TE 802: Guided Lead Teaching Unit Plan and Report

Name: Kristen Bergh Partner: N/A

Mentor Teacher: Flonia Chillis School: Cass Technical High School
Class and grade level: Honors Biology, 9th Date: 9/15/14


Part I: Information about the Lesson and Unit
Topic: Population Ecology
Abstract
Students will conduct an inquiry activity using the simulation Wolf Sheep Predation to
answer, What factors affect the stability of a predator-prey population relationship? They will
develop their own focus questions and design and conduct an investigation using the simulation
through a PEOE sequence. They will write their rough drafts of their lab report in class and peer
review them.
Part II: Clarifying Your Goals for the Topic
A. Big Ideas
Populations of living things increase and decrease in size as they interact with other
populations and with the environment. The rate of change is dependent upon relative birth and
death rates, which are affected by environmental factors, such as the availability of food and the
presence of predators. A populations growth can be limited by density-dependent factors that
change as the population size changes, such as competition with other members of the population
for food, or by density-independent factors that affect the population regardless of its size, such
as a harsh winter. Together these factors create a limit to how many members of a species an
ecosystem can support, which is called the carrying capacity. Normally, a populations growth is
exponential until it reaches the environments carrying capacity, after which it levels off.
Populations of foreign invasive species that enter a new ecosystem are able to grow
exponentially for a long time because few factors limit their growth, and they may outcompete
native species.
(Michigan HSCE)
B. Student Practices
1. Naming key practices
Students will:
-Ask questions,
-Plan and carrying out an investigation
-Use mathematics and computational thinking


-Develop and use a model
-Engage in argument from evidence.
-Use peer review
C. Performance Expectations for Student Learning


Performance Expectation Associated
NGSS Practice
HSCE Performance Expectation(s)
1. (B1.1h, B1.1E, B3.5B)
Design and conduct a systematic scientific investigation that tests a
hypothesis about the factors that affect population growth. Draw conclusions
from data and describe a reason for a given conclusion using evidence from
the investigation.
Inquiry
2. (B3.5C, B1.1D)
Identify patterns in data and relate them to theoretical models of how
an invading organism will impact the survival of other organisms in an
ecosystem.
Using
Specific Lesson Objective(s)
1. (B1.1h, B1.1E, B3.5B)
Design and conduct a systematic scientific investigation that tests a
hypothesis about the factors that affect population growth. Draw conclusions
from data and describe a reason for a given conclusion using evidence from
the investigation.
Inquiry




Part III: Example Activity Sequence
A. Storyline for the Activity Sequence in Context

Stage Role in Storyline


Lessons
before your
sequence
The day before students will have been introduced to some of the major concepts in
population ecology, such as carrying capacity and limiting factors, and will have
practiced graphing exponential growth. Students will be given the introduction to the lab
to read for homework.
Lesson 1 Students will be introduced to the guiding question for this activity, What factors affect the
stability of a predator-prey population size relationship? and to the NetLogo simulation
Wolf Sheep Predation. They will be put into groups or four or five students and be
given time to explore the simulation, then develop their investigation question and a
hypothesis and fill out the investigation proposal worksheet. If there is time, they will
begin collecting data.
Lesson 2 Students will finish collecting data, then analyze it and begin working on the rough draft of
their lab reports. If they dont finish, they will finish their rough draft at home.
Lesson 3 Students will peer-review each others rough drafts using a rubric. They will write their
final lab report for homework
Lessons after
the activity
Students will apply what they learned about factors that affect a populations size and the
influence of predator populations on prey to explain why the elk in Yellowstone National
Park became overpopulated in the absence of wolves.

