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The following instructional plan is part of a GaDOE collection of Unit Frameworks, Performance Tasks, examples of Student Work, and Teacher Commentary. Many more
GaDOE approved instructional plans are available by using the Search Standards feature located on GeorgiaStandards.Org.
Georgia Performance Standards Framework for SCIENCE – GRADE 7
HOW DO WE KNOW?
Content:
S7L5. Students will examine the evolution of living organisms through inherited characteristics that promote survival of
organisms and the survival of successive generations of their offspring.
a. Explain that physical characteristics of organisms have changed over successive generations (e.g. Darwin’s finches and
peppered moths of Manchester).
c. Trace evidence that the fossil record found in sedimentary rock provides evidence for the long history of changing life forms.
Habits of Mind:
S7CS1. Students will explore the importance of curiosity, honesty, openness, and skepticism in science and will exhibit these
traits in their own efforts to understand how the world works.
a. Understand the importance of—and keep—honest, clear, and accurate records in science.
b. Understand that hypotheses can be valuable, even if they turn out not to be completely accurate.
S7CS3. Students will have the computation and estimation skills necessary for analyzing data and following scientific
explanations.
d. Draw conclusions based on analyzed data.
S7CS4. Students will use tools and instruments for observing, measuring, and manipulation equipment and materials in
scientific activities.
a. Use appropriate technology to store and retrieve scientific information in topical, alphabetical, numerical, and keyword files,
and create simple files.
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
SCIENCE y GRADE 7 y HOW DO WE KNOW?
JULY 2008 y Page 1 of 4
Copyright 2008 © All Rights Reserved One Stop Shop For Educators Georgia Performance Standards Framework for SCIENCE – GRADE 7 S7CS5. Students will use the ideas of system, model, change, and scale in exploring scientific and technological matters.
b. Understand that different models (such as physical replicas, pictures, and analogies) can be used to represent the same thing.
S7CS6. Students will communicate scientific ideas and activities clearly.
c. Organize scientific information using appropriate simple tables, charts, and graphs, and identify relationships they reveal.
S7CS7. Students will question scientific claims and arguments effectively.
a. Question claims based on vague attributions (such as “Leading doctors say…”) or on statements made by people outside the
area of their particular expertise.
b. Identify the flaws of reasoning that are based on poorly designed research. (i.e., facts intermingled with opinion, conclusions
based on insufficient evidence.)
c. Question the value of arguments based on small samples of data, biased samples, or samples for which there is no control.
d. Recognize that there may be more than one way to interpret a given set of findings.
Nature of Science:
S7CS8. Students will investigate the characteristics of scientific knowledge and how that knowledge is achieved.
c. As prevailing theories are challenged by new information, scientific knowledge may change.
S7CS9. Students will investigate the features of the process of scientific inquiry.
a. Investigations are conducted for different reasons, which include exploring new phenomena, confirming previous results,
testing how well a theory predicts, and comparing competing theories.
b. Scientific investigations usually involve collecting evidence, reasoning, devising hypotheses, and formulating explanations to
make sense of collected data.
d. Scientists often collaborate to design research. To prevent this bias, scientists conduct independent studies of the same
questions.
e. Accurate record keeping, data sharing, and replication of results are essential for maintaining an investigator’s credibility with
other scientists and society. Scientists use technology and mathematics to enhance the process of scientific inquiry.
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
SCIENCE y GRADE 7 y HOW DO WE KNOW?
JULY 2008 y Page 2 of 4
Copyright 2008 © All Rights Reserved
One Stop Shop For Educators Georgia Performance Standards Framework for SCIENCE – GRADE 7 Enduring Understandings:
Physical characteristics of populations of organisms change over time due to changing conditions.
Fossils provide evidence for change.
Essential Question:
How does a paleontologist use observations of fossils to make inferences about ancient living organisms.
ADMINISTRATION PROCEDURES
Outcome /
Performance
Expectations:
The students will utilize reading comprehension strategies such as comparing and contrasting and graphic
organizers to understand how we come to know about the evolutionary past.
General Teacher
Instructions:
Look to the following essential question to drive the task(s): How does a paleontologist use observations of fossils
to make inferences about ancient living organisms?
Materials Needed:
1. “Ask Jeeves” article
2. “Ask Jeeves” graphic organizer
Safety Precautions:
None
Task with Student
Directions:
I. Teaching/Learning Task: Ask Jeeves
Purpose: To apply reading and comprehension skills to ascertain an understanding of how paleontologists base
claims with evidence
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
SCIENCE y GRADE 7 y HOW DO WE KNOW?
JULY 2008 y Page 3 of 4
Copyright 2008 © All Rights Reserved
One Stop Shop For Educators Georgia Performance Standards Framework for SCIENCE – GRADE 7 Materials: One copy of the “Ask Jeeves” article for each student, one “Ask Jeeves” graphic organizer for each
student.
1. Dispense the graphic organizer to students.
2. Give the directive that they will be comparing and contrasting a paleontologist with a criminal
investigator.
3. As the students read the first page of the “Ask Jeeves” article, they will need to fill out section one of the
graphic organizer.
4. As the students read the second page of the “Ask Jeeves” article, they will need to fill out the second
section of the graphic organizer.
