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What physical features helped a dinosaur survive? Instructional Guide

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CENTRAL QUESTION: What physical features helped a dinosaur survive?
TIME:
50 minutes

Overview:

MATERIALS:

GETTING STARTED

Before class...

In Class...

 

SECTION 1

PLAN AND CARRY OUT AN INVESTIGATION
(20 minutes)

OVERVIEW

In pairs, students will use the Dino Lab simulator to build a unique dinosaur model to survive four different challenges. Students will be prompted along the way to think critically about the relationship between the physical structure and functions of their models and investigate which combinations of features are optimal for success in the game.

ASSESSMENT

In this section, the instructor may find it useful to focus on the following critical thinking skills, defined in more detail in the Student Learning Assessment Tool located under the “Teacher Support” tab of the website:
  STUDENT ACTION TIPS FOR SUPPORTING CRITICAL THINKING

STEP 1

Students watch the video on Step 1 of the website (0:36 minutes).

Direct students’ attention to the following before beginning the video:

Carrie is going to talk about the first task. Listen for what the task is and how to accomplish it.

STEP 2

In pairs, students use the Dino Lab simulation software on Step 2 of the website, while also doing the following:

  • Record their different builds of dinosaur models in their Research Assistant Notebook, pages one through four.
  • Answer three reflection questions at the end of each challenge.
  • Develop an explanation for why their dinosaur model was successful or unsuccessful at each stage.

RESEARCH ASSISTANT NOTEBOOK (RAN): pages 1-4

Use the “Student Learning Assessment Tool” to record observations, modeling critical thinking skills as needed.

Draw attention to students/groups that are engaged in target behavior to provide reinforcement and peer modeling.

Prompt students to use sentence stems that reinforce flexible thinking and help students verbalize their thought processes:

  • “I see...”
  • “I think...”
  • “I wonder...”

Encourage students to discuss how the structure of their model might affect the physical functions a dinosaur needs in order to survive each challenge.

Note: The discussion questions at the end of each challenge provide the opportunity for students to reflect on their model’s performance. Additionally, these questions might provide information that could be used in conjunction with results from testing the models to construct an explanation for why their dinosaur model was successful or unsuccessful.

 

SECTION 2

TESTING EXPLANATIONS
(15 minutes)

OVERVIEW

In pairs, students will test their explanations for which combinations of physical features are most important for their dinosaur model to survive the four different challenges, and continue to gather evidence to support their explanations.

ASSESSMENT

In this section, the instructor may find it useful to focus on the following critical thinking skills, defined in more detail in the Student Learning Assessment Tool located under the “Teacher Support” tab of the website:
  STUDENT ACTION TIPS FOR SUPPORTING CRITICAL THINKING

STEP 3

Students prepare and carry out an investigation to test what physical features helped a dinosaur survive, using Dino Lab to test their inferences.

RAN: pages 5 & 6

Students can accomplish this step as a class or in their individual pairs.

Variation: Students share their explanations with another pair of students and then, in their original pairs, test their peers’ explanations and compare the results to their own results.

Prompt students to test their explanations by building models they predict will be successful or unsuccessful and to record these results as evidence.

Encourage students to discuss how the structure of their model might affect the physical function they are designing for.

 

SECTION 3

DISCUSS AND REFLECT
(15 minutes)

OVERVIEW

Students complete this Research Quest investigation by analyzing and interpreting what they have learned and using the evidence they’ve gathered to construct an explanation for what physical features helped their dinosaur models survive.

ASSESSMENT

In this section, the instructor may find it useful to focus on the following critical thinking skills, defined in more detail in the Student Learning Assessment Tool located under the “Teacher Support” tab of the website:
  STUDENT ACTION TIPS FOR SUPPORTING CRITICAL THINKING

STEP 4

In pairs, students discuss what they have learned and then fill out the form on Step 3 of the website to share their explanations and supporting evidence with Carrie.

Note: This step is optional. However, responses from all students using your unique student access code will show up in your admin dashboard on the Research Quest website.

STEP 5

Students may complete additional extension activities.

Optional extension activities are provided on the website to take student learning a step further.

The Student Rubric for Assessing Learning Outcomes is located in the support materials for each investigation. Using this rubric, students can reflect on the critical thinking skills that they developed and practiced during this investigation, and think about ways they can continue to use these skills in the future.

Reinforce critical thinking skills, vocabulary, and other target behavior during curriculum-aligned activities.