NGSS Bundle 1

6thGradeEssentials

Unit 1 Natural Resources

Summative and Formative Assessments

Learning checks are given weekly to measure student growth on essential concepts and vocabulary throughout the year.
These are not graded, students are to track their own scores in their notebooks in order to see growth over time.
It is expected that students will see low scores that become higher scores over time.
Students should continue to refer to this page, take the practice learning check often, and play all of the quia games for all units over the year.

Bundle 1 How important are our natural resources?
Summative Project Decription Goes HERE

The coastlines of South America and Africa appear as though they could fit together.

The native Inuit people of the Arctic live on a high-meat diet while other cultures eat little to no meat.

Nearly identical fossils, rock strata, and geologic formations occur in widely separated portions of the globe.

Connections between bundle DCIs
The concept that resources are distributed unevenly around the planet as a result of past geologic processes (ESS3.A as in MS-ESS3-1) connects to the idea that maps of ancient land and water patterns, based on investigations of rocks and fossils, make clear how Earth’s plates have moved great distances, collided, and spread apart (ESS2.B as in MS-ESS2-3).

The idea of geologic processes also connects to the ideas that tectonic processes continually generate new ocean sea floor at ridges and destroy old sea floor at trenches (ESS1.C as in MS-ESS2-3) and that water’s movements—both on the land and underground—cause weathering and erosion, which change the land’s surface features and create underground formations (ESS2.C as in MS-ESS2-2). These concepts connect to the idea that the planet’s systems interact over scales that range from microscopic to global in size, and they operate over fractions of a second to billions of years. These interactions have shaped Earth’s history and will determine its future (ESS2.A as in MS-ESS2-2).

The distribution of resources also connects to the idea that organisms, and populations of organisms, are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors. In any ecosystem, organisms and populations with similar requirements for food, water, oxygen, or other resources may compete with each other for limited resources, access to which consequently constrains their growth and reproduction. Growth of organisms and population increases are limited by access to resources (LS2.A as in MS-LS2-1). This concept also connects to the idea that humans depend on Earth’s land, ocean, atmosphere, and biosphere for many different resources. Minerals, fresh water, and biosphere resources are limited, and many are not renewable or replaceable over human lifetimes (ESS3.A as in MS-ESS3-1).

The idea that population increases are limited by access to resources also connects to the concept that predatory interactions may reduce the number of organisms or eliminate whole populations of organisms. Mutually beneficial interactions, in contrast, may become so interdependent that each organism requires the other for survival. Although the species involved in these competitive, predatory, and mutually beneficial interactions vary across ecosystems, the patterns of interactions of organisms with their environments, both living and nonliving, are shared (LS2.A as in MS-LS2-2).

Bundle Science and Engineering Practices
Instruction leading to this bundle of PEs will help students build toward proficiency in elements of the practices of analyzing and interpreting data (MS-LS2-1, MS-ESS2-3, and MS-ESS3-1) and constructing explanations and designing solutions (MS-LS2-2 and MS-ESS2-2). Many other practice elements can be used in instruction.

Bundle Crosscutting Concepts
Instruction leading to this bundle of PEs will help students build toward proficiency in elements of the crosscutting concepts of Patterns (MS-LS2-2 and MSESS2-3), Cause and Effect (MS-LS2-1 and MS-ESS3-1), and Scale, Proportion, and Quantity (MS-ESS2-2). Many other crosscutting concepts elements can be used in instruction.

