ND Curriculum Initiative

Subject & Standards

Needs Assessment/Rational

In completing an analysis of need for this instructional unit, I identified particular gaps between “what is and what needs to be” in students’ knowledge of biomes on Earth. In an informal assessment prior to the unit of instruction, students were asked to describe biomes in North Dakota and Minnesota. Many students could describe general characteristics of the local biomes, but could not provide a specific name for the biome. Students also could not provide information on other biomes found throughout the world. This indicated a deficiency related to Science Standard #2: Science Inquiry: Students use the process of science inquiry. The students’ background knowledge of biomes was lacking in information, which needed to be corrected for the unit of instruction. In two years of classroom lecture on biomes, it was identified that a lecture-based curriculum on biomes was presenting the appropriate information to the students, but retention of that information was lacking. This analysis was reached through various assessments given throughout the unit of instruction. Students required the opportunity to use inquiry processes to advance their information retention. An internet research unit of instruction was implemented, where students analyzed and discussed both biotic and abiotic factors of biomes in the world. After the research period, the students presented their information to the rest of the class in a presentation and discussion format. Following the unit of instruction, the unit of instruction assessment was given. The results from the research-based unit of instruction were considerably better than for the lecture-based unit of instruction.

Understandings & Goals

Enduring Understanding: Students will understand the differences in biomes around the world, and be able to describe specific characteristics for each of the biomes. Learning Goal(s): Students will understand the types of biomes found in the world. Students will research the internet to determine characteristics of a chosen biome. Students will investigate the biotic and abiotic factors in biomes.

Questions Answered

Essential questions: How are aquatic biomes different from terrestrial biomes? What are the characteristics, including types of animals and plants, found in the type of biome in North Dakota? What are the charateristics, including types of animals and plants, found in the type of biome in Minnesota? How do abiotic factors affect a biome? How do the three types of symbiotic relationships in a biome differ? Learning Objectives; Students will gather information on biomes from the internet. Students will compare and contrast biomes. Students will describe plant and animal life found in a particular biome. Students will interpret how abiotic factors affect a biome. Students will differentiate between the biomes of North Dakota and Minnesota. Students will recognize the symbiotic relationships found in a biome.

Assessment

What quiz and test items (e.g. simple content-focused questions that require a single, best answer) will provide evidence of understanding?  Multiple choice questions reinforce fact-based knowledge by having a single best answer. Open-ended essay questions allow students to use information obtained through research by allowing them to think critically about questions related to biomes. Matching sections require information retention as students match biomes to the correct physical description. What academic prompts (e.g. open-ended questions or problems that require students to think critically and then to prepare a response / product / performance) will provide evidence of understanding? Journal assignments prior to each section of the unit prompts students to read ahead and reseach the information prior to discussion. Open-ended questions relating to a possible affect on a biome causes students to think critically about how a biome will be affected (e.g. atomic bomb, temperature increase, autotrophs die, scavengers die, acid rain falls for one year). What performance tasks and projects (e.g. complex challenges that are authentic, mirror the real world and require a performance or product) will you include that will provide evidence of student understanding? Students present their research on biomes to the classroom audience; after the presentation is a period of open discussion where students field questions about their biome. Knowledge and critical thinking about the biome is assessed at that time through a rubric. What other evidence (e.g. observations, work samples, dialogues, student self-assessment) of understanding will you collect?  Students research the information of the biome, and illustrate their information using a tagboard presentation. Assessment of the tagboard is performed using a rubric, where suggestions and emphasis on strengths is addressed. Tagboards are collected for use as examples for the next year.

Instructional Strategies

Students will use a combination of inquiry-based and problem-based learning to answer the following questions: “How do biomes differ? What are common plants and animals in biomes? What are specific abiotic factors in biomes?” Students work with a partner to promote problem-based learning. Both partners work together on the above questions as they use inquiry-based learning through internet research. Students are able to compare and contrast biomes with other students, using inquiry to differentiate between the biomes. Students use problem-based learning to question the comparison between North Dakota and Minnesota biomes, using prior knowledge as a base for comparison. Students also use project-based learning, as they become “classroom ecologists.” Students learn how ecologists assess biomes for changes in population size and ecosystem diversity, promoting the opportunity to learn about ecology as a profession