7th Grade - Unit 4: Earth's Natural Resources

Instructional Sequence

Assessment Types at
This Stage

Assessment Description

Learning Target

Engage

Analyzing Data: Students’ background knowledge about the natural resources used to make cell phones is engaged. Students also analyze maps about the location of natural resources across the world.

Students consider where the materials that make everyday products come from. They create a list of the materials they think make up a cell phone. Then they compare websites showing the location of natural resources in the San Francisco Bay Area compared with the resources found throughout Earth. They predict why certain resources are found in specific places on Earth.

Students should be able to

• Think about what materials and natural resources make up a cell phone.  
• Think about regions where natural resources can be found or not found on Earth.

Explore 

Analyzing Data and Making Observations: Students analyze maps and make observations from a teacher-led demonstration.

Students focus on three natural resources that are used in everyday life: oil, metals, and groundwater. They examine maps and perform hands-on activities that model the formation of the resources. They think about how the way each resource is made connects to where it is found on Earth. 

Students should be able to

• Make connections between the geoscience processes that form three natural resources and where they are found on Earth.

Explain 

Reading, Group Discussion:

Students read an article working with partners and Listening Triads. Students answer Reflection Questions in small groups and discuss responses as a class. 

Students read an article about Earth’s natural resources. They then use this information to create a model of how one natural resource is formed. Through these experiences, they learn that many resources are formed by complex processes that take a very long time. They also think about the implications of natural resource use.

Students should be able to 

• List examples of renewable and nonrenewable resources.
• Explain that resources are classified as renewable or nonrenewable based on their availability and how long they take to form.
• Explain that oil is generally found at places where ancient seas existed and at plate boundaries.
• Explain that minerals and metals are made by a variety of rock cycle and tectonic processes.
• Explain why groundwater is hard to classify as renewable or nonrenewable.
• Explain why groundwater accumulates more in areas with gravel than clay in the soil.

Elaborate

Extending Understanding and Applying Learning to a New Context: Students apply their understanding of the formation of natural resources to the Culminating Project.

Students apply their understanding of how geoscience processes form natural resources to the Culminating Project. Students return to the table created in the Lift-Off lesson that organizes their ideas about each type of material. 

Students should be able to 

• Explain the geoscience processes behind the formation of natural resources.
• Consider which natural resources are not found in the San Francisco Bay Area and the implications for choosing a type of material for utensils for San Francisco Unified School District cafeterias.

Evaluate

Evaluating, Communicating Information: Students demonstrate their understanding and evaluate their own knowledge of the formation of natural resources through geoscience processes.

Students evaluate their understanding of how natural resources are formed and where on Earth the resources are found. They also consider the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources through a Critique, Correct, Clarify routine. Students finish the lesson by creating concept maps using the information they have learned in the subunit.

Students should be able to 

• Explain that resources are classified as renewable or nonrenewable based on their availability and how long they take to form.
• Recognize trade-offs in meeting human needs and wants and conserving natural resources.

Instructional Sequence

Assessment Types at
This Stage

Assessment Description

Learning Target

Engage

Observations and Making Predictions: Students’ background knowledge about natural versus not natural materials will be assessed. 

Students think about the difference between natural resources and human-made or synthetic materials. First, students consider different everyday items and whether they think the items are made of material that is natural or not natural. Next, students review the class list of materials that make up a cell phone from Subunit 1.  They sort the class list into items they consider to be natural or not. The whole class has a discussion about the decisions students made in both activities. 

Students should be able to

• Form ideas about how to classify a material as natural or not natural. 

Explore 

Observations, Evaluating Information, Written Responses: Students conduct an experiment and evaluate information about plastic made from fossil fuels and milk plastic.

Students make a synthetic material: milk plastic. They create a chemical reaction and observe how an entirely new product is made as a result: the synthetic material. Such an exploration will help students better understand the characteristics of synthetic materials, while also comparing synthetics with the natural resources discussed in the previous subunit. Students end the lesson by considering the benefits and trade-offs of milk plastic and plastic derived from natural oil and gas in terms of meeting the needs of San Francisco Unified School District students and conserving natural resources. 

Students should be able to

• Continue to make distinctions between natural materials and those that are not natural. Students do not need to use the term synthetic at this point.
• Notice that all materials have benefits and drawbacks. Choosing which materials to use for products is complicated. Meeting the needs or wants of citizens or consumers can often be at odds with conserving natural resources.

Explain 

Reading, Group Discussion:

Students read an article working with partners and Listening Triads. Students answer Reflection Questions in small groups and discuss responses as a class. 

Students read an article about the differences between synthetic and natural materials. They then revisit the sorting activity from the Subunit 2, Engage lesson and update their categorization of the items as natural or synthetic. 

Students should be able to 

• State differences between natural and synthetic materials.
• State that synthetic materials are made using natural resources.

Elaborate

Extending Understanding and Applying Learning to a New Context: Students apply their understanding of synthetic materials and natural resources to the Culminating Project.

Students use evidence from their previous work, the article, and videos to add to the table they started in the Lift-Off lesson and the Subunit 1, Elaborate lesson. 

