building consensus

As you explore the different sections below, examples are provided from two different units: Lyme disease (high school) and The Colorado Plateau (middle school). You can use the arrows to move between the two examples.

This allows the groups to revise their models based on the final tasks of the unit and any other information or evidence they have collected. The discussion provides another opportunity for group sensemaking as they decide what to add, revise, or remove from their models. This can begin by quickly revising the Initial Hypotheses List for the final time.

Provide a description of how the students will construct their final models. See an example below.

Finalizing the models allows each group to come to consensus on their explanations of the anchoring phenomenon. Next, facilitate a discussion to coordinate those explanations across groups, building a whole-class consensus. This may occur through the sharing and critiques of the groups’ final models.

Describe how you will facilitate a consensus building discussion. See an example below.

After building consensus, construct the final public record as a whole class. The Gotta Have Checklist is a bulleted list of the important ideas and facts, coordinated with evidence, that are essential for a complete scientific explanation of the phenomenon. 

Describe how you will facilitate the construction of the Gotta Have Checklist and map the ideas to the evidence from the tasks. See an example below.