Inquiry Lesson Plan

Teacher: Mia Davis Subject: Biology

State Standards:
HS-LS4-3. - Apply concepts of statistics and probability to support explanations that organisms with an
advantageous heritable trait tend to increase in proportion to organisms lacking this trait.
HS-LS4-4. - Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation
of populations.
HS-LS4-5. - Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may
result in (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species
over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.

Objective (Explicit):
Students will evaluate coloration change in a rock pocket mouse population by filling out a guided lab
sheet to completion.

Evidence of Mastery (Measurable):

Include a copy of the lesson assessment.
Provide exemplar student responses with the level of detail you expect to see.
Assign value to each portion of the response.

Students will fill out the guided notes to go along with the opening activity, video information, and final
activity. This worksheet will help us assess the students understanding while also helping the students
synthesize the information and activities. Students must entirely complete this guided handout before
turning it in where the open-ended questions will be reviewed for correctness. This assignment will be
worth 10 points, with a total of 10 questions and 1 point per question.

Answer Key and examples of acceptable student answers found on pages 3-5 of the teacher guide:

Sub-Objectives (SWBAT: Formative Assessment:

sequenced from basic to
complex) : Students’ formative assessment is the student
Will you review past learning and make guided handout, which contains the 10 questions, attached
connections to previous lessons? in the evidence of mastery section.
What skills and content are needed to ultimately
master this lesson’s explicit objective?
How is this lesson relative to students, their lives,
and/or the real world?

Students will use prior knowledge about natural selection to predict the shift in coloration in rock pocket
mouse populations over time by placing 4 picture card in the order they predict occurred.
Students will watch a video on the evolution of coloration in rock pocket mouse populations and fill out
guided analysis questions on their handout.
Students will revise their original order of illustrations according to the correct timeline, provided in the
video.
Students will answer analysis questions which connect back to how this applies to real world examples
of skin variance in humans (which we explored last week).
Key Vocabulary: Materials:
- natural selection - mutation - student laptops - student science binder
- evolution - variation - activity guided packet - rock pocket mouse video
- adaptation - trait - laminated picture cards (4 per group):

Opening:
How will you introduce the learning? State objectives, connect to previous learning, make learning relevant to real life, etc.
How will you activate student interest?
How will you connect to past learning?
How will you present information in an engaging and student-friendly way?

Introduce activity by summarizing important take aways from previous lessons that build to this, like
natural selection and human skin color variation.
- What is an example of selective pressure in human variation that we have discussed?
- “Today we are going to explore an example of coloration change in mice populations, and how that
benefits their survival.”
- Do we remember what we called it when a species selects certain traits over others because it helped
them survive longer?
Learning Goal: to understand how mouse populations change over time and why

Instructional Input:
How will you model/explain/demonstrate all knowledge/skills required to master the objective?
What types of visuals will you use to present instruction (i.e. slide deck, video clip, ppt, etc.)
How will you check for understanding? What questions will you ask to engage the learner?
Provide details in this section so that another person could facilitate this lesson.

Instruc. Teacher will: Student will:

Input - give students 4 picture card
illustrations and prompt them to - Students will be given 4 cards with different variations of
record the data according to the light and dark rock pocket mice numbers
first table on the worksheet - Students will record the numbers of light and dark for
(how many light and dark each picture according to the first table prompt
colored mice can be found on - Students must then predict the color order of coloration
each) sequence over time
Then we will discuss the - answer the prediction analysis questions on the student
Sonoran Desert (as it connects handout before watching the video
real world to this population
example of mice from the
Sonoran Desert) asking
questions like:
- Where is the Sonoran Desert?
-Do we live in the Sonoran
Desert?
- What does the Sonoran
Desert usually look like?
- Which mouse color would
blend more with the Sonoran
Desert?
- If the light-colored mice blend
more than what might cause
the darker mice to be flavored?
“That is what we saw in the
rock pocket mice, after a
volcano erupted, leaving darker
 lava flow behind.”
- Prompt students answer
question 2 by to placing them in
sequential order
- Tell students that the video we
are going to watch will answer
the questions as we learn more
about the rock pocket mouse
population.

