Stability and Instability in
Physical Systems
PS3: Energy
PS3.A: Definitions of Energy
PS3.B: Conservation of Energy and
Energy Transfer
PS3.C: Relationship Between Energy
and Forces
PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes
and Everyday Life
PS4: Waves and Their Applications in
Technologies for Information
Transfer
PS4.A: Wave Properties
PS4.B: Electromagnetic Radiation
PS4.C: Information Technologies
and Instrumentation
ETS1: Engineering Design
ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting an
Engineering Problem
ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions
ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution
ETS2: Links Among Engineering,
Technology, Science, and
Society
ETS2.A: Interdependence of Science,
Engineering, and Technology
ETS2.B: Influence of Engineering,
Technology, and Science on
Society and the Natural World
Note: In NGSS, the core ideas for Engineering, Technology, and the Application of Science are integrated with the Life Science, Earth & Space Science, and Physical Science core ideas
Disciplinary Core Ideas
Instruction
Curricula
Assessments
Teacher Development
2011-2013
July 2011
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Developing the Standards
2011-2013
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Developing the Standards
NGSS Lead State Partners
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NGSS Writers
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Adoption of NGSS
Adopted
Some step in consideration has been taken by an official entity in the state (from NASBE)
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MS-PS1 Matter and Its Interactions Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MS-PS1-d. Develop molecular models of reactants and products to support the explanation that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved in a chemical reaction. [Clarification Statement: Models can include physical
models and drawings that represent atoms rather than symbols. The focus is on law of conservation of matter.] [Assessment Boundary: The use of atomic masses is not required. Balancing symbolic equations (e.g. N2 + H2 -> NH3) is not required.]
The performance expectations above were developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:
Science and Engineering Practices Disciplinary Core Ideas Crosscutting Concepts Developing and Using Models Modeling in 6–8 builds on K–5 and progresses to developing, using and revising models to support explanations, describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and design systems.
Use and/or develop models to predict, describe,
support explanation, and/or collect data to test ideas
about phenomena in natural or designed systems,
including those representing inputs and outputs, and
those at unobservable scales. (MS-PS1-a),
(MS-PS1-c), (MS-PS1-d)
---------------------------------------------
Connections to Nature of Science Science Models, Laws, Mechanisms, and Theories Explain Natural Phenomena
Laws are regularities or mathematical descriptions
of natural phenomena. (MS-PS1-d)
PS1.B: Chemical Reactions
Substances react chemically in
characteristic ways. In a chemical
process, the atoms that make up the
original substances are regrouped into
different molecules, and these new
substances have different properties
from those of the reactants.
(MS-PS1-d), ( MS-PS1-e), (MS-PS1-f)
The total number of each type of atom
is conserved, and thus the mass does
not change. (MS-PS1-d)
Energy and Matter
Matter is conserved because
atoms are conserved in physical
and chemical processes.
(MS-PS1-d)
Note: Performance expectations combine practices, core ideas, and crosscutting concepts into a single statement of what is to be assessed.
They are not instructional strategies or objectives for a lesson.
Closer Look at a Performance Expectation
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MS-PS1 Matter and Its Interactions Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MS-PS1-d. Develop molecular models of reactants and products to support the explanation that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved in a chemical reaction. [Clarification Statement: Models can include physical
models and drawings that represent atoms rather than symbols. The focus is on law of conservation of matter.] [Assessment Boundary: The use of atomic masses is not required. Balancing symbolic equations (e.g. N2 + H2 -> NH3) is not required.]
The performance expectations above were developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:
Science and Engineering Practices Disciplinary Core Ideas Crosscutting Concepts Developing and Using Models Modeling in 6–8 builds on K–5 and progresses to developing, using and revising models to support explanations, describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and design systems.
Use and/or develop models to predict, describe,
support explanation, and/or collect data to test ideas
about phenomena in natural or designed systems,
including those representing inputs and outputs, and
those at unobservable scales. (MS-PS1-a),
(MS-PS1-c), (MS-PS1-d)
---------------------------------------------
Connections to Nature of Science Science Models, Laws, Mechanisms, and Theories Explain Natural Phenomena
Laws are regularities or mathematical descriptions
of natural phenomena. (MS-PS1-d)
PS1.B: Chemical Reactions
Substances react chemically in
characteristic ways. In a chemical
process, the atoms that make up the
original substances are regrouped into
different molecules, and these new
substances have different properties
from those of the reactants.
