This learning module is designed to engage students in a productive struggle through intentional metacognition and peer to peer interactions. The content area of focus is evolution and the intended learners are middle schoolers.
Evolution, Productive Struggle, Metacognition, Communication, Peer to Peer Interaction
This coming school year, I am transitioning from being a physics teacher to a middle school science teacher. With that comes new content which I have never taught before, namely life science. As a physics educator, my goal was to have students appreciate the nature of science. Therefore, through a physics lens, I sought for my students to learn to function as scientists do, namely ask questions, seek out information, and come to conclusions about the world in which they live (Moulding & Bybee, 2017). In this new role, this will still be my goal, just with a new means with which to make it possible.
Allowing one's self to think and perform like a scientist is a difficult task as answers to questions may not be easy to find through research or experimentation; it may take several attempts to yield appropriate, thorough solutions. Additionally, when answers are found, they may strongly challenge preconceptions. In this way, engaging in scientific processes is a struggle. My goal, and the purpose of this learning module, is to create a productive struggle for middle school students.
Productive struggle in the classroom is allowing students to grapple and make sense of problems or phenomena within their zone of proximal development. The goal for the teacher in productive struggle is not merely to stand by and make students struggle aimlessly, but to intentionally step in and increase cognitive load (Ewing et al., 2019). The role of the teacher becomes one of aid. Teachers can engage students in productive struggle by asking them questions instead of providing "crutches" (Reese, 2017) and telling them direct answers. Through questioning techniques, teachers can help students organize their thoughts as they struggle to make sense of problems (Warshauer, 2014). In addition to expert questioning and guidance from the teacher, peer interaction and collaboration is crucial in ensuring a productive struggle. Students, according to Vygotsky, have a zone of current development (ZCD) and a zone of proximal development (ZPD). The key to learning is to push the boundaries of both zones, but also to reduce the gap between the zones. Therefore, learning experiences must be designed to encourage the learner to pursue exercises slightly beyond their current capabilities. A crucial element in these learning activities is interaction and dialogue with peers. Social interaction can create cognitive dissonance inside the learner, engaging the learner to develop new knowledge and generate new meaning (Vygotsky 1978).
The ability to communicate with teachers and peers about one's thinking can result in the ability to think about one's thinking more fully and genuinely reflect on the learning process. As Costa and Kallick (2008) state:
Students often do not take the time to wonder why they are doing what they are doing. They seldom question themselves about their own learning strategies or evaluate the efficiency of their own performance. Some children virtually have no idea of what they should do when they confront a problem, and often they are unable to explain their decision-making strategies (Sternberg & Wagner, 1982). When teachers ask, "How did you solve that problem? What strategies did you have in mind?" or "Tell us what went on in your head to come up with that conclusion," students often respond, "I don't know. I just did it."
One purpose of learning is to master course content. However, more importantly, education should be about becoming aware of one's thinking, being willing to combat doubt and uncertainty, and to productively struggle to more fully understand the complex world in which we live. In this way, this learning module will engage students in a productive struggle that is dependent upon metacognition and social interaction. The tasks students perform will be "worthy tasks" (Reese, 2017). Such tasks will require genuine thought and will need more than straight forward answers. Students will perform tasks and will be asked to describe their thought processes. In addition, students will be asked to critique and give feedback on their peers thought processes.
The content that this learning module will cover will set up a productive struggle environment in and of itself. Evolution, a controversial topic to be taught, is often not focused on until high school or undergraduate biology courses. However, Weiss and Dreesmann argue that evolution should be learned as early as possible as a grounding concept of biology. They continue this recommendation by stating, "Biological evolution allows discussing controversial scientific concepts, illustrating the scientific way to gain knowledge. Thereby, including these types of topics in the classroom may help change the misconceptions students have towards the scientific perspective" (Weiss & Dreesman, 2014, p. 429). Weiss and Dreesmann are addressing the nature of science and the challenges it presents. Therefore, evolution will be the vehicle by which students will engage as scientists, struggle productively, come to conclusions, and generate meaning that is unique to them.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to...
Each lesson will begin with an essential question which reflects these student outcomes.
This learning module intends to make students aware of the veritable plethora of organisms on Earth. However, more importantly, this module will challenge student understanding and allow them to create meaning around why this wide variety of life on Earth exists. Before this learning module, students will have learned about cells and genetics, taxonomy, and fossil records (and how rock layers can be used to validate the age of fossils). In addition, students will have learned how fossils document the existence, diversity, and change of life forms over time. This module is being designed for a middle school (seventh grade) science classroom; the duration of the module could span 3 to 6 weeks depending on additional research needing to be done by students and the demanding nature of some of the tasks. The course is split between semesters; the first semester deals with earth and space science concepts, and the second semester focuses on life science. This learning module will use resources from the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt HMH Science: Diversity in Living Things curriculum.
