Jenny Lake

Science Methods I
July 16, 2020
Embedded Signature Assignment

A. Background

1. Learning Segment Central Focus and Phenomenon: The learning segment central focus I
would like to form a lesson plan around is inheritance and variation of traits. For the
phenomenon, I will show the class the image of the dogs below, and we will have an open
discussion about how the puppies look similar/different to the mom. The phenomenon is that the
puppies look similar to the mom, but some have varying traits. It’s also important to note that the
dad is not shown, so the students may bring up that the puppies may have gained some traits
from the dad. What would the dad most likely look like? Why are not all of the puppies the same
color? Why are some bigger/smaller than others? These are all essential questions that guide the
students into understanding the phenomenon of variation in inherited traits.

2. Time Allotted for lesson: 1 hour. This will be an introduction to the genetics and inheritance
unit, and will be the first day of the unit.

3. Grade level: 7th grade

4. Classroom organization/groups/lab etc.: Part one of my lesson plan will be a whole group
activity. For part 2, Students will be placed in groups of 4 to complete the activity. After the
activity, we will come back together as a class and share our findings.
5. Lesson plan overview:
First, the students will observe the picture of the dogs (above) and we will discuss the
variation in traits (the phenomenon). Some of these may be that the puppies are different colors
(white, dark brown, black, and the mom is light brown), the puppies are slightly different sizes,
and have different face colors. Then, I will have students generate questions about the
phenomenon. As a class, we can come up with a KLEWS chart together to see what the students
already know about inheritance. Do they know that genotype controls phenotype? Do they know
that sexual reproduction leads to variation of traits? What do they “Wonder” about the topic?
Some student “Wonder” topics may include, “Why do I look different from my classmates?”
“What controls variation of traits?” “What traits do I/don’t I share with my parents?” For the
Science section, do they know about DNA/genes? Do they know about Gregor Mendel and the
peas? Do they know about homozygous/heterozygous and sexual reproduction? The KLEWS
activity will allow me to gauge the level of understanding the class already has about the topic.
Next, I will ask the class about varying traits you can find in humans. The students may
come up with the examples of light skin, dark skin, short, tall, freckles, attached earlobes, ability
to role tongue, etc. After we have written a comprehensive list of traits on the board, we will
break into our groups of 4 to do the activity.
There will be two parts to the activity. In the first part, I will ask students to stand up if
they have the trait I mention. I will list around 13 traits and after each one students will stand up
if they have the trait. As students stand, I will write the number of students who have the trait
and don’t have the trait on the board. I will also allow students to add traits to this list. What
inherited traits did they come up with that aren’t on this list?

Part 1:
Here are the traits I will ask about:

Inventory of Traits
Trait # of students who have the # of students who don’t have
trait the trait
Detached Earlobes
Tongue Rollers
Dimples
Right Handed
Freckles
Curly Hair
Cleft Chin
Allergies
Right Thumb Over Left
When Placing Hands
Together
Straight Hairline
Girls
Boys
Non-binary/Other
After collecting the data, we will discuss the results written on the board. Do a lot of people have
detached earlobes? How many people have dimples? Do most people in the class have a straight
hairline?

After discussion, we will break into small groups of 4 for the second part of the lesson.

For part 2, students will be filling out the following worksheet on their own for 5 minutes, and
then discussing and recording the results with their group members.
After 5 minutes, they will compare answers and record how many members of the group have
the following traits. I will also instruct them to look for patterns within their group. Do most
people have detached earlobes? How many students have dimples? Can everyone in the group
roll their tongue? (See Explore section below for more questions asked).
Next, the students will graph their results (SEP4.1 – clearly organize data to represent
phenomena). Do they see any patterns within the results? (See Elaborate section for more Cross
Cutting Concept questions).
After students have graphed the results, we will come back together as a class and discuss the
findings. Which traits were most common? Were some traits less common? How many people in
your group had specific traits? Do you see any patterns in the data? (SEP 4.2 – Identify and
describe relevant and meaningful patterns and relationships in data).
Then, I will dive into the genetics behind these varied traits. I will discuss the idea that
these traits are controlled by our genes, which are made up of segments of DNA. I will go into
the structure and function of DNA, chromosomal inheritance, and traits being passed from parent
to offspring (see Explain section for more detail).
To bring it all together, I will ask students questions from the Cross-Cutting Concepts-
Prompts worksheet. We will be relating our results to the PowerPoint I presented to the class and
asking meaningful questions and finding patterns in the data (see Elaborate step for more detail).

a. NGSS Content Standards: MS-LS3-2: Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits:

Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical
genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.
This activity teaches students that sexual reproduction leads to offspring with a variety of
traits.
SEP 3.4 – Conduct an investigation.
SEP 3.5 – Collect data to answer a scientific question
SEP 4.1 – Clearly organize and display data to represent a phenomenon
SEP 4.2 – Identify and describe relevant and meaningful patterns and relationships in
data.
DCI – LS3.B – In sexually reproducing organisms, each parents provides half of the
genetic information to the offspring.
CCC – Cause and effect: relationship between genotype and phenotype, relationship
between sexual reproduction and phenotypic diversity.

b. Objectives:

Students will be able to identify variation of traits within a population (the classroom).
Students will be able to organize and graph a variety of traits within the classroom.
Students will be able to identify meaningful patterns of traits within the classroom.

c. Formative Assessment strategies: As a formative assessment, I will be using the

Chain Notes strategy. See Closure (Evaluate) section below for more information.

d. Language Supports: To support language learners and new vocabulary, in the

PowerPoint I present I will use lots of images and graphs to explain what I am talking about.
Specifically, I will have images of the cell with DNA structures to show the structure and
function of DNA. We will also be displaying data in bar charts so it is easily understood for
visual and English Language Learners. I also have a variety of discussions within this lesson
plan, which can aid students who aren’t grasping the concepts or help English Language
Learners. I also activate prior knowledge with the KLEWS chart at the beginning of the lesson.
 e. Materials Needed:
 PowerPoint presentation on introduction to genetics and variation in traits
 Inventory of My Traits – Survey (see above)
 Inventory of My Traits – Data Table (see above)
 Inventory of My Traits – Graph (see above)

f. Possible Challenges/Misconceptions: It’s possible students won’t know if they have

some of the traits, and may have to ask a buddy to observe (example, tongue rolling, hairline,
earlobes attached/not attached). It’s also possible students may get upset thinking about acquired
traits if they only have one parent at home, or have a difficult home life.

g. Justification of Learning Tasks: These activities are appropriate for my students

because it allows them to look at their own traits in relation to the science topic of inheritance. It
allows my students to think about their personal lives because they can think about the traits they
have inherited from their parents and what it means if a trait is inherited.

B. Lesson Plan Structure

1. Opening: (Engage) – I will engage the students by first presenting the phenomenon through
the image of the puppies with the dog mother. This will get them thinking about how traits are
passed on from parent to offspring in sexual reproduction, though there is variation in what is
passed down from generation to generation. We will fill out a KLEWS chart together to get them
thinking about essential questions related to the phenomenon.

Teacher Actions: Present the image of the dogs to the students and facilitate a discussion about
acquired traits

Student Actions: Observe image of the dogs and report how puppies are similar to the
mother/what the dad could look like. Here are some responses I will be looking for: “The first
thing I notice is that the mother dog is brown, and only one of the puppies is a lighter color.”
“Some of the other puppies are brown and some are more black-ish colored.” “Some of the
puppies have a lighter face than the others.” “Most of the puppies are around the same size but a
few may be slightly smaller than others.” “It is likely that the father dog is a darker color because
most of the puppies are darker colored.”

2. Introduction: The introduction to inheritance will be the activity where students stand up
when I mention a trait they have (dimples, freckles, tongue roll, etc). I will write the number of
students with and without the trait on the board and we will facilitate a discussion about the
relative abundance of each trait in the classroom.

Teacher Actions: Teacher will ask questions such as, “Which trait is the most common?” “Which
trait is the least common?” “Do you think any traits are inherited together, or are traits inherited
independently?”
Student Actions: Students will comment on which traits are the most/least common. They will
ask questions such as, “Why are some traits more common than others?” “Why are some traits
not as common?”

3. Body of lesson (Explore, Explain, Elaborate):

Explore: Students will explore the topic of inheritance by working in their small groups on the
Inventory of My Traits worksheets. First, students will fill out the worksheet about which traits
they possess. Do students have detached earlobes? Are students right-handed? Do students have
a cleft chin? Then, students will fill out the data table determining the number of students in the
group with each trait. Lastly, students will fill in the graph and make a visual representation of
the number of students in the group with each trait listed. Then, we will come back together as a
class and review the results.

Teacher Actions: Teacher will walk around and assist students with the activity. Do they have
any questions about what the traits are? Do they know how to graph their results? I can provide
feedback that addresses the needs or strengths of the students as I walk around the classroom.
Did they put the proper axes on their graphs? Do the students understand what the different traits
are and that they are inherited? Do they see patterns in the data that can lead them to a
conclusion about inheritance of specific traits?
After coming back together as a class, the teacher will ask, “Which traits are the
most/least common?” “Why do you think these traits are common/not so common?”

Student Actions: Students will ask questions such as, “How many people in our group have the
following traits?” “What goes on the x-axis of the graph?” “What goes on the y-axis?” “Which
traits are the most common in our group?”

Explain: Next, I will introduce the idea of genetic variation leading to phenotypic diversity
through a PowerPoint presentation. The presentation will cover what DNA is, its function,
genotype and phenotype, and variation of traits. I will also relate these concepts to the activity
we did in class.