(MS-PS1-d), ( MS-PS1-e), (MS-PS1-f)
The total number of each type of atom
is conserved, and thus the mass does
not change. (MS-PS1-d)
Energy and Matter
Matter is conserved because
atoms are conserved in physical
and chemical processes.
(MS-PS1-d)
Note: Performance expectations combine practices, core ideas, and crosscutting concepts into a single statement of what is to be assessed.
They are not instructional strategies or objectives for a lesson.
Closer Look at a Performance Expectation
20
MS-PS1 Matter and Its Interactions Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MS-PS1-d. Develop molecular models of reactants and products to support the explanation that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved in a chemical reaction. [Clarification Statement: Models can include physical
models and drawings that represent atoms rather than symbols. The focus is on law of conservation of matter.] [Assessment Boundary: The use of atomic masses is not required. Balancing symbolic equations (e.g. N2 + H2 -> NH3) is not required.]
The performance expectations above were developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:
Science and Engineering Practices Disciplinary Core Ideas Crosscutting Concepts Developing and Using Models Modeling in 6–8 builds on K–5 and progresses to developing, using and revising models to support explanations, describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and design systems.
Use and/or develop models to predict, describe,
support explanation, and/or collect data to test ideas
about phenomena in natural or designed systems,
including those representing inputs and outputs, and
those at unobservable scales. (MS-PS1-a),
(MS-PS1-c), (MS-PS1-d)
---------------------------------------------
Connections to Nature of Science Science Models, Laws, Mechanisms, and Theories Explain Natural Phenomena
Laws are regularities or mathematical descriptions
of natural phenomena. (MS-PS1-d)
PS1.B: Chemical Reactions
Substances react chemically in
characteristic ways. In a chemical
process, the atoms that make up the
original substances are regrouped into
different molecules, and these new
substances have different properties
from those of the reactants.
(MS-PS1-d), ( MS-PS1-e), (MS-PS1-f)
The total number of each type of atom
is conserved, and thus the mass does
not change. (MS-PS1-d)
Energy and Matter
Matter is conserved because
atoms are conserved in physical
and chemical processes.
(MS-PS1-d)
Note: Performance expectations combine practices, core ideas, and crosscutting concepts into a single statement of what is to be assessed.
They are not instructional strategies or objectives for a lesson.
Closer Look at a Performance Expectation
21
MS-PS1 Matter and Its Interactions Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MS-PS1-d. Develop molecular models of reactants and products to support the explanation that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved in a chemical reaction. [Clarification Statement: Models can include physical
models and drawings that represent atoms rather than symbols. The focus is on law of conservation of matter.] [Assessment Boundary: The use of atomic masses is not required. Balancing symbolic equations (e.g. N2 + H2 -> NH3) is not required.]
The performance expectations above were developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:
Science and Engineering Practices Disciplinary Core Ideas Crosscutting Concepts Developing and Using Models Modeling in 6–8 builds on K–5 and progresses to developing, using and revising models to support explanations, describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and design systems.
Use and/or develop models to predict, describe,
support explanation, and/or collect data to test ideas
about phenomena in natural or designed systems,
including those representing inputs and outputs, and
those at unobservable scales. (MS-PS1-a),
(MS-PS1-c), (MS-PS1-d)
---------------------------------------------
Connections to Nature of Science Science Models, Laws, Mechanisms, and Theories Explain Natural Phenomena
Laws are regularities or mathematical descriptions
of natural phenomena. (MS-PS1-d)
PS1.B: Chemical Reactions
Substances react chemically in
characteristic ways. In a chemical
process, the atoms that make up the
original substances are regrouped into
different molecules, and these new
substances have different properties
from those of the reactants.
(MS-PS1-d), ( MS-PS1-e), (MS-PS1-f)
The total number of each type of atom
is conserved, and thus the mass does
not change. (MS-PS1-d)
Energy and Matter
Matter is conserved because
atoms are conserved in physical
and chemical processes.
(MS-PS1-d)
Note: Performance expectations combine practices, core ideas, and crosscutting concepts into a single statement of what is to be assessed.
They are not instructional strategies or objectives for a lesson.
