The Blue Mussel: A Not-So-Typical Mollusc Lab Investigation: Class Bivalvia High School Version Lesson by Kevin Goff Overview: Through a NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS sequence of engaging laboratory MS-LS1-4 Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized investigations coupled to vivid plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively. segments from the acclaimed MS-LS2-2 Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among Shape of Life video series, organisms across multiple ecosystems. students explore the fascinating MS-LS2-4 Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations. structural and behavioral MS-LS4-1 Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that adaptations of modern molluscs. document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as But rather than study these in the past. animals merely as interesting MS-LS4-2 Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and in the here-and-now, students fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships. learn to view them as products MS-LS4-6 Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in of a 550 million year natural populations over time. history. Students interpret their MS-ESS1-4 Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth’s 4.6-billion-year-old diverse adaptations as ancient history. solutions to the challenges of HS-LS1-2 Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms. life in a dangerous world, while HS-LS2-2 Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations using Phylum Mollusca as the based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales. occasion to discern three major HS-LS4-1 Communicate scientific information that common ancestry and macroevolutionary patterns: biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence. divergent evolution, convergent HS-LS4-2 Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to evolution, and coevolution. increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment. 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. Cross-Cutting Concept #1: Patterns Cross-Cutting Concept #6: Structure and Function Scientific and Engineering Practice #4: Analyzing and Interpreting Data Scientific and Engineering Practice #7: Engaging in Argument from Evidence 1 The Blue Mussel: A Not-So-Typical Mollusc Lab Investigation: Class Bivalvia High School Version Lesson by Kevin Goff Grades: 7-12. The lesson plans below primarily Common Core State Standards for target high school audiences, but there is a middle Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects supported in this module: school version of each lab activity, and the lessons are adaptable for younger students. Writing Standard 1.b, 6-8 Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content: Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant, accurate data and evidence that demonstrate an understanding of the topic or text, using Subjects: Biology, Earth science, ecology, credible sources. paleontology, evolutionary science Writing Standard 1.b, 9-10 Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content: Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying data and evidence for Key Concepts / Unifying Theme: Three each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline- recurring patterns of long-term macroevolution: appropriate form and in a manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns. divergence, convergence, and coevolution Writing Standard 1.b, 11-12 Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant data and evidence for each while pointing Essential Skills / Scientific Process: out the strengths and limitations of both claim(s) and Interpreting biological adaptations as instances of counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate form that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level, concerns, “form follows function.” Analysis of graphs and time values, and possible biases. series. Writing Standard 2, 9-12 Write informative/ explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/experiments, or technical processes. Instructional Approach: In general these Writing Standard 4, 9-12 Produce clear and coherent lessons ply an “explore-before-explain” pedagogy, writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. in which students make and interpret observations for themselves as a prelude to formal explanations Common Core State Standards for and the cultivation of key scientific concepts. There Mathematics supported in this module: 8.SP.A.1 Statistics & Probability – Investigate patterns are splashes of inquiry and scientific process using of association in bivariate data: Construct and authentic data, and students are pressed to think interpret scatter plots for bivariate measurement data to investigate patterns of association between two at higher cognitive levels. Instruction is organized quantities. around three unifying themes – the macroevolutionary HSS.ID.B.6 Statistics & Probability – Interpreting Categorical and Quantitative Data: Summarize, represent, patterns of divergence, convergence, and coevolution and interpret data on two categorical and quantitative variables. – and students learn to interpret diverse biological HSS.IC.B Statistics & Probability – Making Inferences phenomena of these patterns. & Justifying Conclusions: Make inferences and justify conclusions from sample surveys, experiments, and observational studies. 2 The Blue Mussel: A Not-So-Typical Mollusc Lab Investigation: Class Bivalvia High School Version Lesson by Kevin Goff Video Titles: For dazzling displays of how asymmetrical and radial The earliest animals on Earth had either irregular, animals can harvest food from any direction, visit the asymmetrical bodies or radial symmetry, with a Shape of Life website and watch these two clips (under body shaped like a merry-go-round. Animals with “Behavior”): these body plans usually sit still on the seafloor – like • Sponges: Filter Feeding Made Visible (2.5 min) sponges, coral, and sea anemone. Others – like • Cnidarians: Anemone Catches Goby (2.5 min) jellyfish – just drift along on ocean currents. These To see how a bilateral, cephalized body lets an animal animals do not actively forage for food. Instead, they actively seek food watch these two Shape of Life clips: wait for food to come to them. Their body shape • Flatworm Animation: Body Plan (under “Animation”; lets them collect food from any direction. Eventually, 2.5 min) • Flatworm: An Invasive Flatworm Hunts Earthworms though, a line of worm-like animals evolved bilateral (under “Behavior”; 2.5 min) symmetry, with a body bearing two sides – left versus right – that are mirror images of each other. This body Become familiar with the basic mollusc body plan – and its capacity for directional movement – by watching these two plan is an adaptation for directional movement. To Shape of Life clips: understand why, just imagine a car with monster truck • Mollusc Animation: Abalone (under “Animation”; 1.5 min) tires on one side and little red wagon wheels on the • Molluscs: Pycnopodia Chases Abalone (under other. It would go in circles! Having identical left and “Behavior”; 2.5 min) right halves enables an animal to track in a straight line. Animals with bilateral symmetry also usually have a distinct head at one end, where the mouth and sense organs are concentrated. We say they are cephalized, meaning “head-having.” In contrast, animals with radial symmetry are not cephalized: They have no head, just a mouth in the middle. Being both bilateral and cephalized permits an animal to move in one deliberate direction – headfirst – letting their sense organs lead the way, like floodlights through a fog. Such animals can actively seek out the things they need. They can forage for food, track live prey, seek better habitat, or search for a mate. In time, that first line of bilateral, cephalized, worm-like animals branched into most of the animal groups we see today, from penguins to porcupines, scorpions to squid, ants to alligators, and bullfrogs to bull sharks. Among the earliest