8th Grade Lesson Plan
Context: Invasive Plants
The focus of this context is to have students explore invasive plant spread through a simulator. Several
important areas within the 8th grade Idaho Content and Practice Standards can be addressed through
this context.
Essential Question: You own an invasive plant killing business that specializes in terminating Cheatgrass,
Whitetop, Medusahead and Puncturevine. A farmer has asked you to determine which two invasive
weeds you recommend she treat first.
Guiding Questions / Prompts
1. Which invasive weeds spread the fastest? How do you know?
With the farmer only having enough funds to treat two weeds this season, it is important to find
out which two weeds have the greatest likelihood of spreading over her land. Investigating this
question will allow students to collect, represent and analyze bivariate data from the weed
simulation tool.
2. What data should we collect from the simulator?
When they start collecting data, students may find it difficult to determine what to ‘count’. To
maximize the learning opportunity, it is important to not be overly prescriptive during this part
of the lesson.
3. How can we organize and display the data from the simulator to support our determination?
Students can be pressed to create two-way tables and calculate relative frequencies as a
method of organization and analysis. Joint, marginal and conditional frequencies can all help
answer our essential question. Students are also expected to visualize the data using a variety of
scatter plots, dot plots, line plots and bar graphs.
Sample Lesson Plan
Mathematical Standards and Practices
Though a full range of 8th grade standards can be targeted through use of this simulator, this sample
lesson plan and instructional sequence targets the following:


8.SP Investigate patterns of association in bivariate data.
8.SP.4 Understand that patterns of association can also be seen in bivariate categorical data by
displaying frequencies and relative frequencies in a two-way table. Construct and
interpret a two-way table summarizing data on two categorical variables collected from
the same subjects. Use relative frequencies calculated for rows or columns to describe
possible association between the two variables.
Mathematical practice standards
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
4. Model with mathematics.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
Material for the Lessons
1. Students will need access to an electronic device that has internet access (e.g., smartphone,
tablet, computer, etc.).
2. Invasive Plants Simulator , URL: https://idoteach.boisestate.edu/modal/invaders/
3. Printed copies of student handout, URL:
https://idoteach.boisestate.edu/modal/files/2016/06/8th-Grade-Invasive-Plants-Handout.docx
4. Poster board, construction paper or other for students to display their data and findings.
Instructional Sequence
1. Give brief explanation of the weeds covered in the lessons.
2. Break students into groups.
a. Introduce the Invasive Weed Simulator. This is an online app for thinking about the
spread of invasive plant.
b. Users select a type of weed, a landscape, the number of starting spots and the grid size.
c. After clicking the run simulator button, users click the right arrow to scroll through the
spread of the weed through several years. The simulator displays how many adjacent
cells are infected with the weed during any given year.
d. Model all features and ensure everyone understands how it works.
3. Pose essential question.
a. Ask students to answer the essential question and display their results in a poster.
b. Briefly discuss data collection methods.
c. Distribute student handout.
4. Monitor student data collection.
a. Press student to use the two-way tables on the student handout as a possible method
to organize their data.
b. Speak with each group individually about possible graphical displays for their data.
c. Possible graphs could include dot plots, line plots and/or bar graphs.
d. Possible press questions.
i. What process did you use to justify your answers to the essential question?
ii. Which graphs do you plan on using and why?
iii. Based on your data collected, which weed seems the most invasive overall?
iv. Does the landscape seem to make much difference?
v. What do you notice is happening at the edges of the grid?
vi. What cow?
5. Have students conduct a gallery walk to present their findings.
a. Divide the groups into two and have one group present / answer questions while the
other is walking from presentation to presentation; then switch roles.
b. During the presentations, use the rubric below to grade student work.
Scoring Rubric
Excellent
3
Average
2
The group shows a weak
relationship between data and
claim
Limited
1
Analyzing
The group shows a
strong relationship
between data and claim
The group shows no
relationship between data
and claim
Researching
The group has
documented research
Presentation
The presentation has
numerous graphs and
data. Presentation is well
organized
The presentation has some use of
evidence, but limited data and
graphs. Presentation is well
organized
The presentation is unclear
with no organization
Calculations
Majority of calculations
are correct
Calculation process is correct with
some mathematical errors
Minimal or no calculations are
correct
The group has no research
Student Examples
All students with these examples should be pressed on how they made the connection between their
data and their conclusion. Students should also be asked about graph choice and how it supports their
conclusion.