Closer Look at a Performance Expectation
NGSS Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
NSTA Webinar February 11, 2014
Charles W. (Andy) Anderson Jennifer Doherty
Michigan State University
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We Would Like to Know….
What age students are you most interested in?
A. Pre-K to Grade 5
B. Grades 6-8
C. Grades 9-12
D. College
E. Other (adult learners, multiple grade levels)
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Topics for Today’s Webinar
1. Why is “Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics” a core idea?
2. Learning progressions: What we are learning about how students’ ideas about ecosystems can develop.
3. Teaching students to reason about limits and constraints in ecosystems.
24
Topics for Today’s Webinar
1. Why is “Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics” a core idea?
2. Learning progressions: What we are learning about how students’ ideas about ecosystems can develop.
3. Teaching students to reason about limits and constraints in ecosystems.
25
What the Next Generation Science Standards Have to Say
The performance expectations in LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics help students formulate an answer to the question, “How and why do organisms interact with their environment, and what are the effects of these interactions?”
The LS2 Disciplinary Core Idea includes four sub-ideas: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems, Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems, Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience, and Social Interactions and Group Behavior.
Two Main Strands of the Ecosystems Disciplinary Core Idea
1. Community ecology: Understanding relationships among populations in ecosystems. For example: – MS-LS2-2. Construct an explanation that
predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
2. Ecosystem science: Tracing matter and energy through ecosystems. For example: – 5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement
of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
1. Community ecology: Understanding relationships among populations in ecosystems. For example:
– MS-LS2-2. Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
2. Ecosystem science: Tracing matter and energy through ecosystems.
Two Main Strands of the Ecosystems DCI
Some Key Points about Community Ecology
• Students need to connect different scales or levels of organization: individual organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems
• Students need to connect biotic communities with abiotic environments
• This is closely connected to the Evolution Disciplinary Core Idea: looking at changes in size and genetic composition of populations
Deer-Wolf Question A remote island in Lake Superior is uninhabited by
humans. The primary mammal populations are white-tailed deer and wolves. The island is left undisturbed for many years. Select the best choice to complete the statement about what will happen to the average populations of the animals over time.
On average, the populations of deer and wolves will fluctuate, but:
A. the populations of each would be about equal. B. there will be more deer than wolves. C. there will more wolves than deer. D. sometimes there will be more deer and sometimes
there will be more wolves. E. None of the above.
What Middle and High School Students Have to Say about the Deer-Wolf Question
On average, the populations of deer and wolves will fluctuate, but: A. the populations of each would be about equal. B. there will be more deer than wolves. C. there will more wolves than deer. D. sometimes there will be more deer and sometimes there will be more wolves. E. None of the above.
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What Middle and High School Students Have to Say about the Deer-Wolf Question
• The deers are on a lower trophic level, so there must be more deer to convert plants into them so the wolves can eat them. The wolves only get a fraction of the energy from the deers, so there must be more deers.
• The populations would balance because when one grows the other declines then it reverses
• I think there will be more wolves because deer don’t eat wolves. Wolves eat deer.
What’s Important Here?
• Need to think about populations, not just individuals
• Need to consider relationships among populations (predator-prey)
• Need to consider how different populations contribute to overall ecosystem structure and function (trophic levels, biomass pyramid)
1. Community ecology: Understanding relationships among populations in ecosystems.
2. Ecosystem science: Tracing matter and energy through ecosystems. For example:
– 5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
Two Main Strands of the Ecosystems DCI
Some Key Points about Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
• Students need to use a key crosscutting concept—Energy and Matter: Flows, Cycles, and Conservation—to trace matter and energy through ecosystems
• Students need to trace matter and energy through processes at different scales: – Photosynthesis, cellular respiration, biosynthesis at
the cellular scale – Eating, breathing, growth, digestion at the organismal
scale – Matter cycling and energy flow at the ecosystem scale
Matter Cycles, Energy Flows
Ecological carbon cycling
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Biomass Pyramid Question
This graph shows a pattern that biologists have observed in most ecosystems on Earth. The biomass of plants is much more than the biomass of herbivores, and the biomass of herbivores is much more than the biomass of carnivores. Why do you think that this is the case?
What Middle and High School Students Have to Say about the Biomass Pyramid Question
• Because only 10% of the energy in the previous level is passed on to the next level. The rest is lost as either growth or cellular respiration (the daily cost of living)
• Every time a living thing eats something, it is only getting ten percent of the energy that was in the food.