B. Activity Sequence Details

Focus Objective
Objective NGSS Practice
Design and conduct a systematic scientific investigation that tests a
hypothesis about the factors that affect population growth. Draw
conclusions from data and describe a reason for a given conclusion using
evidence from the investigation.
Inquiry (PEOE)


.
2. PEOE Inquiry Sequence
Stages in Your PEOE Sequence

Stage Teaching Activities
Predict Students will fill out an investigation proposal worksheet that includes a
hypothesis


Explain On their investigation proposal worksheet, students will explain the
reasoning behind their hypothesis
Observe Students conduct their proposed investigation using the Wolf Sheep
Simulation
Explain Students will write a lab report explaining their findings.


Source of activity:
Sampson, V., Enderle, P., Gleim, L., Grooms, J., Hester, M., Southerland, S., et al. (2014).
Arugment-Driven Inquiry in Biology. Arlington: NSTA Press.
C. Lesson Plans
Lesson 1 Materials
Presentation materials (Overhead transparencies or PowerPoint presentations, etc):
-Projector and computer
Copied materials (Handouts, worksheets, tests, lab directions, etc.):
-Lab introduction handout
-Investigation proposal guide
-Peer review rubric
Laboratory materials:
For each laboratory station: One IPad from IPad cart per group of 4-5 students
Lesson 1 Activities
Lesson 1 Introduction (5 minutes)
Talk briefly about the ways that populations can interact with each other in a food web,
and how those interactions might affect the size of the population in order to connect the
previous unit (energy and matter cycling in an ecosystem) to the current unit. Introduce the
guiding question of the investigation, What factors affect the stability of a predator-prey
relationship? and briefly discuss the lab handout they read for homework.

Lesson 1 Main Teaching Activities (45 minutes)
10 min: Pass out and go over the investigation proposal sheet. Use the projector to show
the students the simulation and explain the different parameters that they can change. Explain
that they will have to decide which variables to test in order to see how they affect the
populations stability, and while they can take a few minutes to mess around with the simulation,
they must get an investigation proposal approved by the end of class at the latest so they can
collect their data. Allow students to form groups.
33 min: Call students up one group at a time to check out an IPad from the cart by giving
me their ID card. Groups can spend the rest of the time writing their proposal and, once its


approved, collecting data. I will check over their proposals and suggest changes or give them the
go-ahead to start.

Lesson 1 Conclusion (7 minutes)
Students will return the IPads to the cart. I will inform them that during the next class
period they need to finish collecting data and can start writing the rough draft of their lab report
in their notebook.

Lesson 2 Materials
-IPad
-Rubric for lab report
Lesson 2 Introduction (5 minutes)
I will remind students that they need to finish collecting their data during this class period, and
inform them that they will have the entire hour to work on that and the rough draft of their lab
report, which is due the next day. While group members can work together, each student must
complete their own lab report that they will turn in. I will pass out and briefly go over the
rubric, reminding them that they already have some of the sections completed in their
investigation proposal.
Lesson 2 Main Teaching Activities (45 minutes)
Groups will check out an IPad by giving me one of their ID cards, then spend the rest of
the time working.
Lesson 2 Conclusion (5 minutes)
Students will return the IPads to the cart. I will remind them that the rough draft of their
lab report is due by next class period, and explain that they will spend the hour peer reviewing
each others lab reports.
Lesson 3 Materials
-peer review checklists (classroom set)
Lesson 3 Introduction (10 minutes)
I will remind students that they are peer reviewing each others lab reports, and briefly
explain the importance of the peer review process. I will explain that scientists must always
get their work peer reviewed before it is taken seriously. I will pass out the peer-review rubric
and go over it with them, and explain that they will be graded for if they provide constructive
feedback.
Lesson 3 Main Teaching Activities (35 minutes)
Each student will peer review two other peoples lab reports. They will spend any extra
time getting started on their final lab report, written in their composition notebook.
Lesson 3 Conclusion (5 minutes)
I will remind students that their final lab reports are due next class period, and that they
will also need to turn in their peer review sheets and rough drafts.


Part IV: Assessment of Focus Students
A. Focus Objective
Design and conduct a systematic scientific investigation that tests a hypothesis about the
factors that affect population growth. Draw conclusions from data and describe a reason for a
given conclusion using evidence from the investigation.

