Zoology Curriculum Overview / 2017-2018 /
Zoology Curriculum Overview / 2017-2018



Standards-Referenced Grading Basics

Evidence shows the student can... / Topic Score
Demonstrate all learning targets from Level 3 and Level 4 / 4.0
Demonstrate all learning targets from Level 3 with partial success at Level 4 / 3.5
Demonstrate all learning targets from Level 3 / 3.0
Demonstrate some of the Level 3 learning targets / 2.5
Demonstrate all learning targets from Level 2 but none of the learning targets from Level 3 / 2.0
Demonstrate some of the Level 2 learning targets and none of the Level 3 learning targets / 1.5
Demonstrate none of the learning targets from Level 2 or Level 3 / 1.0
Produce no evidence appropriate to the learning targets at any level / 0

The teacher designs instructional activities that grow and measure a student’s skills in the elements identified on our topic scales. Each scale features many such skills and knowledges, also called learning targets. These are noted on the scale below with letters (A, B, C) and occur at Levels 2 and 3 of the scale. In the grade book, a specific learning activity could be marked as being 3A, meaning that the task measured the A item at Level 3.

When identifying a Topic Score, the teacher looks at all evidence for the topic. The table to the right shows which Topic Score is entered based on what the Body of Evidence shows.

Only scores of 4, 3.5, 3, 2.5, 2, 1.5, 1, and 0 can be entered as Topic Scores.

Multiple Opportunities

It’s not about going back to do a retake, or back to redo something; it’s about going forward, continually scaffolding student learning through multiple opportunities, and noting that improved learning. Our curriculum builds on itself. “Multiple opportunities” are about taking an assessment and connecting it to past topics. It’s about allowing students to demonstrate their learning multiple times in units subsequent to their current unit, or when learning is scaffolded into future units.

Multiple Opportunities will be noted in the guide to the right of the scales. Here you will see initial thinking of connections to other topics. This is also a place where teachers can add connections through their PLCs.

Transitioning to the new Iowa Science Standards:

In order to ensure our current K-12 students are scientifically-literate, global citizens who are prepared for college and career success, We are in the process of transitioning to new science standards that reflect what students in grades K-12 should know and be able to do as a result of instruction. Recognizing science is not just a body of knowledge that reflects current understanding of the world; it is also a set of practices used to establish, extend, and refine that knowledge, Iowa’s Science Standards are written as a modified version of the Next Generation Science Standards and are designed to address six major conceptual shifts.

  1. The NGSS reflect how science is done in the real world by intertwining three dimensions - Scientific and Engineering Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Disciplinary Core Ideas. Scroll to the bottom of each hyperlink to see the K-12 matrix for each practice and concept.
  2. The NGSS are student performance expectations.
  3. The NGSS build coherently from grades K through 12.
  4. The NGSS focus on deeper understanding of content and applications of content.
  5. The NGSS integrate science, technology, and engineering throughout grades K–12.
  6. The NGSS correlate to the Common Core State Standards in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics.

Teacher responsibilities for the 2016-17 school year.

Working within your current curriculum, engage in the following activities over the course of next year. This is your time to intentionally focus on the crosscutting concepts and science and engineering practices before we completely switch to the new standards.

  • Focus on deliberate, guided integration of science and engineering practicesinto lessons/units. It may be helpful to record which science and engineering practices are being used by students and modeled by teachers. Explicitly address all eight practices at some point throughout the year
  • Use prompts that encourage students to identify and use appropriate crosscutting concepts. It may be helpful to post the crosscutting concepts in the room to help focus conversations and connections. Explicitly address all seven crosscutting concepts throughout the year.
  • Field test lessons/unit and classroom assessments that are intentionally focused on building students’ learning toward each of the dimensions (SEPs, CCCs, and DCIs) of the new standards.
  • Begin to intentionally teach content that was not previously taught and begin to pare down content that is no longer included or no longer emphasized in the standards.
  • Begin evaluating instructional resources and begin modifying existing materials to more completely align with the standards.

