Unit 1 — Growth, Development, and Reproduction of Organisms
Description
Students use data and conceptual models to understand how the environment and genetic factors determine the growth of an individual organism. They connect this idea to the role of animal behaviors in animal reproduction and to the dependence of some plants on animal behaviors for their reproduction. Students provide evidence to support their understanding of the structures and behaviors that increase the likelihood of successful reproduction by organisms.
Essential Questions
- What influences the growth and development of an organism?
- How do characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction?
- How do environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms?
Learning Objectives
- Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively
- Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms
- Collect empirical evidence about animal behaviors that affect reproductive probability
- Collect empirical evidence about plant structures specialized for reproductive success
- Conduct experiments and collect evidence on environmental conditions affecting organism growth
- Identify cause-and-effect relationships in plant and animal reproductive systems
Supplemental Resources
- Graphic organizers for organizing information about reproduction for planning and analysis
- Printed images of plant structures and animal behaviors for observation and comparison
- Lined journals for recording experimental data and observations on growth factors
- Data collection tables and charts for organizing evidence about reproductive behaviors
- Colored pencils and markers for creating models and diagrams of life cycles
Life Sciences
Students cite textual evidence from science and technical texts, write arguments and informative/explanatory texts focused on discipline-specific content, gather and evaluate information from multiple sources, and draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis and research across all units. Reading standards for science and technical texts (RST.6-8.1, RST.6-8.2, RST.6-8.7, RST.6-8.8, RST.6-8.9) and writing standards (WHST.6-8.1, WHST.6-8.2, WHST.6-8.7, WHST.6-8.8, WHST.6-8.9) are explicitly referenced throughout all units. Speaking and listening standards support collaborative discussions and multimedia presentations.
Students use ratio and rate reasoning, summarize numerical data sets, represent relationships between variables using graphs and equations, and apply mathematical practices including reasoning abstractly and modeling with mathematics. Mathematical standards 6.SP.A.2, 6.SP.B.4, 6.SP.B.5, 6.EE.C.9, 6.RP.A.3, and Standards for Mathematical Practice MP.2 and MP.4 are explicitly referenced across units to support data analysis, statistical reasoning, and quantitative thinking in science contexts.
Formative Assessments
- Students collect empirical evidence about animal behaviors affecting reproduction
- Students observe plant structures and collect data on interactions with pollinators
- Students conduct experiments on environmental factors affecting plant growth
- Students conduct experiments examining genetic factors and inheritance
- Students present arguments supported by evidence explaining reproduction and growth
Summative Assessment
Unit 1 Quiz (25 multiple choice/5 true-false questions), Unit 1 Test (45 MC/True-False questions), Essay, Cube of Life Project
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through a teacher-led oral interview where they explain how animal behaviors or plant structures increase reproductive success, using provided images or real specimens as reference. Response frames, labeled diagrams, and simplified data charts may be provided to support student explanations.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
Students with IEPs may benefit from graphic organizers that help them visually map cause-and-effect relationships between genetic and environmental factors and organism growth, reducing the cognitive load of tracking multiple variables at once. For written outputs such as the essay and project, consider allowing oral explanations, dictation, or a scribed response to demonstrate scientific understanding without the barrier of written expression. Vocabulary support — such as a unit-specific word bank with visual anchors for terms related to reproduction, inheritance, and plant structures — should be available during both instruction and assessment. When administering the unit quiz and test, extended time, chunked question sets, and the option to have items read aloud will help ensure that assessment results reflect content knowledge rather than processing challenges.
Section 504
Students with 504 plans should be provided extended time on the unit quiz, test, and essay to ensure that pacing does not interfere with demonstrating their understanding of reproduction and organism growth. Preferential seating near instructional materials and demonstrations, as well as reduced-distraction testing environments, are appropriate access supports for this unit's observation- and evidence-based work. A print copy of any diagrams, data tables, or directions displayed on the board will help students stay oriented during hands-on investigations.
ELL / MLL
Multilingual learners will benefit from visual supports such as labeled diagrams of plant and animal reproductive structures, picture-supported vocabulary lists for key terms like pollination, inheritance, and fertilization, and video demonstrations that pair scientific concepts with visual context. Directions for experiments and data-collection tasks should be given in short, clear steps, and students should be invited to restate instructions in their own words before beginning. When possible, encouraging students to record initial observations or ideas in their home language before translating to English supports content engagement and builds confidence as they develop academic science vocabulary.
At Risk (RTI)
Students who need additional support should be connected to the unit's concepts through familiar, concrete examples — such as observable traits in common animals or the visible structures of everyday flowers and seeds — before moving to more abstract ideas about genetics and inheritance. Experiments and data-collection tasks can be scaffolded by providing partially completed data tables or sentence frames for recording observations, so that students can focus on understanding cause-and-effect relationships rather than on format. Breaking the essay and project into smaller sequential steps with checkpoints and frequent feedback will help students build toward the summative tasks with greater confidence and a clearer sense of progress.
Gifted & Talented
Advanced students can be challenged to move beyond identifying cause-and-effect relationships in reproduction and growth toward analyzing the evolutionary significance of specialized structures and behaviors — for example, exploring how particular pollinator-plant relationships may have co-evolved over time. The Cube of Life Project is a natural opportunity for gifted learners to incorporate cross-disciplinary connections, such as the role of human activity or climate variation in shifting reproductive success rates for specific species. Encouraging these students to seek out primary scientific sources, propose and defend alternative explanations, or design an extended investigation into a variable not addressed in class will provide the depth and intellectual challenge appropriate to their readiness level.