B. Developing Assessment Tasks
1. Students will complete a formal lab report in their composition notebooks which
includes the following sections: title, purpose (guiding question), hypothesis, procedure,
explanation for procedure, data table and graphs, conclusion (including claim, evidence from
data, and reasoning). Students have already been introduced to this format and completed a
practice lab report.
2. Test questions from district common assessment:
The amount of energy available to individual consumers in an ecosystem is limited by
A. the number of producers
B. the amount of sunlight
C. the amount of predators
D. the number of consumers
In an ecosystem there are usually fewer predators than there are primary consumers. This
is because
A. energy is lost as it moves from one organism to another in a food web.
B. predators require more energy because they have to hunt for food.
C. the smaller size of primary consumers makes it easy for them to conserve
energy
D. energy is gained as it moves from one organism to to another in a food web.


Part V: After the Unit Report

A. Description of Changes in Your Plans
After getting feedback from Dr. Richmond, I decided to have each student turn in the
peer review sheets they got from the two classmates who edited their lab reports. Dr. Richmond
suggested that I have some way to grade students on how much effort they put in to helping their
peers improve. After talking to my mentor teacher, I realized that the simulation, which was a
Java application, would not be able to run on an IPad, so we reserved the computer lab in the
media center instead.


B. Story of What Happened
My unit got off to a rocky start when my students had much more trouble than I
anticipated with graphing exponential growth. I wanted them to have a chance to explore what
would happen if a population could expand without limits as well as a chance to practice their
graphing skills, so I had them chart the progress of a bacterial culture that doubled every 20
minutes as an introduction to the unit. However, this turned out to be a lot more difficult for them
than I had anticipated. I had thought that this would be review for them, or at least not too
challenging, as I had substitute taught middle-school classes that covered exponential growth in
the past, but it ended up really confusing them and we spend a lot more time going over it than I
had initially planned. Many students were baffled as to how they were supposed to graph a line
that started out with y-values under a hundred but ended up over two million. One student drew
his y-scale doubling each tick mark, which resulted in a perfectly linear curve.
After we covered exponential growth, we moved from there to limits on growth, limiting
factors, and carrying capacity. My students seemed to have the most trouble wrapping their
heads around the difference between density-dependent and density-independent factors. For
example, when I asked which flooding would be, one student argued that it was density-
dependent because if the deer population was larger there would be more deer caught in the
flood. Several students were also confused about whether a disease was density-dependent or
density-independent, but I think that had more to do with not thinking too deeply about how
infectious diseases spread.
My activity sequence was initially a complete disaster due to technical troubles and poor
planning on my part. It turned out that because the simulation was an outdated Java application it
would not run on the computers unless their security settings were changed. Although changing
the security settings wasnt that complicated, trying to explain how to do it to all of my students
while they were in the computer lab was quite challenging. I tried to hook a projector up to one
of the computers so I could walk everyone through the process step-by-step, but I wasnt able to
get the projector to work and started panicking. Fortunately the librarian was able to give me a
hand, but my students by that point were frustrated with me and getting antsy, as getting the
predation simulation up and running for everyone took a good chunk of the hour. I then walked
them through the parts of the simulation and tried to verbally explain what I wanted them to
write in their investigation proposals, which were supposed to be due by the end of the hour. On
the fly I changed their assignment from needing two hypotheses to only needing one, as they
were running short on time, but some students missed that and ended up making two anyway.
Because we were so short on time, I didnt have a chance to discuss the classic predator prey
population cycle you can see using the simulation the way I had originally wanted to, and no one
had time to finish their proposals. I essentially ended up a day behind, which was a bit of a
problem considering we only had access to the computers for two days.
As the groups worked together to collect their data, I quickly realized that I hadnt done a
good enough job explaining what I expected of them. One of my goals for this activity sequence
was to give students quite a bit of autonomy, as they could decide what hypotheses to test.
However, many groups, including Lauras, initially made very simplistic hypotheses, such as, If
the wolf population increases, then the sheep population will decrease as the wolves eat the
sheep. Laura and her partner generally had a hard time staying on task and often got distracted
messing around with the settings on the simulation rather than trying to finish their proposal. I
had a hard time balancing between encouraging groups to explore and getting them to finish