An essential component of each lesson is peer-to-peer feedback through the use of the comment feature. Students are asked to leave comments to their peers based on a specific prompt or student performance. Students are meant to reflect on their own work, provide suggestions on how their peers could improve or alter their current thinking, and give constructive feedback on their peers' work. The heavy emphasis throughout the module on writing, specifically writing about one's thoughts and commenting on others thoughts, is to engage students in metacognition. Metacognition is an important process for effective, productive struggle. As Costa and Kallick (2008) explain, "It facilitates making temporal and comparative judgments; assessing the readiness for more or different activities; and monitoring our interpretations, perceptions, decisions, and behaviors." The topic of evolution is complex and controversial. Students will be asked to reach beyond their comfort zone, experience cognitive dissonance, and go far beyond their current level of understanding. Thinking about thinking will be crucial to open their minds to different perspectives and generate new meaning.
Module Science Standards (from Next Generation Science Standards):
NOTE: Abbreviations seen in the standards below refer to the following, MS - Middle School, LS - LifeSciences)
Before beginning this learning module, it is important that you (the student) take inventory of what you know and what you do not know as it relates to the topic of evolution. Through this pretest, you will give your teacher insight as to how to drive and mold instruction based on your prior knowledge.
Essential Questions:
To take inventory and assess your prior knowledge, we will preface this learning module with a pretest. Please take the pretest to the best of your ability based on your current understanding of evolution and the role it has played in the past, in the present, and in the future of our world.
The learning module pretest is not a graded assessment. The unit pretest focuses on prerequisite knowledge through a multiple-choice assessment. This pretest will give a snapshot of student preparedness for the content and tasks students will engage with throughout the learning module. The results of this assessment could offer scaffolding opportunities for teachers, identify misconceptions, or give insight into questions that may need to be asked of students.
Essential Questions:
"Evolution is the process of biological change by which populations become different from their ancestors over many generations" (HMH Science, 2018, p. 48). These differences develop as a result of changes in the genetic material of individuals and of populations. The focus of this lesson will be on how anatomical evidence can be used to see evolutionary relationships.
The anatomy of an organism is its body structure and its structural traits. Comparative anatomy is the study of the similarities and differences in the structures of different species. Similar body parts may be homologous structures or analogous structures. Many scientists use comparative anatomy to infer evolutionary relationships between living organisms or living and fossilized organisms. To begin, please watch the video below which will discuss the idea of comparative anatomy.
CrashCourse. (2019). Comparative anatomy: What makes us animals. [Video File]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ABSjKS0hic&vl=en-US
Take note towards the end of the video that Mr. Hank Green makes the claim that we all stem from a common ancestor who developed anatomical systems such as a skeletal system, digestive systems, and muscular system. Mr. Green discusses how similar we, as humans, are to other animals based on how cells form to create tissues and organs; ultimately, these tissues and organs function similarly regardless of whether we look at a human, a bird, or a fish! Let's focus on a system not addressed by Mr. Green, the skeletal system, and investigate whether we can use comparative anatomy to see evolutionary relationships.
The image above shows the skeletal structure of a batwing, a dolphin fin, and a horse leg. The limbs of these animals look significantly different and they are used for completely different purposes. However, it can be seen that the skeletal structure is similar despite the difference in function. This skeletal structure can be used as evidence to indicate a close evolutionary relationship between these animals. This is a prime example of comparative anatomy and the evidence it can provide.
Comment: This will be a two-part comment.
Part 1: Looking at the image of the batwing, dolphin fin, and horse leg, describe how the bone sizes and shapes explain the function of each of those body parts (e.g. describe how the shape and size of the bones in a batwing explain the ability for a bat to fly). Are there similarities between these body part functions due to their structure?
Part 2: Look at the model of a human hand below. Following the CER (claim, evidence, reasoning) format, does the similarity between the human hand skeleton and the dolphin fin skeleton mean they come from a common ancestor? Provide at least three pieces of evidence.
Respond to three of your peer's comments by starting with @ and followed by that person's name. Possible things to comment on:
Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is two-fold. The first is to give students some direct instruction as to what comparative anatomy is through the assigned video lecture. Second, using information from the video, students will be asked to engage in a complex task which will ask them to apply their newfound knowledge of comparative anatomy to find similarities and differences between skeletal structures. Students will be asked to use evidence through comparative anatomy to support a claim about common ancestry between a dolphin and a human.