II. Summarizing Activity: Ticket Out the Door
Purpose: To challenge students to synthesize the essential concepts learned
Materials: A ticket out the door (scrap paper will work)
1. Give students a small slip of paper.
2. Inform students that this is their “ticket-out-the-door.”
3. Ask the students to respond to the prompt, “Is what we know about extinct organisms based on our
beliefs?”
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
SCIENCE y GRADE 7 y HOW DO WE KNOW?
JULY 2008 y Page 4 of 4
Copyright 2008 © All Rights Reserved
Back
Dear Jeeves
How do scientists know? I
mean how do they know about
living things that existed
long ago, like dinosaurs?
How do they know what they
looked like? How do they
know what they ate? How do
they know how fast they
grew? It seems a little far
fetched to me, because no
humans were roaming the
planet making observations,
taking pictures, or making
video recordings at this
time. Are scientists pulling our legs about what they
claim to know so much about
extinct organisms?
--Cynthia
Cynthia, great questions!
Many others like you have these
similar questions. Let’s make an
analogy. Let’s relate the job of a
paleontologist (someone who studies
extinct life forms) to a criminal
investigator who solves murder mysteries.
Both individuals are faced
with a mystery to solve. For the
criminal investigator, the mystery
is “Who committed the murder?” For
the paleontologist, the mystery is
“What was the nature of this extinct
organism?” The challenge exists, because the answers lie in the events
of the past. How do they come to
understand an event that happened in
the past? How can they answer their
questions?
There is no room for mistakes for
either the paleontologist or the
criminal investigator. They are
both called to adhere to high ethical standards. For the paleontologist, his/her duty is to science, a
discipline that seeks to understand
the natural world. His/her reputation is on the line if false claims
are made. For the criminal investigator, his/her duty is to a democratic society that promotes justice
for all. A man or women’s life may
be on the line if a conviction is
made. Neither wants to fail his or
her respective disciplines. However, there are some crooked criminal investigators and some scientists who do poor science. Shame on
them!
Neither the paleontologist or
the criminal investigator directly
witnessed the event under investigation. So, there are no direct observations to make. However, indirect observations (evidence collected after the fact) can be made.
The criminal investigator can go to
the crime scene to collect/observe
the body of the deceased, blood samples, hair samples, the murder
weapon, a note left by the perpetrator, and statements made by witnesses. The criminal investigator
uses these indirect observations to
recreate, as accurately as possible,
what occurred at the crime scene.
Likewise, the paleontologist
can make indirect observations.
They can collect fossils during fossil digs and date the sediment from
which the fossils were studied.
Based on this indirect evidence, a
picture of the past can be recreated.
Let’s summarize. How are paleontologists
and criminal investigators similar?
Example One: How do we know what the
extinct organisms looked like?
This image
shows the
skeletal
remains of an
extinct
tetrapod (one
of the first living things to walk on
land). Notice how the fossil has
characteristics for living successfully in water and on land, limbs for
walking and a fin like tail for swimming. Paleontologists use the skeletal remains of the fossil as the basis for reconstructing a picture of
the organism (see the images below).
These images may change as more
tetrapod fossils are collected. Yes,
science can change. Will our reproductions of this tetrapod greatly
change with new information?
Example Two: How do we know what extinct organisms ate?
Almost always, an organism’s
teeth gives it away. A carnivore has
many sharp pointy teeth called canines or a combination of canines and
sharp, pointy molars. An herbivore
has flat molars for grinding vegetation, and incisors for cutting
(incisors are the front teeth of a
rabbit). An omnivore has a combination of incisors, canines, and molars.
What inference can you make about
the diet of this tetrapod based on
its
teeth?
If you chose carnivore you are correct. This tetrapod has many canine
teeth. Scientists have also observed that these teeth are very
similar to the teeth of current day
fish.
Example Three: How fast did dinosaurs grow?
Scientist Kristi
Curry-Rogers can
answer this question. She is an
expert on dinosaur
bones. She knows
that the blood
vessel patterns made in bones can
tell us how fast the bones developed.
Orderly patterns of blood vessels suggest that the bones developed relatively slowly.
Irregular blood vessels patterns
suggest that the bones developed
very quickly. Dinosaur bones show
irregular blood vessel patterns.
After comparing dinosaur bones with
current day reptilian bones, Kristi
estimates that dinosaurs developed
to maturity in 10-12 years.
Kristi’s estimate may be
slightly off, but it’s the best estimate we have based on the evidence
that exists. Future studies of dinosaur bones may develop our understanding of dinosaurs and growth
rates.
Dr. Curry-Rogers
collects dinosaur bone
slices and views them
under a microscope.
Images were copied from: http://www.pbs.org/
Back
Graphic Organizer
Student name: _________________
I.
Comparing and contrasting a paleontologist with a criminal investigator.
Paleontologists Only
Both Paleontologists and Criminal
Investigators
Criminal Investigators Only
II. Basing Claims on Evidence:
1.
Scientists base claims on evidence. In other words, they draw their conclusions
from the observations that are made. Based on the reading, fill in the chart below,
showing the claims that paleontologists make, and the evidence or observations that
support these claims.
Claim Made
Evidence