• Because as the food chain progresses, there is less food available for the next tropic level, so they must have less biomass
• because a lot of people and animals are resorting to eating plants
What’s Important Here?
• Need to connect matter and energy at organismal and ecosystem scales.
– What happens to food eaten by an individual consumer?
• Goes to soil carbon as feces
• Used for cellular respiration, returns to atmosphere
• Used for growth
– Only food used for growth is available to the next trophic level
Why Do We Care About Ecosystems? • Ecosystem services: Our lives and economies depend
on the services that ecosystems provide. For example: – MS-LS2-5. Evaluate competing design solutions for
maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
• Disturbances: There are important limits/constraints to ecosystems responding to disturbances. For example: – HS-LS2-6. Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning
that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.
– HS-LS2-7. Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
Why Do We Care About Ecosystems?
• Ecosystem services: Our lives and economies depend on the services that ecosystems provide. For example:
– MS-LS2-5. Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
• Disturbances: There are important limits/constraints to ecosystems responding to disturbances. For example:
Community Ecology Ecosystem Services
• The diversity of life provides humans with food, clothing, shelter, and medicines appropriate for every climate that we live in
• The genetic diversity of native populations provides resilience in the face of new threats from disease, pests, or environmental changes
Matter and Energy Ecosystem Services
The Earth’s ecosystems provide:
• All of our food
• Virtually all of our fresh water
• The oxygen we breathe
• Much of our clothing and shelter
Why Do We Care? • Ecosystem services: Our lives and economies
depend on the services that ecosystems provide. • Disturbances: There are important
limits/constraints to ecosystems responding to disturbances. For example: – HS-LS2-6. Evaluate the claims, evidence, and
reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.
– HS-LS2-7. Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
Community Ecology Responses to Disturbances
• Pulse disturbances (e.g., flood, plague, fire, pesticides) that affect a small number of species will spread their effect to other species through biotic and abiotic relationships
• Press disturbances (e.g., invasive species, climate change) can fundamentally change ecosystem structure and function depending on factors such as biodiversity in an ecosystem
Matter and Energy Responses to Disturbances: Keeling Curve Question
Matter and Energy Responses to Disturbances
Keeling Curve Question
Why do you think carbon dioxide concentration goes down in the summer and goes up in the winter? The MOST IMPORTANT contributor is:
A. Humans burning coal and gasoline
B. Changes in plant growth
C. Nuclear power plants
D. Changes in wind and weather
What Middle and High School Students Have to Say about the Keeling Curve Question
Why do you think carbon dioxide concentration goes down in the summer and goes up in the winter? The MOST IMPORTANT contributor is: A. Humans burning coal and gasoline B. Changes in plant growth C. Nuclear power plants D. Changes wind and weather
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What Middle and High School Students Have to Say about the Keeling Curve Question
• During the summer, deciduous plants reduce CO2 levels slightly by synthesizing CO2 and water into glucose. When these plants lose their leaves, they are no longer able to trap atmospheric CO2 and the levels no longer decrease.
• Atmospheric carbon dioxide decreases every summer because less people are burning coal and gasoline for warmth. Since more people are using indoor and outdoor heating in the winter, CO2 levels increase.
• Because people won't to keep worm in the winter; and not many people us the heat in the summer
What’s Important Here?
• Keeling Curve seasonal cycle as an example of ecosystem services on a global scale: every summer plants sequester carbon and produce oxygen.
• Keeling Curve long-term trend as a press disturbance on a global scale: what are the limits and constraints on ecosystems’ responses to increasing CO2 concentrations and resulting climate change?
Pause for Questions and Discussion
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Topics for Today’s Webinar
1. Why is “Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics” a core idea?
2. Learning progressions: What we are learning about how students’ ideas about ecosystems can develop.
3. Teaching students to limits and constraints to reason about ecosystems.
52
Topics for Today’s Webinar
1. Why is “Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics” a core idea?
2. Learning progressions: What we are learning about how students’ ideas about ecosystems can develop.
a. Overview of learning progressions
b. Discourse, knowledge, and practice at different levels: elementary, middle school, high school
3. Teaching students to limits and constraints to reason about ecosystems.
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Definitions • Learning progressions are descriptions of
increasingly sophisticated ways of reasoning about a topic
• A learning progression includes:
– A learning progression framework, describing levels of achievement
– Assessment tools that reveal students’ reasoning
– Teaching tools and strategies that help students make transitions from one level to the next
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What Progresses?