Teacher Notes: The idea of structure and function is crucial throughout this learning module and it begins right away in the lesson. Structure and function is a cross-cutting concept in the Next Generation Science Standards, meaning it is a concept which is important across all science domains. The Next Generation Science Standards state:
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 (p. 58).
Reiterate to students the difference between structure and function and be sure they are aware of their connectedness.
The productive struggle in this lesson comes through in the form of the two-part comment. Students are provided with opportunities to explain and elaborate on what they thinking and students are given the chance to compare and contrast given information based on newly acquired knowledge (Zeybek, 2016). Through the use of comments and peer to peer interaction and feedback, students are introduced to the idea of metacognition and communicating and critiquing thoughts through writing.
Science Skills (NGSS):
Essential Questions:
The study of the development of unborn or unmatched organisms is called embryology. Embryos undergo many changes as they grow and develop. Scientists, similar to anatomy, compare the embryo development of different species to look for similar patterns and structures. Scientists, through research and observation, make inferences that similarities present come from an ancestor that the species have in common.
The image above gives a visual of what scientists use as evidence in comparative embryology. As you can see, many organisms go through the same cellular replication process within embryo development. However, does the comparison stop there? View the image below of various organisms in the later stages of embryo development.
Comment: This will be a two-part comment.
Part 1: Using the image of the embryo development for the various organisms above, identify and discuss the similarities in the given organism embryos. In addition, discuss and provide reasoning for the patterns of change you see as the embryos develop.
Part 2: Do you believe comparative anatomy and comparative embryology is enough evidence to prove common ancestry amongst organisms (and therefore prove evolution)? Explain your claim.
Respond to three of your peer's comments by starting with @ and followed by that person's name. Possible things to comment on:
Purpose: Students will be given some direct instruction to begin this lesson. However, the purpose of this lesson is for students to recognize patterns and patterns of change through the given data. The data in this lesson is in the form of an image that shows the embryo development of several organisms. Students will be asked to reflect on patterns they see in the various embryos, but also rationalize why the changes occur between the embryos.
Teacher Notes: Patterns is another cross-cutting concept in the Next Generation Science Standards. Prior to this learning module, students should have engaged in identifying patterns in fossil records. However, reiteration of what patterns and patterns of change mean could aid students in their work. The main purpose of identifying patterns is to yield an understanding of cause and effect. The productive struggle in this lesson comes through in the form of the two-part comment. Particularly in part two of the comment, students are asked to take a stand and think critically about why they believe in that stand. To encourage productive struggle, students need to be given challenging tasks, but more importantly, they need to be offered opportunities for sustained thinking, decision making, and some risk-taking (Sullivan et al., 2015). This task will ask students to reach beyond their comfort zone and engage in authentic discourse to more fully understand the merits of comparative anatomy and embryology as evidence for evolution.
Science Skills (NGSS):
Essential Questions:
In our study of cells and heredity, we uncovered how DNA makes up chromosomes. Additionally, we came to understand that a gene is a specific segment of DNA that provides the organism with "instructions" for a particular inherited trait. Recall that organisms that reproduce sexually have two versions of the same gene for every trait (e.g., eye color, beak length, hair color), one version from each parent. These different versions or forms of the same gene are called alleles. What the video below for a quick review of these ideas.
However, it is time for us to apply these ideas to makes sense of the overwhelming variety of species found on Earth. The concept of genetic variation simply refers to differences between organisms in a population. These differences could be physical features, behaviors, or other measurable characteristics. For evolution to occur within a population, there must be genetic variation in some of the traits present. Genetic variation can be introduced through gene mutations and the movement of individuals between populations. New combinations of genes can also be introduced during sexual reproduction (HMH Science, 2018). Through these random events, variations occur within populations. As variations occur through breeding, circumstances then occur, causing changes in populations to become entirely separate species.
Please watch the two videos below. The first will give a quick overview of the idea of genetic variation and its results. The second video is more in-depth. It will review some ideas of genetics and heredity, but more importantly, it will begin to apply these terms as mechanisms for evolution, showing how genetic variation ultimately leads to a population developing into different species.
FuseSchool. (2019, May 7). Variation: Genetics. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUHokSPkzT8Comment:
California Academy of Sciences. (2014, October 24). Genetic variation, gene flow, and new species. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11iYk0Yrx3g
This will be a three-part comment.