Please contact Adam Puderbaugh at if you are interested in professional development opportunities around the new standards.

Content Topics / Estimated Schedule
  • Introduction to Zoology: Diversity of Life
/ 3 weeks
  • Porifera and Cnidaria
/ 3 weeks
  • Worms: Platyhelminthes, Nematodes, Annelids
/ 4 weeks
  • Mollusca and Echinodermata
/ 4 weeks
  • Arthropods
/ 4 weeks
Topic: Introduction to Zoology
Level 4 / Level 3 / Level 2 / Level 1
In addition to score 3.0 performance, the student demonstrates in-depth inferences and applications that go beyond what was taught. / Students will:
  1. Classify an unknown living thing as an animal.
  1. Predict where an unknown animal is placed in taxonomic structure.
  1. Develop a graphic illustration or model to demonstrate numbers of animals in each phylum.
  1. Collect and classify a minimum of 5-10common arthropods (or other acceptable animal) from at least 3 different classes. Each specimen should be properly displayed (or presented) and identified.
  1. Construct a classification of representative animal taxa including: Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Annelida, Mollusca, Arthropoda (Mandibulata, Chelicerata, and Crustacea), Echinodermata, Chordata
/ Students will:
  1. Recall the order of classification from kingdom to species
  2. Recognize the characteristics of an animal
  1. Identify Major phyla of Kingdom Animalia
  1. Compare Patterns of symmetry observed in animals
  1. Identify animals as being vertebrate or invertebrate
  1. Recognize the components of a scientific name
Recognize or recall specific vocabulary such as:
Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species, taxonomy, symmetry (radial, bilateral), porifera, cnidaria, annelid, platyhelminthes, nematode, mollusk, echinoderm, chordata, arthropod, vertebrate, invertebrate, motile, sessile, binomial nomenclature / Student’s performance reflects insufficient progress towards foundational skills and knowledge.
Topic: Porifera and Cnidaria
Level 4 / Level 3 / Level 2 / Level 1
In addition to score 3.0 performance, the student demonstrates in-depth inferences and applications that go beyond what was taught. / Students will:
  1. Place the diversity of Porifera and Cnidaria into a phylogenetic (evolutionary) context and provide data to support hypotheses of relationships
  2. Compare and contrast representative organisms based on morphological and genetic characteristics
  3. Assess how Porifera and Cnidaria interact with their environment and include key adaptations found within the taxa.
  4. Research taxa specific examples to illustrate human impacts and conservation of the species
/ Students will:
  1. Explain the body plans of both porifera and cnidarians.
  2. Identify both sexual and asexual reproduction stages in cindarians and poriferia.
  3. Describe how cnidarians obtain food and the role of nematocysts.
  4. Describe how porifera obtain food.
  5. Explain the role each organism plays in its ecosystem.
Recognize or recall specific vocabulary such as:
Amoboecytes, choanocytes, spicules, ocsulum, ostium, budding, medusa, polyp, gastrovascular cavity, calcarea, hexactinellida, demospongiae, hydrozoa, cubozoa, scyphozoan, anthozoa / Student’s performance reflects insufficient progress towards foundational skills and knowledge.
Topic: Worms: Platyhelminthes, Nematodes, Annelids
Level 4 / Level 3 / Level 2 / Level 1
In addition to score 3.0 performance, the student demonstrates in-depth inferences and applications that go beyond what was taught. / Students will:
  1. Compare and contrast the body plans of the 3 types of worms
  2. Compare and contrast the life cycles of free living worms and parasitic worms.
  3. Differentiate worms from porifera and cnidaria
  4. Plan and conduct and investigation to find out aboutPlanaria regeneration or how Annelida (earthworms or other similar segmented worms) sense and respond to their environment
/ Students will:
  1. Identify habitats
  2. Identify major phyla by major characteristics
  3. Describe how they get food
  4. Identify potential human impacts: parasites, agriculture, etc.
Recognize or recall specific vocabulary such as:
Coelom, , monoecious, dioecious, setae, , pharynx, eye spots, flame cell, scolex, proglottids, Platyhelminthes, nematodes, annelids, bilateral, acoelmate / Student’s performance reflects insufficient progress towards foundational skills and knowledge.
Topic: Mollusca and Echinoderms
Level 4 / Level 3 / Level 2 / Level 1
In addition to score 3.0 performance, the student demonstrates in-depth inferences and applications that go beyond what was taught. / Students will:
  1. Compare and contrast body plans for major groups of mollusks
  2. Classify mollusks by specific traits.
  3. Compare and contrast the how mollusks are related to other major animal phyla
  4. Dissect representative taxa (squid, clam, and snail) and describe their internal anatomy and the function of major organ systems and organs and relate to cell specializations.
  5. Dissect representative taxa (starfish, sea cucumber, sea urchin) and describe their internal anatomy and the function of major organ systems and organs and relate to movement and specialized functions
  6. Describe how the water vascular system, including the tube feet, are used in locomotion, feeding, and gas exchange.
/ Students will:
  1. Describe the processes for feeding in each group
  2. Describe the processes for respiration in each group
  3. Illustrate modes of locomotion and defense in echinoderms and mollusks
  4. Describe how mollusks reproduce
  5. Describe how an echinoderm reproduces and regenerates
Recognize or recall specific vocabulary such as:
Radula, foot, visceral mass, mantle, siphon, tentacle, gill, torsion, beak, jet propulsion, filter feeding, bivalve, gastropod, cephalopod, water vascular system, Aristotle’s lantern, tube feet, sieve plate / Student’s performance reflects insufficient progress towards foundational skills and knowledge.
Topic: Arthropods
Level 4 / Level 3 / Level 2 / Level 1
In addition to score 3.0 performance, the student demonstrates in-depth inferences and applications that go beyond what was taught. / Students will:
  1. Analyze and develop an argument of the main reasons for the evolutionary success of Arthropods
  2. Compare and contrast complete and incomplete metamorphosis
  3. Explain the importance of species diversity to the biological resources needed by human populations including food, medicine, and natural aesthetics
  4. Investigate and carry out taxa specific metamorphosis in the lab. (Possible examples: tobacco hornworm moth, painted lady butterfly, waxworms, mealworms)
/ Students will:
  1. Explain the body plan and symmetry of an insect, arachnid, crustacean, and millipede/centipede and trilobite
  2. Identify the anatomy of a typical insect (example dissection of lubber grasshopper)
  3. Identify the parts of a crustacean through dissection. (example crayfish)
  4. Model/illustrate features of a trilobite that are unique to this sub-phyla.
  5. Describe the importance of the exoskeleton
  6. Compare methods of respiration in arthropods
  7. Compare and contrast chilopoda and diplopoda
Recognize or recall specific vocabulary such as:
Exoskeleton, jointed appendages, specialized segmentation, antennae, metamorphosis, molting, trilobites, centipedes, millipedes, chelicerae, crustaceans, insects, bilateral, spiracles, book lungs, book gills / Student’s performance reflects insufficient progress towards foundational skills and knowledge.
Skill / Skill Standards / Content Topics / Sample Tasks
Reading in Science
Throughout Year / Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks, attending to special cases or exceptions defined in the text.
Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 9–10 texts and topics.
Translate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text into visual form (e.g., a table or chart) and translate information expressed visually or mathematically (e.g., in an equation) into words.
By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band independently and proficiently. /
  • Following Textual Procedures

Skill / Skill Standards / Content Topics / Sample Tasks
Writing in Science
Throughout Year / Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically. /
  • Technical Writing
/
  • Lab Reports
  • Writing procedures
  • Explanation and justification of mathematical solutions with words

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