Teacher Actions: Teacher will answer questions such as, “What is a gene/DNA?” “What does it
mean if a trait is inherited?” “What is genotype/phenotype?” “What causes variation in the traits
we’ve observed in class?”

Student Actions: Students will notice that our genes control the variation in traits we see in the
classroom. They will ask questions such as, “Does this mean we all have different genes?”
“What makes up DNA?” “How do we get DNA from our parents?” “How do these traits develop
over time?”

Elaborate: In the Elaborate step, we will pull all of the concepts together. The teacher will
facilitate a discussion on the observations the students are making and the patterns they noticed
in the data from the activities. How does this relate to our genes? (see below for Cross-Cutting-
Concepts-Prompts).
Teacher Actions: Teacher will ask questions such as, “What patterns do you observe in the data
from the group activities?” “What does the pattern of data you see allow you to conclude about
inherited traits?” “What observations could you ask next, to help explain the pattern in the data?”
“What kind of mathematical function best fits the pattern of the data you see?” “How does this
relate to the idea that our traits are inherited?”

Students Actions: Students will answer, “XXX trait is the most/least common in our group.”
“Next, we could use a bigger sample size to see if these traits are still the most/least common.”
“Our traits are inherited from our parents in the form of our genes/DNA”.

4. Closure (Evaluate): I will use the Chain Notes activity from the Page Keeley book as a
formative assessment. In this activity, the teacher writes a question printed on the top of a long
sheet of paper and passes it around to the class. The students write 1-2 sentences on the paper
related to the question being asked. After everyone has written a response, the teacher reads a
few of the responses to the class. Students then agree or disagree with the statements and provide
evidence from the activities/lecture.
Teacher Actions: The teacher will ask the question, “What does it mean if a trait is inherited?
How would you describe or define inheritance?”

Student Actions: Students may write responses such as, “Traits are inherited because genes are
passed from parents to offspring.” “DNA is the basic unit of inheritance.” “Some traits that are
inherited include earlobe attachment, dimples, freckles, cleft chin, etc.” “XXXX trait was the
most/least common in our group.” “XXXX trait was the most/least common in the class.”

Group Discussion: After the chain notes activity is complete, I will collect the students’ work
and discuss the responses with the whole class. I will focus on what the students did right and
wrong (proper use of vocab, connecting the activities and question to the phenomenon, etc). Did
they bring up the terms “genes”, or “DNA”, and use them properly in their responses? Did they
mention which traits were the most/least common in their groups and the class, and mention how
this relates to the idea of inheritance? I will facilitate a discussion with students about what
inheritance means and how it relates to the activities and the phenomenon.

Re-teaching: At the end of the lesson, if I feel that students are having trouble graphing their
group results, I can do an example on the board in front of the class. I will explain what goes on
the x-axis, what goes on the y-axis, and how to organize the graph. If I still feel students are not
grasping the concepts related to inheritance, I may have to re-teach with another activity (see list
of activities for more ideas).

List of Activities:
- An Inventory of My Traits (see above)
- A Tree of Genetic Traits – individuals mark traits for tongue rolling, earlobe attachment, etc. on
a tree leaf cut out and then place the leaves on the appropriate branch of a large tree to organize
them by trait combination (visual representation of a frequency of a trait)
- Family Traits Trivia – an activity to find out what traits you share in common with others in
your family. What traits are unique to you? (You don’t have to be related to the members, it can
be people you live with)
- Generations of Traits – hands on activity where students track and record the passage of
colored pom-pom “traits” through three generations
- Traits Bingo – students cross off bingo squares in response to questions about their traits
- Handy Family Tree – picture of hands with traits about members of family (can be people you
live with, don’t have to be related)
- A Recipe for Traits – students create and decode a “DNA” recipe for a dog to observe how
variations in DNA lead to the inheritance of different traits
- Family Traits and Traditions – Students discern whether a trait is inherited or
learned/environmental

Activity ideas from: University of Utah, Genetic Science Learning Center 2015
https://teach.genetics.utah.edu/content/heredity/

Reflection on Rubrics:

SUMMER 2020

Rubric 1: Planning for Scientific Understandings

Level 3 – Construct explanations of the phenomenon or reasonable predictions based on
evidence and/or data
Reflection: Students will construct an explanation of the acquired traits phenomenon (with the
dogs) when they are doing their group work. When they are gathering data about how many
students have specific acquired traits, they are figuring out the prevalence of specific traits,
which relates to counting the number of puppies with specific traits like the mother. They will
answer questions such as, “How many students in each group have a specific trait?” “Which
traits are most/least common?”