Picture	Assessments
MS-LS2-1. Ecosystems Formative Assessment Goes Here Quia Vocab and Concepts Quizzes practice assessments	MS-LS2-1 Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on cause and effect relationships between resources and growth of individual organisms and the numbers of organisms in ecosystems during periods of abundant and scarce resources.]. Planning and Carrying Out Investigations ● Plan an investigation individually and collaboratively, and in the design: identify independent and dependent variables and controls, what tools are needed to do the gathering, how measurements will be recorded, and how many data are needed to support a claim. Students could plan an investigation [to identify] organisms’ dependence on environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors. MS-LS2-1 Scientific Investigations Use a Variety of Methods ● Science investigations are guided by a set of values to ensure accuracy of measurements, observations, and objectivity of findings. Students could report on their efforts to ensure accuracy of measurements, observations, and objectivity of findings [when they conduct] investigations [regarding] organisms dependence on environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors. MS-LS2-1
MS-LS2-2. Ecosystems Formative Assessment Goes Here Quia Vocab and Concepts Quizzes practice assessments	MS-LS2-2 Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on predicting consistent patterns of interactions in different ecosystems in terms of the relationships among and between organisms and abiotic components of ecosystems. Examples of types of interactions could include competitive, predatory, and mutually beneficial.] Developing and Using Models ● Develop or modify a model—based on evidence—to match what happens if a variable or component of a system is changed. Students could modify a model based on evidence [about] organisms’ dependence on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors to match what happens if a variable or component of a system is changed. MS-LS2-1 Engaging in Argument from Evidence ● Construct, use, and/or present an oral and written argument supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support of refute an explanation or a model for a phenomenon. Students could present an oral argument supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support a model [of] organisms’ dependence on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors. MS-LS2-1 Cause & Effect ● Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems. Students could use cause and effect relationships to predict competitive, predatory, and mutually beneficial interactions [of organisms] in natural systems. MS-LS2-2
MS-ESS2-2. Plate Tectonics Formative Assessment Goes Here Quia Vocab and Concepts Quizzes practice assessments	MS-ESS2-2 Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how processes change Earth’s surface at time and spatial scales that can be large (such as slow plate motions or the uplift of large mountain ranges) or small (such as rapid landslides or microscopic geochemical reactions), and how many geoscience processes (such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and meteor impacts) usually behave gradually but are punctuated by catastrophic events. Examples of geoscience processes include surface weathering and deposition by the movements of water, ice, and wind. Emphasis is on geoscience processes that shape local geographic features, where appropriate.] 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 world. Students could critically read scientific texts adapted for classroom use to obtain scientific information to describe patterns in weathering and erosion. MS-ESS2-2 Scale, Proportion, and Quantity ● Phenomena that can be observed at one scale may not be observable at another scale. Students could identify phenomena [related to] weathering and erosion that can be observed at one scale [but are] not observable at another scale. MS-ESS2-2 Patterns ● Graphs, charts, and images can be used to identify patterns in data. Students could use images to identify patterns in data [about] water’s movements, weathering, and erosion. MS-ESS2-2 Scientific Knowledge Assumes an Order and Consistency in Natural Systems ● Science assumes that objects and events in natural systems occur in consistent patterns that are understandable through measurement and observation. Students could [identify how their conclusions about the effects of] water’s movements on the land’s surface features and underground formations [are based on the] assumption that objects and events in natural systems occur in consistent patterns that are understandable through measurement and observation. MS-ESS2-2
MS-ESS2-3. Plate Tectonics Formative Assessment Goes Here Packet Quia Vocab and Concepts Quizzes practice assessments Packet	MS-ESS2-3 Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions. [Clarification Statement: Examples of data include similarities of rock and fossil types on different continents, the shapes of the continents (including continental shelves), and the locations of ocean structures (such as ridges, fracture zones, and trenches).] [Assessment Boundary: Paleomagnetic anomalies in oceanic and continental crust are not assessed.] Analyzing and Interpreting Data ● Use graphical displays (e.g., maps, charts, graphs, and/or tables) of large data sets to identify temporal and spatial relationships. Students could use graphical displays (i.e., maps of ancient land and water patterns) of large data sets [of] rocks and fossils to identify temporal and spatial relationships [such as] how Earth’s plates have moved great distances, collided, and spread apart. MS-ESS2-3 Using Math and Computational Thinking ● Apply mathematical concepts and/or processes (e.g., ratio, rate, percent, basic operations, simple algebra) to scientific and engineering questions and problems. Students could apply mathematical concepts to answer scientific questions [about the] generation of new ocean sea floor at ridges and the movement of Earth’s plates. MS-ESS2-3 Constructing Explanations ● Construct an explanation that includes qualitative or quantitative relationships between variables that predict(s) and/or describe(s) phenomena. Students could construct an explanation that includes qualitative relationships between variables to describe how Earth’s plates have moved great distances, collided, and spread apart. MS-ESS2-3
MS-ESS3-1. Earth's Resources Formative Assessment Goes Here Packet Quia Vocab and Concepts Quizzes practice assessments Packet	MS-ESS3-1 Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth's mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how these resources are limited and typically non-renewable, and how their distributions are significantly changing as a result of removal by humans. Examples of uneven distributions of resources as a result of past processes include but are not limited to petroleum (locations of the burial of organic marine sediments and subsequent geologic traps), metal ores (locations of past volcanic and hydrothermal activity associated with subduction zones), and soil (locations of active weathering and/or deposition of rock).] Asking Questions ● Ask questions that require sufficient and appropriate empirical evidence to answer. Students could ask questions that require sufficient and appropriate empirical evidence to answer about the distribution of resources around the planet. MS-ESS3-1