deciding what they wanted to test. Originally I had planned on check their investigation
proposals overnight and giving them feedback before they started collecting data, but because it
took us so long to get going they had to write their proposal and collect their data the same day. I
tried to talk to as many groups as I could and gradually made more and more guidelines for what
I expected of them in the process. For example, several groups collected data only two or three
times through the course of their simulation. I initially hadnt wanted to give them a minimum
number of data points they needed to collect as I knew if I did all the groups would only collect
that much data and no more, but I ended up backpedaling on that pretty quickly. Even so, by the
end of the second day, most of the groups still hadnt finished collecting all their data.
Fortunately Ms. Chillis was able to borrow a cart of Netbooks from another teacher, but I ended
up scrapping the peer review idea as so many of the groups were struggling to finish even with
an extra day. Instead, I made the process optional for those students who finished their work
early.


B. Making Sense of Focus Students Responses
1. Descriptions of focus students

Pseudonym Academic Standing Personal Description
Aarav A Short, quiet, Bengali boy who is often late to class
Stephano B Quiet Hispanic boy who rarely actively participates
Laura D African American girl who often has difficulty
remaining on task


2. Excellent Response or Rubric
Lab report rubric:

Section Points Possible Guidelines
Title Page 5 Is there a title page that includes the students name,
date, and hour?
Does the title clearly communicate what the
experiment is about in as few words as possible?


Purpose 5 Did the author describe the goal of the study, being
specific to the variable they chose to manipulate?
Did they explain how the goal relates to the guiding
question of the investigation?
Hypotheses 5 Is the hypothesis in the form of an if-then
statement?
Does the hypothesis include both a prediction and a
reason for that prediction?
Materials List 5 Does the materials list contain the name of the
simulation we used, so that someone unfamiliar
with it could find it easily?
Procedure 5 Is the procedure in the form of a numbered list?
Is it clear and easy to follow?
Did the author include what data they collected and
how they collected it? (how often they sampled, etc)
Did they indicate which variable they changed for
the experimental group and what value they
changed it to?
Results 10 Do the results contain the authors data in a well-
organized data table?
Are the units clear?
Do the results include at least one graph?
Does the graph have labeled axes and a title?
Is the graph easy to read?
Conclusion 10 Did the author include a claim that answers the
guiding question?
Do they explain if their hypothesis was correct or
incorrect?
Did they include evidence to support their claim by
referencing their data?
Is that evidence relevant?
Does the claim match the data?
Does the author connect the results of the
investigation to concepts we have discussed in class
using the correct vocabulary words (population,
carrying capacity, and so on)?


Neatness/Grammar 5 Are all sections (except for the title and materials
list) written in complete sentences?
Are sentences grammatically correct and free of
spelling errors?
Are all sections labeled and easy to find?
Are the graph(s) on graph paper and were they
made with a straight edge?
Is the final draft typed or written neatly in pen?
Rough Draft 5 Was the rough draft completed on time, as shown
by Ms. Berghs signature? Were any comments left
on the investigation proposal addressed in the final
draft?
Peer Review 5 Did the student address the comments left by their
peers?

Did the student peer review two of their classmates
rough drafts, leaving constructive criticism?


Sample Lab Report Conclusion:
When we increased the amount of time the grass took to regrow from 30 ticks to
50 ticks, the ecosystem became very unstable and the wolf population died out entirely, just as
we predicted. In the control simulation, which was run using default settings, the wolf, sheep,
and grass populations changed in a repeating pattern but remained fairly constant. When the
sheep population was high, the grass population and wolf population were low, and vis versa.
While the three populations changed quite a bit at first, the sheep population stabilized to about
150, the wolf population to about 60, and the grass population to about 1,000, suggesting that
these are the control ecosystems carrying capacities. However, in the experimental simulation
the wolf population died out at about 150 ticks. Because grass grew back more slowly in this
simulation, there was less energy available to the sheep and then to the wolves. This experiment
shows that if there are not enough producers in an ecosystem it will not be able to support
second-order consumers.