Co-teaching strategies:
This lesson is predominantly student driven, with the teachers offering help and some guided
direction to help transition in between activities. So, I would utilize one teach, one assist for
this lesson plan.

Differentiation strategies:
Students will be able to access the video online and opt for completely online assessments.
This worksheet is guided so students will have extra prompts on what to write and reflect on.
Using the one teaches, one assist method, students will also have access to extra help when
needed. Students will also be working in groups based on skill level (student 1 – typically
higher performing, in descending order).

Guided Practice:
How will you ensure that all students have multiple opportunities to practice new content/skills?
What types of questions can you ask students as you are observing them practice?
How/when will you check for understanding?
Provide details in this section so that another person could facilitate this lesson.

Guided Teacher will: Student will:

Prac. - play this video on the
evolution of coloration in the - Watch and be engaged in the video and its content
rock pocket mouse population - Answer the guided video questions
which gives students the - Engage in teacher prompted post-video analysis
correct timeline questions
- Ask: - Help class collaboration in answering question 9
- Why are light rock pocket
mice still present in the
population if the dark colored
mice are favored?
- Could the coloration of rock
pocket mouse population
change back to a population of
mostly light-colored mice?
- Does shift in coloration
happen quickly or over time?
- After the video we will fill out
question 9 together as a class
as it summarizes the main take
away and ensures our learning
goal was met

Co-teaching strategies:
 This lesson is predominantly student driven, with the teachers offering help and some guided
direction to help transition in between activities. So, I would utilize one teach, one assist for
this lesson plan.

Differentiation strategies:
Students will be able to access the video online and opt for completely online assessments.
This worksheet is guided so students will have extra prompts on what to write and reflect on.
Using the one teaches, one assist method, students will also have access to extra help when
needed. For the video, closed captions will be on and the video will be accessible to students
on google class if they want to opt to watch it on their personal computers.

Independent Practice:
What activity will students complete (independently or small groups)?
How will you plan to coach and correct students during this practice?
How will you provide opportunities for remediation and extension?
Provide details in this section so that another person could facilitate this lesson.

Indep. Teacher will: Student will:

Prac. - Prompt students to revise
their illustration and place
them in the correct order by
filing out the second table
- Reiterate the idea of CER
and have students complete
the remaining questions
independently or in groups
- Reexamine the illustrations and fill out the table according
to the correct order based on the information provided in
the video.
- Answer the analysis questions following the table and
video information.

Co-teaching strategies:
This lesson is predominantly student driven, with the teachers offering help and some guided
direction to help transition in between activities. So, I would utilize one teach, one assist for
this lesson plan.

Differentiation strategies:
Students will be able to access the video online (in case students want to refer back to the
video to help them answer the guided questions during independent practice) and opt for
completely online assessments. This worksheet is guided so students will have extra prompts
on what to write and reflect on. Using the one teaches, one assist method, students will also
have access to extra help when needed. Students are given a 3-day grace period for
assignments (homework and in class) so they have extra time to complete or come in for help
on the guided questions with no late docking. Students will also be working in groups based
on skill level (student 1 – typically higher performing, in descending order).

Closure:
May include student reflection, real-life connections, assessment, exit-ticket, discussion, etc.
How will students summarize and state the significance of what they learned?
Why will students be engaged?

Students will close their activity by completing and turning in the guided worksheet which summarizes
the main ideas about the activity. If students did not complete the worksheet they can bring it back,
completed, the next day. The learning goal will be restated while transitioning into the next activity. The
closing questions to think about for tomorrow would be, how can we see two different shades on the
same mouse (reference underbelly being lighter). This will help transition into the topic of codominance
which we will start the next day.