• Discourse: how we use language to describe and explain the world
• Practices: scientific practices and their precursors
• Knowledge: crosscutting concepts, disciplinary core ideas, and their precursors
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Discourse: Learning Science Is Like Learning a Second Language
• Everyday (force-dynamic) discourse: This is everyone’s “first language” that we have to master in order to speak grammatical English (or French, Spanish, Chinese, etc.)
• Scientific discourse: This is a “second language” that is powerful for analyzing the material world
• We often have the illusion of communication because speakers of these languages use the same words with different meanings (e.g., energy, matter, weight, material, etc.)
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Learning Progression for a Disturbance Scenario
The population of rabbits in the Everglades has plunged after an invasion of Burmese pythons. What is happening? How might this affect alligators?
Typical Elementary Student Account of Pythons in the Everglades: Everyday Discourse
• This is a story about individual actors—python, alligators, and rabbits—and their needs and purposes
• The plant is there for the rabbit to eat, but it has a purpose in life, too—to grow
• The rabbit needs grass to grow, but matter in the grass does not become matter in the rabbit
• The physical environment (and plants) are scenery for the actors, not parts of the system
• Use human analogies—animals “want”, “like”, or “try to be comfortable”
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Important Learning about Community Ecology in Elementary School
• All ecosystems, even the yard outside the school, have many different types of organisms (e.g., microbes, decomposers, things in soil)
• Different organisms have different life cycles, and many organisms die young
• Physical characteristics of environment affect organisms that live there
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Important Learning about Tracing Matter in Elementary School
• Matter: – Distinguishing matter (solids, liquids, gases) from non-
matter (e.g., heat, light, temperature)
– Measuring amount of matter (weight/mass, volume, density)
– Tracing matter through animal bodies: digestion, traveling through blood, used for growth and energy
• Tracing cause and effect through food chains (won’t really be tracing matter)
• Energy: Wait until middle school
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Typical Middle/High School Account of Pythons in the Everglades
• Lots of facts about organisms, cells, and molecules – Facts about different scales (macrosopic, microscopic,
atomic molecular) can be mixed up – Reasoning about individuals interacting rather than
populations changing – Focus almost exclusively on predatory-prey interactions or
direct competition (fighting) – Physical environment affects organisms but generally
unchanging
• Large-scale connections: matter and energy cycles – Food chain as flow of matter or energy (matter and energy
both recycle) – Separate nutrient and O2-CO2 cycles
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Middle/High School: Nutrient and O2-CO2 Cycles
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Important Learning about Community Ecology in Middle and High School
• Understand the broader set of organism interactions (mutualisms and indirect competition through resources)
• Relate individuals interacting (e.g., pythons eat rabbits) to consequences at the population scale (predator and prey populations)
• Understand how the physical environment both affects organisms and is affected by organisms
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Important Learning about Tracing Matter and Energy in Middle and High School
• Relating visible plants and animals (and invisible microorganisms) to large-scale matter pools: producers, consumers, atmospheric carbon, etc.
• Matter cycles, energy flows
• Relating visible activities—eating, drinking, breathing, etc.—to large-scale fluxes of matter and energy
• Connecting size of pools to rate of fluxes
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NGSS: Scientific Account of Carbon Cycling and Energy Flow
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Learning Progressions and Scale
• Elementary: Mostly macroscopic
• Middle school: Macroscopic connected to atomic-molecular and larger systems
• High school: Connections across scales, from atomic-molecular to ecosystem and global scales
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Pause for Questions and Discussion
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Topics for Today’s Webinar
1. Why is “Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics” a core idea?
2. Learning progressions: What we are learning about how students’ ideas about ecosystems can develop.
3. Teaching students to reason about limits and constraints in ecosystems.
68
Community ecology: encountering and analyzing local biodiversity
• Activities to familiarize students with the life cycles and activities of non-human organisms
– Differences in reproduction
– Differences in death rates
– Differences in interactions
http://www.thebutterflysite.com/
Community ecology: encountering and analyzing
local biodiversity • Activities to familiarize students with
their local biodiversity at all scales – Collection, observation, and analysis of
the diversity of plants, vertebrates, invertebrates, and microbes
• Activities to familiarize students with the local environment – Collection and analysis of temperature,
soil and water nutrients, dissolved oxygen, light availability
Community ecology: encountering and analyzing local biodiversity
• Activities to help students analyze the interactions between organisms (biota) and their abiotic environment
– Changes in the biota will affect the abiotic environment which will affect biota
Teaching about Tracing Matter and Energy
Examples from the Carbon: Transformations in Matter and Energy (Carbon TIME) materials. Currently in development, available in 2015 on the National Geographic Website.