Sample Ecology Quiz Responses:
3. (From me):


A glacier is melting, and as a result, a new stream is being formed. Initially, the stream
has no living things in it, but over the next 10 years, more and more living things wil be found in
the stream.
a) How would you predict what organisms would be in the stream in 10 years?
DO NOT make a list of organisms. Tell us how you would make your
predictions. Be as detailed as you can in your answer.
I would look at the streams abiotic factors, such as water temperature, depth, and how fast its
flowing. I would then research which organisms are nearby and can survive in that sort of
environment. I would expect there to be at least some plants or algae or some other kind of
producer in the stream, because they are the first link in any food chain.
b) What are some interactions (relationships) with other living things that could
affect if an insect can survive and reproduce on the newly formed stream?
Whatever organism or organisms that the insect eats must also be present in the stream, or the
insect will not be able to survive there. In addition, there may be organisms in the stream that eat
the insect. (Other possible answers involve symbiosis and competition)


3. Finding and Explaining Patterns in Student Responses
Students conclusions were mainly focused on describing what happened in their
simulations and not on explaining why that happened. Although students typically mentioned if
their hypothesis was correct or not and sometimes supported that claim with data, they rarely
included any kind of reasoning or explained the implications of the experiment. For example,
Aarav, who is an A student, observes, The population of wolves did not increase as I predicted.
However, it did not decrease at a steady rate either. The population of wolves and sheep
constantly went higher, then went back down then higher again. Aarav describes the predator-
prey cycle, but offers no explanation as to why this pattern exists. This pattern holds true for
Stephano and Lauras conclusions as well. In both cases, they describe patterns in the data but do
not attempt to interpret those patterns or explain what might be causing them. The students drew
conclusions from the data but failed to connect those conclusions to the overall purpose of the
experiment.
All three of my focus students got the selected exam questions correct, suggesting that
they did get something out of this unit. In fact, my students in general did better on those
questions than on the rest of the test. This suggests that despite the fact that they did not
demonstrate their knowledge of how energy flows through an ecosystem and how that flow can
limit population sizes in the conclusions of their lab reports, an interactive experience with an
admittedly fake ecosystem may have helped them understand these concepts.
I gave the two questions about the glacier stream as a quiz, and I found that the answers I
got varied quite a bit. Aaravs answer, for example, suggests he is at least considering how
interactions among organisms can affect their population sizes. He wrote, as some organisms
move into the stream, others will follow. If a consumer moves in to the stream in search of food,
it will later reproduce and grow in numbers. Predators with follow them into the stream because
of the need of food from the consumers. Aarav makes a bit of an artificial distinction between
consumers and predators, but seemed to understand how food availability or the presence of


predators can cause a population to grow larger or smaller. Stephanos response, while a littler
harder to interpret, also suggests he has a basic understanding of the fact that a consumer
population must rely on another population for food. In response to the second question, he
wrote, The other insects mustve died and the insects were only left with themselves. Also they
wont be able to help each other like if the surviving insect ate a type of insect it wouldnt be
able to get the insect for food since its dead.

(Student work in separate file)

