Unit 6 — Organisms and the Environment
Description
Students develop an understanding that organisms and their habitats form a system in which the parts depend on each other. Students learn that when environments change, some organisms survive and reproduce, some move to new locations, some move into the transformed environment, and some die. Students construct arguments that some animals form groups that help members survive and that in particular habitats some organisms can survive well, some less well, and some cannot survive at all.
Essential Questions
- Why don't we see alligators in the Arctic?
- How do organisms interact with their environment?
- Why do some animals form groups?
- What determines whether an organism can survive in a particular habitat?
Learning Objectives
- Construct an argument that some animals form groups that help members survive
- Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some less well, and some cannot survive at all
- Understand that organisms and habitats form interdependent systems
- Identify cause and effect relationships between habitat characteristics and organism survival
- Describe how group membership provides benefits for obtaining food, defense, and coping with change
Supplemental Resources
- Printed images of animals from different habitats and their characteristics
- Nonfiction texts describing biomes and habitat-specific organisms
- Graphic organizers for recording animal group behaviors and survival advantages
Life Sciences
Crosscutting Concepts
Disciplinary Core Ideas
Science and Engineering Practices
Students read informational texts and cite textual evidence to demonstrate understanding of science concepts across all units. They ask and answer questions about weather, forces, traits, life cycles, ecosystems, and environmental change using content-specific texts. Students write opinion pieces, informative and explanatory texts, and conduct short research projects to build knowledge about science topics. They also report orally on topics with appropriate facts and descriptive details, and use information from illustrations, maps, and photographs to support scientific understanding.
Students apply mathematical reasoning and tools across science units to collect, represent, and analyze data. They measure liquid volumes and masses using standard units, draw scaled picture graphs and bar graphs to represent data sets, generate measurement data using rulers and display results on line plots, and reason abstractly and quantitatively when analyzing patterns and cause-and-effect relationships in investigations. Students also use operations and algebraic thinking when comparing and solving problems based on scientific data.
Formative Assessments
- Students conduct research on animals that form groups and document survival benefits
- Students identify organisms that live in specific habitats and analyze their adaptations
- Students determine how organisms meet their needs in particular environments
- Students use evidence to explain why some organisms survive better than others in given habitats
Summative Assessment
Students research an animal and its environment to create a diorama showing the plant and animal life cycles and the benefits of the animal living in a group
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through an oral explanation of how animals in a group help each other survive, supported by visual aids such as labeled pictures or simplified diagrams. Alternatively, students may sort provided images of animals and habitats into categories (survives well, survives less well, cannot survive) with teacher guidance and discussion in place of written explanations.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
Students may benefit from visual supports such as habitat diagrams, picture-based graphic organizers, and annotated anchor charts that illustrate organism-environment relationships and the concept of interdependence. When constructing arguments about animal group behavior or habitat suitability, allow students to respond orally, through drawing, or by dictating to a scribe rather than relying solely on written output. Breaking the research and diorama construction process into clearly sequenced, numbered steps with checkpoints will help students manage the multi-part summative task. Vocabulary related to habitats, adaptations, and survival should be pre-taught and displayed in the classroom as an ongoing reference.
Section 504
Students should be provided extended time during research tasks and the diorama project, particularly when gathering and recording information about animal habitats and group behaviors. Preferential seating near direct instruction and reduced-distraction work areas will support sustained focus during inquiry and observation activities. Printed copies of directions for multi-step tasks, such as analyzing habitat conditions or documenting survival benefits, should be made available so students are not dependent on board displays or verbal instructions alone.
ELL / MLL
Visual supports are especially important in this unit — habitat photographs, illustrated vocabulary cards, and diagrams showing organism-environment connections will help students access content about ecosystems and survival before they encounter the academic language. Key terms such as habitat, adaptation, organism, and survival should be introduced with images and, where possible, connections to equivalent concepts in the student's home language. Directions for research and documentation tasks should be given in short, clear steps, and students should be invited to demonstrate understanding through drawing, labeling, or verbal explanation before transitioning to written responses.
At Risk (RTI)
Connecting unit concepts to organisms and environments that students are already familiar with — such as local parks, pets, or neighborhood animals — can provide accessible entry points into the broader ideas of habitat dependence and survival. Simplified research structures, such as partially completed graphic organizers focused on one habitat or one animal group at a time, allow students to build understanding incrementally without being overwhelmed by the full scope of the content. Hands-on and visual exploration of habitat characteristics and organism needs will support engagement and help students develop the foundational reasoning needed to construct evidence-based arguments.
Gifted & Talented
Students who demonstrate strong understanding of organism-habitat relationships early in the unit can be invited to investigate more complex ecological dynamics, such as how changes in one part of a habitat system create cascading effects on multiple species. They may also explore the concept of keystone species or examine real-world case studies in which habitat disruption has led to measurable changes in population survival. For the summative diorama project, these students can be encouraged to incorporate food web relationships or model what would happen to their chosen ecosystem if the animal group were removed, pushing their argumentation and evidence use to a deeper analytical level.