Part 1: Research the environment in which the three-toed sloth and the nine-banded armadillo live in, respectively. Discuss and explain how and why the adaptations of the sloth and the armadillo help them survive in their respective environments.
Part 2: Construct an explanation to describe how the sloth and armadillo may have evolved from a common ancestor. Include ideas of genetic mutation, adaptation, and environmental factors in your comment. (HINT: Are there similarities or patterns you see in the images and through research between the two organisms?)
Part 3: Time to reflect...describe your level of understanding of genetic variation. What things are you confident in (e.g., genes, mutations, et cetera), and what things are you struggling with? Explain why you are struggling or experiencing confusion.
Respond to three of your peer's comments by starting with @ and followed by that person's name. Possible things to comment on:
Purpose: This lesson is meant to refresh previously learned content and also see how prior knowledge can now be applied as a mechanism for evolution. Students will be given information about genetic variation (e.g., mutation and sexual reproduction), and be asked to apply concepts to 1) explain how the adaptations of two seemingly unrelated organisms allow them to survive in their environments, and 2) analyze the similarities of the organisms to show they may have evolved from a common ancestor.
Teacher Notes: This lesson is a turning point in this learning module. This marks the shift from the evidence of evolution to mechanisms that drive evolution. This learning module now becomes a puzzle that students must now piece together. This lesson is meant to spark curiosity through the task students are given. The organisms chosen look drastically different from one another; however, implying and having students ponder whether they descend from a common ancestor can lead to cognitive dissonance. This curiosity and wonderment for naturally occurring phenomena is crucial to productive struggle (Zeybeck, 2016). Encourage students to focus on the cross-cutting concept of patterns; students should look for similarities between the two organisms and use evidence of comparative anatomy in their arguments. Also, encourage students to seek out information through research.
Science Skills (NGSS):
Essential Questions:
One of the factors or mechanisms for change in a population, per the videos seen in the last lesson, was environmental. Through this process of natural selection, which we will cover in more detail in the next lesson, populations adapt to their environment due to the organisms with the best traits for a particular environment surviving. Below you will see images of a mountain goat.
The mountain goat is adapted to the environment in which it lives. As you can see in the images, they live in areas with steep, rocky slopes where below zero temperatures can occur. Plants that can grow on these steep slopes grow only a few inches tall in the shallow, nutrient-deficient soil. The mountain goat, therefore, has a compact body shape, thick fur, split hooves, strong rear legs, and a narrow snout (HMH Science, 2018).
Update: Create an update that covers the two parts seen below.
Part 1: Using each trait of the mountain goat, explain how each trait suits the environment and allows the mountain goat to survive.
Part 2: Suppose climate change impacts the environment in which the mountain goat lives. Longer summers and increased rainfall allow insects to thrive and plants to grow taller and cover up much of the rocky slopes. What new traits will help the mountain goat adapt to this new environment? Draw a mountain goat with new, adaptive traits that would have to arise in this population for survival. Your drawing should include annotations explaining your reasoning for the new traits included. Upload your image to the update.
Respond at least two of your peer's updates by starting with @ and followed by that person's name. Possible things to comment on:
Purpose: This lesson is the first not to introduce new content, but to give students a chance to think critically through a "worthy task" (Reese, 2017). Students, in this lesson, will analyze current traits based on an environment. Given a new environment for the same organism, students must use their new and prior knowledge (along with research) to create adapted traits for the same, given organism.
Teacher Notes: This opportunity for students to think through adaptations a mountain goat would need for the new environment will give them exposure and feedback to prepare them for the performance assessment for this unit. Students are, first, solving a complex task individually. Through peer interaction and feedback, the goal of this lesson is to push the boundaries of each student's ZPD and, therefore, ZCD (Vygotsky, 1978). At this stage, the teacher should be closely monitoring the peer to peer interactions to find any misconceptions or inaccuracies in thinking. While peers are valuable assets to learning, the teacher is still the expert; it is the expert's job, regardless of means to make students struggle productively inside their appropriate zone of proximal development. This task is worthy and challenging for students; it is meant to allow students to struggle productively. For this to occur, the teacher must avoid reducing the cognitive load of the task through routine instructions or examples of how the job is to be done. (Clarke et al., 2014/2015). There are no samples for which the students are to know exactly how to perform this task. Teachers should stress research in terms of environmental conditions. If students begin to engage in destructive struggle, intervention needs to be done immediately (Jackson & Lambert, 2010). Teachers could use the human body as an example; if our environment changed to suddenly be cold all the time, we would need more hair on our body to more easily survive the severe conditions.