C. Improvements Parts I-IV
If I was to do this activity sequence over again, I would make it a TOPE sequence rather
than a PEOE. My students really struggled with the explain portions of the PEOE, both in their
hypotheses, which tended to be straight predictions without any kind of explanation, and in their
conclusions, in which they just described what happened rather than explaining why it happened.
This also had the effect of making it difficult to interpret if they had accomplished the objective.
I think a PEOE this early in the year may have been too ambitious, as my students hadnt had
much practice writing lab reports. I hoped students would be able to make educated guesses
about the effects of manipulating different variables based on what they had already learned
about food chains and populations that they could incorporate into their hypotheses, but just
figuring out how to run the simulations and collect data was apparently to stressful. If I did this
experiment again, we would discuss how to use the simulation (techniques) and then I would
allow them to play with on their own for a few minutes (observe). I would then ask them
questions prompting them to describe the patterns they found and asking them to explain those
patterns (pattern and explain). If I did try to do this activity sequence again while keeping it a
PEOE, I would provide my students with more scaffolding instead of expecting them to
remember how to write a good conclusion. I would first model the experimental process by
going through it as a class with the simulation on default settings before I cut them loose to try
manipulating the different variables.
In addition, I would put more thought into setting up the technological aspects of the lab.
If I had realized that the java application was going to be so much trouble sooner, I could have
printed out step-by-step instructions ahead of time on how to change a computers security
settings in order to allow it to run. I also wish I had put more thought into the formation of the
lab groups. In the future Id like to try pairing up a students who are doing well in the class with
those who are struggling, as the students who are succeeding might be able to mentor their
classmates.

D. Improvements in Your Understanding of Science Teaching
One thing this activity sequence really drove home was while its great to have high
expectations without the proper scaffolding students will not be able to meet them and will
quickly get frustrated and discouraged. I hoped to increase my students motivation by giving
them more autonomy, but instead they were so confused about what they were doing that I got
low quality lab reports and students generally seemed to put forth little effort. I also learned that


connecting a lab to scientific concepts seems straight-forward to me, but is apparently very
challenging for my students and is something Ill have to emphasize in the future.
Attachments
Predator-Prey Population Size Relationships: Which Factors Affect the
Stability of a Predator-Prey Population Size Relationship?

Lab Handout

Introduction
Several factors determine the size of any population
within an ecosystem. The factors that affect the size of a
population are divided into two broad categories: abiotic factors,
which are the nonliving components of an ecosystem, and biotic
factors, which are the other living components found within an
ecosystem.
Predation is an example of a biotic factor that influences
the size of a population (see the figure to the right). Predation is an
interaction between species in which one) species (the predator)
uses another species as food (the prey). Predation often leads to an
increase in the population size of the predator and a decrease in the
population size of the prey. However, if the size of a prey population gets too small, many of the predators may not
have enough food to eat and will die. As a result, the predator population size and the population size of its prey are
linked. The sizes of a predator population and a prey population often cycle over several generations (see the figure
to the right, A stable predator-prey population size relationship),
and this cyclic pattern is often described as a predator-prey
population size relationship. A predator-prey population size
relationship that results in both populations surviving over time,
despite fluctuations in the size of each one over several
generations, is described as stable. A predator-prey relationship
that results in the extinction of one or more species, in contrast, is
described as unstable.
There are a number of factors that might influence the
size of predator and prey populations in an ecosystem and can
contribute to the overall stability of a predator-prey population size relationship. These factors include, but are not
limited to, the amount of food available for the prey, the number of different prey species available for a predator,
and how fast the predator and the prey species reproduce. In this investigation, you will investigate how a population


of predators (wolves) and a population of its prey (sheep) interact with each other and the plant life in an
environment over time.
Argument-Driven Inquiry in Biology: Lab Investigations for Grades 912 Copyright 2014 NSTA. All rights reserved. For
more information, go to www.nsta.org/permissions.
Your Task

Determine what makes a predator-prey population size relationship stable or unstable. The guiding question
of this investigation is, Which factors affect the stability of a predator-prey population size relationship?

Materials

You will use an online simulation called Wolf Sheep Predation to conduct your investigation. You can
access the simulation by going to the following website: http://ccl.northwestern.edu/
netlogo/models/WolfSheepPredation.

