Matthew Topel

TE 861 Inquiry Lesson Sequence

I. Initial Plans
Goals
Throughout this sequence of lessons the 8th grade class will be dealing with the
following list of formal goals from the NGSS
Performance Expectation: MS-LS1-8
 “Gather and Synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by
sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior”
Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI’s): LS1.D: Information Processing
 “ Each sense receptor responds to different inputs (electromagnetic, mechanical,
chemical), transmitting them as signals that travel along nerve cells to the brain.
The signals are then processed in the brain, resulting in immediate behaviors or
memories.”
Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect, Systems and System Models, Structure and
Function
 “Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural
systems”
 “Systems may interact with other systems; they may have sub-systems and be a
part of larger complex systems.”
 “Complex and microscopic structures and systems can be visualized, modeled,
and used to describe how their function depends on the relationships among its
parts, therefore complex natural structures/systems can be analyzed to
determine how they function.”
Science and Engineering Practices:
 Planning and Carrying out Investigations
 Engaging in Argument from Evidence
 Obtaining, Evaluating and Communicating Information
 Of course, I do not plan on sharing all of these learning goals with my class directly.
Rather, I will state the simpler, and more unit-specific goal that they will be able to
“Understand and explain how our body works to respond to a given task, or changes
that occur around us”. I find this goal to be easier to understand for students who may
not be familiar with certain vocabulary words (e.g. stimulus), and more direct for the
purposes of our unit.

Unit Plan Phases

Phase 1: Engaging with a problem/Questions
To begin this unit I will take the students into the gym for a brief session of dodge
ball. After this is complete, we will return to the classroom and discuss the question
“How are you able to do that?”. Throughout this discussion I hope to guide our focus to
the various body systems involved with complex motions (muscular, skeletal,
circulatory, respiratory, and nervous systems). These systems will have already been
discussed at the time of this investigation, so I hope that they can identify the
contributions of each in the overall performance. I also hope to hear them discuss the
decision making process that occurred during this game. How they gathered information
(using their 5 senses), and controlled their actions (voluntary actions from the brain). If
needed, I plan to ask if there were any things that they did in the game without first
making a conscious decision. This should move toward the idea of reflexes.
Near the end of our discussion I will introduce the driving question for the unit
“What factors allow our body to respond to changes that occur around us?”

Phase 2: Data or observations / Evidence. How will your students collect data or make
observations?
Since we have already studied the included body systems, I will not focus on
these systems when investigating our driving question. Rather the class will focus on
the reaction time aspect of our response to a stimulus. For this activity I will use a
student volunteer to demonstrate a reaction time test with a ruler. After a brief
discussion on what they should observe, I will instruct students to work in pairs in order
to calculate each other’s reaction time. Students will design their own investigation, and
design/collect their own data to provide evidence for future discussion.
While students do collect their own data, I anticipate that they will measure
reaction time in inches or cm on the ruler. As we “debrief’ the lab the next day we can
discuss how to convert these measurements into a true reaction time in seconds.

Phase 3: Finding and explaining patterns / Explanation.

While analyzing the data from these activities, several pattern should emerge.
1. No reaction times are below a certain number of seconds
2. The distance at which the stick is caught seems to increase exponentially
3. Some students have a faster reaction time than others.
Through discussion, we should be able to explain each of these patterns as follows.
1. All reactions take a period of time
2. This is due to gravity accelerating (exponential relationship) falling object
3. Some students have trained their body to improve reaction time

Phase 4: Alternate Explanations.

During discussion students are encouraged to engage in evidence based
discourse to prove their position. At the end of this first round of discussions I will ask
the pairs of students to design their own investigation to determine if it is possible to
improve a person’s reaction time through training.
Here students have an opportunity to investigate their alternate explanations and
justify it with evidence.

Phase 5: Communicate and Justify

The final arguments will be made in a formal lab report. Student pairs will have
the opportunity to conduct their investigation, and use the data to defend their
explanation in a written paper. On the final day of the unit, these pairs will also be given
5 minutes to share their experiment and findings with their peers before a final
discussion. During this last discussion we will attempt to flesh out a unified response to
our overarching question.