Science Skills:
Essential Questions:
Genetic variation determines the traits possible within a population. However, a population's current environment also determines if any of those traits provide advantages and disadvantages (relate back to our mountain goat activity). Natural selection is a process by which a population's environment dictates which traits are beneficial and which are not. Please note, evolution by natural selection occurs in populations, not individuals. Individuals with advantageous traits in an environment are better able to survive and reproduce. These traits get passed on more often to the next generation than less helpful traits (HMH Science, 2018, p. 99).
Open the link attached to see a simplified example of natural selection at work in the case of different colored beetles. While we have seen that evolution within populations can occur through genetic variation (e.g., mutation), which is incredibly random, natural selection is the only non-random cause of evolution in a population. Please watch the video below to see the nonrandomness of natural selection.
Stated Clearly. (2013, May 14). What is natural selection?. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SCjhI86grU
Comment: Based on the information given about natural selection and how it relates to previously learned ideas, please answer the following...
Respond to three of your peers' comments by starting with @ and followed by that person's name. Possible things to comment on:
Purpose: This lesson is meant for students to connect some of the mechanisms of evolution previously studied to another mechanism, natural selection. Students will be given information to grapple with and ultimately will have to use new and prior knowledge from the learning module to analyze a term used as shorthand for natural selection, “survival of the fittest.” In addition, this lesson will ask students to reflect on their understanding of natural selection. This reflection will allow for discourse between peers but also cue the teacher in on areas that may need to be addressed or reinforced.
Teacher Notes: Students will be challenged to use their knowledge of natural selection to understand why the term survival of the fittest would be used to explain it. However, survival of the fittest is a term that creates misconceptions. There are many reasons besides actually dying that lower reproductive success and therefore survival. Those misconceptions are to be combatted through the dialogue between peers in this lesson. This lesson, through the intentional reflection on understanding, is explicitly addressing metacognition as a means for productive struggle. Metacognition is essential to productive struggle because students must self-monitor their progress towards solving a complex task, use critical thinking, and be mindful of steps needed to construct explanations (Lemley et al., 2018). This learning module is a puzzle that is being put together to more fully understand the process of evolution. One mechanism does not explain evolution. Students must continually reflect on what they understand and do not understand to fully understand how evolution can occur.
Science Skills (NGSS):
Essential Questions:
As was discussed previously, variations can occur within populations randomly due to differences in the genetic makeup of individual organisms. Through reproduction, these unique traits can be passed along through the population. Through the mechanism of natural selection, the variation within the population with the best traits survive. However, the last piece to this puzzle is how do different species arise from these variations within individual populations.
Recall, the term species, refers to a group of individuals that can reproduce successfully in nature. Regarding speciation, this means that organisms in species A cannot reproduce with organisms in species B. Speciation, the separation of populations into species, occurs when two or more populations can no longer reproduce. Speciation requires some sort of barrier to reproduction; this stops the ability for genes to flow between the populations (HMH Science, 2018). To visualize this, recall the video in the genetic variation lesson. At time stamp 7:40 we saw gene flow occur by fish being able to swim back and forth between the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. However, as the climate changed, a geographic barrier (the Isthmus of Panama) developed, and speciation occurred as a result of gene flow being stopped. The fish populations located on either side of the isthmus became their own separate species; these species are now able to reproduce only within their new species, no longer with the fish once within the original population (now separated by the isthmus). Please watch the video below to see more examples and visuals of speciation.
FuseSchool (2016, December 16). Formation of new species by speciation. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPQF9BQnw2A
Comment: Based on the information given about natural selection and how it relates to previously learned ideas, please answer the following...
Describe your level of understanding of speciation with respect to natural selection. What things are you confident in, and what things are you struggling with? For example, can you explain the process of how a population of organisms can develop into several different species? Explain why you are struggling or experiencing confusion.
Respond to three of your peers' comments by starting with @ and followed by that person's name. Possible things to comment on:
Purpose: Students, in this lesson, are meant to now piece together the puzzle and understand how the mechanisms of evolution cause different species. This lesson, while introducing content, is focused more so on student comprehension and reflection on the understanding of how evolution is caused and what the end result is.
Teacher Notes: The student task, the two-part comment, could focus more on the details of speciation. Students could be asked to identify other barriers which would result in speciation other than the geographical example used in the lesson. Alternatively, students could be given a map that shows the distribution of different species of closely related organisms (e.g., owls, salamanders); students then have to use geographic barriers, based on the map, to justify adaptations present between the species.