Getting Started
The Wolf Sheep Predation simulation allows you to explore the
stability of the predator-prey population size relationship between a
population of wolves (the predator) and a population of sheep (the prey). In
the simulation, wolves and sheep wander around the landscape at random.
The wolves lose energy with each step, and when they run out of energy
they die. The wolves therefore must eat sheep to replenish their energy. You
can set the simulation so there is an unlimited amount of food for the sheep
to eat (grass off) or you can set the simulation so it includes a limited
amount of grass in the ecosystem (grass on). If you decide to leave grass out
of the simulation, the sheep never run out of energy and they only die when a wolf eats them. If you decide to
include grass in the simulation, the sheep must eat grass to maintain their energy; when they run out of energy, they
die. Once grass is eaten by a sheep it will only regrow after a fixed amount of time; you can adjust the amount of
time it takes for grass to regrow. You can also set other factors such as the initial population size of the wolves and
the sheep and what percentage of the wolves and sheep reproduce with each tick of the simulation (each tick
represents a set amount of timein this case a day).
To answer the guiding question, you must determine what type of data you will need to collect, how you
will collect it, and how you will analyze it. To determine what type of data you will need to collect, think about the
following questions:

How will you determine if a predator- prey relationship is stable?
What will serve as your dependent variable (number of wolves number of sheep, and so on)?
What type of measurements or observations will you need to record during your investigation?

To determine how you will collect your data, think about the following questions:
What will serve as a control (or comparison) condition?
What types of treatment conditions will you need to set up and how will you do it?
How often will you collect data and when will you do it?
How will you make sure that your data are of high quality (i.e., how will you reduce error)?
How will you keep track of the data you collect and how will you organize the data?



To determine how you will analyze your data, think about the following questions:
How will you determine if there is a difference between the treatment conditions and the control condition?
What type of calculations will you need to make?
What type of graph could you create to help make sense of your data?



Argument-Driven Inquiry in Biology: Lab Investigations for Grades 912 Copyright 2014 NSTA. All rights reserved. For
more information, go to www.nsta.org/permissions.

Peer Review Rubric

Please do not write on this sheet. On a separate piece of paper, write a score (0-3) and some ideas
for how the author could improve for each section.
Scoring: 3 Guidelines are met; 2 Some guidelines are met; 1 Few guidelines are met; 0
No guidelines are met

Section Guidelines
Title Is the title easy to find and does it clearly communicate what the
experiment is about in as few words as possible?
Purpose Did the author describe the goal of the study?
Did they explain how the goal relates to the guiding question of the
investigation?
Hypotheses Are the hypotheses in the form of an if-then statement?
Do the hypotheses include both a prediction and a reason for that
prediction?
Materials List Is the materials list complete?
Procedure Is the procedure in the form of a numbered list?
Is it clear and easy to follow?
Did the author include what data they collected and how they
collected it?
Did they explain how they analyzed that data?
Results Do the results contain the authors data in a well-organized data
table?
Are the units clear?
Do the results include at least one graph?
Does the graph have labeled axes and a title?
Is the graph easy to read?


Conclusion Did the author include a claim that answers the guiding question?
Do they explain if their hypothesis was correct or incorrect?
Did they include evidence to support their claim by referencing their
data?
Is that evidence relevant?
Does the claim match the data?
Does the author connect the results of the investigation to concepts
we have discussed in class using the correct vocabulary words
(population, carrying capacity, and so on)?
Neatness/Grammar Are all sections (except of the title and materials list) written in
complete sentences?
Are sentences grammatically correct and free of spelling errors?
Are all sections labeled and easy to find?
Are the graph(s) on graph paper and were they made with a straight
edge?



Investigation Proposal: uploaded separately





Grading Rubric
Summary Comments

Comments on specific sections. The parts emphasized for this report are in bold. Criteria for
grading are the bulleted lists in each section.
I: Abstract
IIA: Big ideas
IIB: Practices
IIC: Performance
expectations

IIIA: Storyline
IIIB: Steps in activity
sequence

IIIC: Lesson materials and
activities

IV: Assessment tasks
VA: Story of what
happened

VB: Analysis of focus
student responses

VC: Improvements for
next time

VD: Improvements in your
understanding



Final Grade =