Summary and Rationale
In this unit, students will begin exploring the concepts of cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems in regards to how they are interrelated, yet independent functional units. Students will be able to understand that all organisms are made of cells, and those cells give rise to more complex systems. Students will gather information to support explanations of the relationship between structure and function within cells and between the cell and its surrounding environment. The crosscutting concepts of energy and matter, structure and function, and systems and system models provide a framework for understanding the relationship between cells, body systems, and the energy transfers between them. Students will focus upon constructing physical and conceptual models of animal cells and human body systems, plan and carry out investigations showing the relationships between body systems, and analyze and interpret data from their constructed experiments to form evidence-based arguments for the importance of the digestive, respiratory, and circulatory systems.
NGSS Standards/Performance Expectations
Instructional Focus
Unit Enduring Understandings
● All organisms take in materials from their environment to be rearranged in support of fueling their internal systems, and expel waste back into the environment to maintain efficiency
● Both matter and energy are necessary to build and maintain structures within the organism.
● Organelles and organs are structured for specific functions.
● Tissues, organs and organ systems are composed of cells specialized for particular body functions.
● Human body systems function to rearrange matter into forms useful for survival.
● Human body systems function both independently and interconnectedly to support the essential processes of life.
Unit Essential Questions
● How do organelles function independently and together to support the life processes of the animal cell?
● How and why is matter transformed within the human body through the use of energy molecules?
● How are systems of the human body interrelated and how do they regulate the body’s internal environment?
● What is the relationship between the structure of a cell, tissue, organ, organ system and their respective functions?
Content Statements
“Structure, Function, and Information Processing”
● All living things are made up of cells, which is the smallest unit that can be said to be alive. An organism may consist of one single cell (unicellular) or many different numbers and types of cells (multicellular). (MS-LS1-1)
● Within cells special structures are responsible for particular functions and the cell membrane forms the boundary that controls what enters and leaves the cell. (MS-LS1-2)
“Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems”
● In multicellular organisms, the body is a system of multiple interacting subsystems. These subsystems are groups of cells that work together to form tissues and organs that are specialized for particular body functions. (MS-LS1-3)
● Within individual organisms food moves through a series of chemical reactions in which it is broken down and rearranged to form new molecules to support growth or to release energy. (MS-LS1-7)
● Cellular respiration in plants and animals involve chemical reactions with oxygen that release stored energy. In these processes complex molecules containing carbon react with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and other materials. (MS-LS1-7)
Ability Objectives
General for all Units:
● Develop and carry out scientific investigations.
● Obtain, evaluate and communicate information to develop technological literacy and an understanding of the role of information technologies in modern scientific endeavors.
● Develop and use models to explain complex processes and relationships between and within organisms.
● Analyze and interpret data and communicate information using a variety of modalities.
● Use mathematics and computational thinking to support scientific conclusions.
● Engage in argument from evidence to explain natural phenomena.
● Construct explanations and design solutions for complex real world environmental problems.
Learning Objectives Specific for Unit 2:
Students will be able to:
● Differentiate between single and multicellular organisms. (MS-LS1-1, MS-LS1-2)
● Demonstrate the processes of diffusion, osmosis, and active transport, as well as the features of the membrane that allow these processes to occur. (MS-LS1-2)
● Form an explanation supported by a model for the changes to the structure of food as it passes through primary organs by detailing how the structure of each primary organ influences the transformation of food. (MS-LS1-3, MS-LS1-7)
● Explain how the digestive, respiratory, and circulatory systems are interconnected and how each impacts the breakdown of the matter of food to release energy by constructing a drawn model of cellular respiration.
● Demonstrate and justify explanations of how blood flows through the heart as a result of the structure of the chambers, valves, and vessels of the organ. (MS-LS1-2, MS-LS1-3)
Sample Performance Tasks - Specific for Unit 2:
Students will be able to:
● Identify a mutation or deficiency within a human body system on the tissue, organ, or organ system level and predict how that alteration would impact the system by using a normal, functioning system to justify their prediction. (MS-LS1-3)
● Design a presentation showing the impact upon the human body of a malfunctioning organ system in comparison to a healthy organ system using evidence collected in lab activities. (MSLS1-3)
● Describe how organelles within the cell work together by developing a model to compare individual organelles to parts of another functioning system and detailing how these parts work together to support the system as a whole. (MS-LS1-1, MS-LS1-2)
Resources
Core Text: N/A
Suggested Resources:
Resources- https://www.teachervision.com/body-parts/teacher-resources/6632.html
Lesson Ideas- http://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/free-lesson-plans/the-ultimate-guide-humanbody.cfm
Virtual Look Into the Human Body- http://www.innerbody.com/
NGSS- http://ngss.nsta.org/AccessStandardsByTopic.aspx
Engineering Experience: Egg-cellent Engineering! (Common Assessment)