• Three questions
• Simulations
• Animations
Three Questions Large Scale Poster Question Rules to Follow Connecting Atoms
to Evidence
The Carbon Pools
Question:
Where are the carbon
pools in our
environment?
Atoms last forever.
Carbon atoms stay in pools unless a
process moves them in or out.
The air has carbon atoms in CO2
Organic materials are made of
molecules with carbon atoms
• Fuels
• Living and dead plants and
animals (including foods)
The Carbon Fluxes
Question:
How are carbon atoms
moving among pools?
Carbon-transforming processes move
carbon atoms among pools
Carbon atoms cycle within
environmental systems
Evidence of carbon movement or
carbon-transforming processes:
• organisms eating , breathing,
dying
• decay
• combustion
If a carbon pool size changes, that
means carbon atoms moved
The Energy
Question:
How does energy flow
through
environmental
systems?
Carbon-transforming processes
change energy from:
• sunlight to
• chemical energy to
• work or motion energy and
eventually to
• heat radiated into space
Energy flows through environmental
systems
We can observe indicators of different
forms of energy
• Organic materials with chemical
energy
• Light
• Heat energy
• Work or motion energy
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The Carbon Dice Game
Students play the role of carbon atoms They roll dice to determine how they move among carbon pools in a meadow ecosystem.
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If you are a carbon atom in an organic molecule you have chemical energy in your bonds.
Pick up one yellow twist tie from the
basket when you have chemical energy.
Keep your yellow twist tie when you move between pools if your molecule still has chemical energy.
Leave your yellow twist tie in the heat basket when your molecule no longer has chemical energy.
The Carbon Dice Game
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Animations Video
• Relating pictures to pools
• Using fluxes to show annual cycle
• Using fluxes to show effects of disturbances
Pause for Questions and Discussion
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On the Web
nextgenscience.org
nsta.org/ngss
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Connect and Collaborate
Discussion forum on NGSS in the Learning center
NSTA Member-only
Listserv on NGSS
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Web Seminars on Core Ideas
January 28: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
February 11: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
February 25: Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
March 11: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Coming in March/April: Engineering design and nature of science
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NSTA Resources on NGSS
Web Seminar Archives
• Practices (Fall 2012)
• Crosscutting Concepts (Spring 2013)
• Disciplinary Core Ideas (Fall 2013 and Spring 2014)
• Assessment (January 2014)
Journal Articles
• Science and Children
• Science Scope
• The Science Teacher
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NSTA Virtual Conference
NGSS Practices in Action Saturday, March 8, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET
NSTA members: $79; Nonmembers $99
• Sessions on modeling, explanation and argumentation, and engineering
• Breakouts by grade level and discipline
• Live chat discussions with NGSS experts and other teachers
• Register in the NSTA Learning Center
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From the NSTA Bookstore
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NGSS App
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Future Conferences
National Conference
Boston – April 3-6, 2014
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Thanks to today’s presenters!
Thanks to today’s presenters
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Ted Willard Director, NGSS@NSTA National Science Teachers Association
Jennifer Doherty Michigan State University
Charles W. (Andy) Anderson Michigan State University
Thank you to the sponsor of today’s web seminar:
This web seminar contains information about programs, products, and services offered by third parties, as well as links to third-party websites. The presence of a listing or
such information does not constitute an endorsement by NSTA of a particular company or organization, or its programs, products, or services.
Thanks to today’s sponsor
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Thanks to NSTA administration
National Science Teachers Association
David Evans, Ph.D., Executive Director
Al Byers, Ph.D., Acting Associate Executive Director, Services
NSTA Web Seminar Team
Flavio Mendez, Senior Director, NSTA Learning Center
Brynn Slate, Manager, Web Seminars, Online Short Courses, and Symposia
Jeff Layman, Technical Coordinator, Web Seminars, SciGuides, and Help Desk
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