Science Skills:
Essential Questions:
It is now time to assess your understanding of the mechanisms which cause and the evidence which supports the theory of evolution. Your performance assessment will ask you to create an organism based on the conditions of a foreign environment. The environments are listed below.
Assessment Objective:
Create a new organism that will fit into ONE of the described scenarios. Develop a work (paper) that identifies its specific adaptations and explains the environmental factors or other influences that resulted in these adaptations. In your work, you need to explain the features of your animal that makes it successful in terms of evolution.
What this means is that for each of the requirements you must state “______ developed ______ because ______. “
Requirements:
Your paper must include a detailed picture of your animal, and you should reference your image throughout your work.
Once you submit your first draft, you will conduct a peer review of three assigned peers. Using the rubric attached below, send your rubric scores and feedback to your assigned peers. After you receive your reviews, you will be able to incorporate your peer's suggestions, edit your paper, and submit a final work.
Purpose: This final lesson is a performance task that will ask the students to apply the knowledge they have accessed and engaged with throughout the learning module. Students will be asked to design an organism that can survive in a chosen environment. Students must provide evidence for their design using the various mechanisms of evolution (e.g., genetic variation, natural selection).
Teacher Notes: As this is the culminating project of this learning module, students have grappled with the idea of evolution and its mechanisms extensively. To scaffold this project for students, a graphic organizer could be given to students which displays the various mechanisms of evolution and their characteristics. Additionally, the graphic organizer could include evidence for evolution, such as fossil records and comparative anatomy. Students should also be encouraged to go back through their comments and dialogue with and from peers from the various activities engaged in (within the module) to aid in their creation of the organism. The purpose of the peer to peer interaction is to correct thinking and create a more accurate understanding of evolution concepts throughout the module. As is stated, allow students to revise their work after the peer review process for this performance task. There are potential holes that could arise in students justifying the structure of their organisms and the necessary functions of those structures for the environment. Again, students should struggle with this task, but the peer review and revision process offers a scaffold for productive struggle.
Science Skills (NGSS):
California Academy of Sciences. (2014, October 24). Genetic variation, gene flow, and new species. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11iYk0Yrx3g
Costa, A. & Kallick, B. (2008). Learning and leading with habits of mind: 16 essential characteristics for success. [eBook edition]. Alexandria, VA: ASCD ---- no page numbers for in-text citations
CrashCourse. (2019). Comparative anatomy: What makes us animals. [Video File]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ABSjKS0hic&vl=en-US
Ewing, J., Gresham, G., & Dickey, B. (2019). Pre-service teachers learning to engage all students, including english language learners, in productive struggle. IUMPST: The Journal, 2, 1-11.
FuseSchool (2016, December 16). Formation of new species by speciation. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPQF9BQnw2A
FuseSchool. (2019, May 7). Variation: Genetics. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUHokSPkzT8
HMH Science. (2018). Diversity of living things. Houghton Mifflin Court.
Jackson, R. & Lambert, C. (2010). How to support struggling students. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
Kerr, R. (2020). Designer species. http://lessonplanspage.com/scienceanimaladaptations58-htm/
Lemley, S. M., Ivy, J. T., Franz, D. P., & Oppenheimer, S. F. (2019). Metacognition and middle grade mathematics teachers: Supporting productive struggle. A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 92(1–2), 15–22.
Moulding, B & Bybee, R. (2017). Teaching science is phenomenal. ELM Tree Publishing: Washington, UT.
Natural selection. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_25
NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next generation science standards: For states, by states. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Reese, G. (2017, April 11). Productive struggle in learning. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OMPhv6CJvs
Stated Clearly. (2013, May 14). What is natural selection? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SCjhI86grU
Sullivan, P., Askew, M., Cheeseman, J., Clarke, D., Mornane, A., Roche, A., & Walker, N. (2015). Supporting teachers in structuring mathematics lessons involving challenging tasks. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education,18(2), 123–140.
U.S. National Library of Medicine. (n.d.). Genetics Home Reference. What is a gene mutation and how do mutations occur? https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/mutationsanddisorders/genemutation
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, Harvard University Press.
Warshauer, H. (2014). Productive struggle in middle school mathematics classrooms. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 18(4), 375-400.
Weiss, M., & Dreesmann, D. C. (2014). Aspirations and expectations: Comparing scientist and teacher views as a source of ideas for teaching evolution. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 2(5), 421–431.