Standards

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

This lesson is building toward:

PERFORMANCE EXPECTATION (PE)

MS-ESS1-4

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth’s 4.6-billion-year-old history. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how analyses of rock formations and the fossils they contain are used to establish relative ages of major events in Earth’s history. Examples of Earth’s major events could range from being very recent (such as the last Ice Age or the earliest fossils of homo sapiens) to very old (such as the formation of Earth or the earliest evidence of life). Examples can include the formation of mountain chains and ocean basins, the evolution or extinction of particular living organisms, or significant volcanic eruptions.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include recalling the names of specific periods or epochs and events within them.]

MS-LS4-1

Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on finding patterns of changes in the level of complexity of anatomical structures in organisms and the chronological order of fossil appearance in the rock layers.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the names of individual species or geological eras in the fossil record.]

NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES (SEP)

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena.
Consider limitations of data analysis (e.g., measurement error), and/or seek to improve precision and accuracy of data with better technological tools and methods (e.g., multiple trials).

Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

Apply mathematical concepts and/or processes (such as ratio, rate, percent, basic operations, and simple algebra) to scientific and engineering questions and problems.

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

Apply scientific reasoning to show why the data or evidence is adequate for the explanation or conclusion.

Engaging In Argument from Evidence

Construct, use, and/or present an oral and written argument supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support or refute an explanation or a model for a phenomenon or a solution to a problem.

Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Critically read scientific texts adapted for classroom use to determine the central ideas and/or obtain scientific and/or technical information to describe patterns in and/or evidence about the natural and designed world(s).

DISCIPLINARY CORE IDEAS (DCI)

This lesson is intended for students to apply DCI knowledge, as the DCIs listed would have been addressed earlier in the year. To help solidify student understanding of the DCIs, a novel context is presented, providing the opportunity for students to apply and reinforce concepts. In particular, one new context presented is shark tooth fossils. Although fossil evidence provides scientists with much information, fossil evidence is not always the best evidence. The fossils have limitations in this context, but the artifacts and accompanying concepts presented are setting the stage for learning that will take place in high school (where other lines of evidence are used to establish common ancestry and diversity). In this lesson, students only explore similarities and differences among selected shark species and infer white shark evolution from their location in geologic strata.

LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity

The collection of fossils and their placement in chronological order (e.g., through the location of the sedimentary layers in which they are found or through radioactive dating) is known as the fossil record. It documents the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of many life forms throughout the history of life on Earth.

ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth

The geologic time scale interpreted from rock strata provides a way to organize Earth’s history. Analyses of rock strata and the fossil record provide only relative dates, not an absolute scale.

CROSSCUTTING CONCEPTS (CCC)

Patterns

Patterns can be used to identify cause and effect relationships.
Patterns in rates of change and other numerical relationships can provide information about natural and human designed systems.
Graphs, charts, and images can be used to identify patterns in data.

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

Time, space, and energy phenomena can be observed at various scales using models to study systems that are too large or too small.

“Disciplinary Core Ideas, Science and Engineering Practices, and Crosscutting Concepts” are reproduced verbatim from A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/13165. National Research Council; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; Board on Science Education; Committee on a Conceptual Framework for New K-12 Science Education Standards. National Academies Press, Washington, DC. This material may be reproduced for noncommercial purposes and used by other parties with this attribution. If the original material is altered in any way, the attribution must state that the material is adapted from the original. All other rights reserved.

Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

CCSS ELA SPEAKING & LISTENING

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

CCSS ELA WRITING

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.1
Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

CCSS ELA SCIENCE & TECHNICAL SUBJECTS

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.

California English Language Development (ELD) Standards

CA ELD

Part 1.1 Exchanging information and ideas with others through oral collaborative discussions on a range of social and academic topics

EMERGING

EXPANDING

BRIDGING

P1.8.1 Engage in conversational exchanges and express ideas on familiar topics by asking and answering yes-no and wh- questions and responding using simple phrases.

P1.8.1 Contribute to class, group, and partner discussions by following turn-taking rules, asking relevant questions, affirming others, adding relevant information, and paraphrasing key ideas.

P1.8.1 Contribute to class, group, and partner discussions by following turn-taking rules, asking relevant questions, affirming others, adding relevant information and evidence, paraphrasing key ideas, building on responses, and providing useful feedback.

In addition to the standard above, you may find that you touch on the following standards in this lesson as well:

1.8.4: Offering and justifying opinions, negotiating with and persuading others in communicative exchanges
1.8.5: Listening actively to spoken English in a range of social and academic contexts
1.8.6: Reading closely literary and informational texts and viewing multimedia to determine how meaning is conveyed explicitly and implicitly through language
1.8.12: Selecting and applying varied and precise vocabulary and other language resources to effectively convey ideas
2.8.6: Connecting ideas
2.8.7: Condensing ideas