Rubric 4: Identifying and Supporting Language Demands

Level 3: General language supports address use of two or more language demands
Reflection: I support student language by using images and pictures in the PowerPoint
presentation about genetics. I will also introduce new vocabulary in the presentation, such as
DNA, genes, traits, genotype, phenotype, etc. I also facilitate lots of discussions throughout the
lesson, and activate prior knowledge with the KLEWS chart.

Rubric 5: Planning Assessments to Monitor and Support Student Learning

Level 3: The assessments provide evidence to monitor students’ understanding of science
concepts, the phenomenon, and the application of scientific practices during scientific inquiry.
Reflection: In the Chain Notes formative assessment, I will gauge students understanding of the
topic of inheritance. With the question, “What does it mean if a trait is inherited? How would
you describe or define inheritance?” I will find out if students are grasping the concepts we are
learning in class. Do they have a basic definition for inheritance? Are they mentioning that
inherited traits are controlled by our genes? Do they mention the examples of traits we covered
in class?

Rubric 9: Subject-Specific Pedagogy: Analyzing Evidence and/or Data

Level 3: Candidate asks students to present or record evidence and/or data in tables, maps,
diagrams, or other graphical or statistical displays. And candidate guides students to find patterns
AND/OR inconsistencies in the data.
Reflection: Students are asked to fill out a bar graph with the results of their group work on
acquired traits. After they have graphed their results, we will have a group discussion looking at
the patterns within each group for the acquired traits. What patterns do you see in the data? Are
some traits more common than others? Why do you think that is the case?

Rubric 15: Using Assessment to Inform Instruction

Level 2: Next steps primarily focus on changes to teaching practice that are superficially related
to the student learning needs, for example, repeating instruction, pacing, or classroom
management issues.
Reflection: In my lesson plan, I mention that if students are not understanding how to graph their
data, I may have to do a whole group example and show them how to properly graph the data on
the board. I also mention that I may have to reteach with another activity if they are still not
understanding the concepts (see list of activities for other ideas).

FALL 2020

Rubric 3: Using Knowledge of Students to Inform Teaching and Learning

Level 3: Candidate justifies why learning tasks (or their adaptations) are appropriate using
examples of students’ prior academic learning OR personal, cultural, or community assets.
Reflection: In my Justification of Learning Tasks section, I point out that these activities are
appropriate for my students because it gets them thinking about their own traits and their
personal lives in relation to how their own traits were passed down from their parents.

Rubric 7: Engaging Students in Learning

Level 4: Candidate supports students in constructing evidence-based explanation of or
predictions about the phenomenon, AND students explain how evidence and/or data AND
acceptable science concepts support an explanation or prediction.
Reflection: In the Elaborate step of my ESA, I facilitate a discussion of how variation of traits
activities relate to the PowerPoint I present on the topics of Inheritance. Specifically, I have
students think about different patterns in their data and what they can conclude about traits in a
population. They will use evidence from their group work to support an explanation of variation
of traits within a population.

Rubric 8: Deepening Student Learning

Level 4: Candidate elicits and builds on students’ own ideas about science concepts, scientific
practices through inquiry, AND/OR the phenomenon being investigated.
Reflection: I build on students’ own ideas about the topic of Inheritance in the beginning of the
lesson when they fill out the KLEWS chart. The KLEWS chart allows me to build on what they
already know about Inheritance, what they are learning, the evidence, what they wonder, and the
science they already know. This activity allows me to find out what they already know about the
topic and build on their current understandings.

Rubric 11: Analysis of Student Learning

Level 3: The analysis focuses on what students did right AND wrong AND analysis includes
some differences in whole class learning.
Reflection: I use the Chain Notes activity from the Keeley book as a formative assessment
strategy. I included the question, “What does it mean if a trait is inherited,” and students will
write their responses in 1-2 sentences on a piece of paper that is passed around. After students
write their responses, I will review what they wrote as a discussion with the whole group. In the
discussion, I can focus on what students did right and wrong (proper use of vocab, do they
connect activities to the phenomenon, etc).

Rubric 12: Providing Feedback to Guide Learning

Level 3: Feedback is specific and addresses either needs OR strengths related to the learning
objectives.
Reflection: The learning objectives for my ESA focus on the students’ ability to identify
variation of traits within a population, organize and graph the traits in their groups, and identify
patterns in their results. I can give feedback as I walk around the class and assist students in
completing their graphs. Specifically, I can see if students are putting proper axes on their
graphs, and understanding different patterns in their data and how the results relate to
inheritance.

Rubric 14: Analyzing Students’ Language Use and Science Learning

Level 3: Candidate explains and provides evidence of students’ use of the language function
AND one or more additional language demands (vocabulary and/or symbols, syntax, discourse).
Reflection: For the Chain Notes formative assessment, we will come together as a class and
discuss what the students did right and wrong in the activity. I can point out where the
vocabulary and syntax was used correctly related to the topic of inheritance and where students
need to rethink use of vocab.