Students should be able to 

• State differences between natural and synthetic materials.
• State that synthetic materials are made using natural resources.
• Consider the benefits and trade-offs of using synthetic or natural materials.

Evaluate

Evaluating, Communicating Information, Drawing Models, Written Responses: Students demonstrate their understanding and evaluate their own knowledge of synthetic materials and natural resources. 

Students participate in a Critique, Correct, Clarify routine about synthetic materials. They also update their Know, Wonder, Learned chart and Driving Question Board based on what they learned in the subunit.

Students should be able to 

• State differences between natural and synthetic materials.
• State that synthetic materials are made using natural resources.
• Consider the benefits and trade-offs of using synthetic or natural materials.

Instructional Sequence

Assessment Types at
This Stage

Assessment Description

Learning Target

Engage

Observations: Students’ background knowledge about ecosystem services and biodiversity are assessed.

Students consider the benefits healthy ecosystems provide to humans. Students observe images of several ecosystems that have remained largely unchanged by human activity. Students use their understanding from Unit 7.3 to predict the types of organisms that live in each ecosystem. They also predict what would happen if one part of the ecosystem changed. 

Students should be able to 

• Predict the types of organisms found in different protected ecosystems.
• Predict the benefits that healthy ecosystems can provide for humans and other organisms. 
• Predict what would happen if an ecosystem changed because of the removal of natural resources. 

Explore 

Observations and Written Responses: Students record written observations about changes to ecosystems.

Students consider how humans can change ecosystems when obtaining natural resources to meet human needs. Specifically, students look at images of ecosystems that have been changed to plant corn, raise cattle, mine gold and iron, and obtain oil. These are the natural resources used to make the different types of materials selected for the utensils they are considering for the Culminating Project. Pairs will compare the images of the changed ecosystems to the ecosystems in the Engage lesson and predict the effects of these changes.

Students should be able to 

• Identify changes to an ecosystem from human natural resource extraction activities.
• Predict the effects of these changes.

Explain 

Reading, Group Discussion:

Students read an article working with partners and Listening Triads. Students answer Reflection Questions in small groups and discuss responses as a class. 

Students learn what is meant by ecosystem services and how everything we use comes from an ecosystem. They examine the rationales people have given for use of natural resources and the rethinking of some of those decisions. These changes in the understanding of the environment have led to reversing damage/restoring ecosystems.

Students should be able to

• Define biodiversity and ecosystem services. 
• Explain the consequences of altering an ecosystem.
• Describe the consequences to ecosystems of mining iron and oil. 
• Describe the consequences of growing plants instead of using food for biodegradable plastics.

Elaborate

Extending Understanding and Applying Learning to a New Context: Students apply their understanding of biodiversity  and ecosystem services to the Culminating Project.

Students begin to work on their Culminating Projects. They read about each type of material proposed to make utensils for San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) cafeterias. Using this information, students complete a life cycle diagram for one of the three types of materials: traditional plastic, metal, and biodegradable plastic. Students share this information with the group and revise their assessment based on feedback.

Students should be able to 

• Analyze data about the life cycle of different types of materials selected for the utensil.
• Develop an assessment of one type of material selected for the utensil.

Evaluate

Evaluating, Communicating Information, Drawing Models, Written Responses: Students demonstrate their understanding and evaluate their own knowledge of natural resources, synthetic materials, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Students apply what they have learned about biodiversity and ecosystem services to the problem posed in the Culminating Project. 

Student groups determine which material would be best for SFUSD cafeterias to use to make utensils. This determination will be based on students’ Life Cycle Assessment tables and the ranking of criteria that they think are most important to consider. Individual students provide feedback on a group’s presentation.

Students should be able to 

• Evaluate different materials for utensils in terms of conserving resources, maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services, meeting the needs of users, and cost.

Desired Results

Overview

Through investigations, students consider how natural resources are formed, obtained, and used by humans. Students also consider the impact their use of natural resources has on biodiversity and ecosystems. In Subunit 1, students construct an explanation about how geoscience processes have created an unequal distribution of natural resources on Earth. In Subunit 2, students gather and analyze information about how synthetic materials are made from natural resources. They also consider the pros and cons of using natural and synthetic materials to meet our needs. In Subunit 3, students learn about how biodiversity and ecosystem services provide benefits to all species, including humans. In the Culminating Project, they consider what type of material should be used to make utensils for San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) cafeterias. Currently, the food services department at SFUSD provides each school cafeteria with traditional plastic sporks and knives. Students consider whether to change to metal or biodegradable plastic utensils or to keep the plastic ones. To evaluate each choice, students consider four criteria: human needs, conserving natural resources, maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services, and cost.

Project Tasks

Connections to Culminating Project Liftoff: Students are asked to consider what they know about each of the materials: traditional plastic, metal, and biodegradable plastic.

Connections to Culminating Project Subunit 1: Investigate how oil and metal used to make plastic and steel utensils are formed.

Connections to Culminating Project Subunit 2: Investigate whether plastic and metal are natural or synthetic and the resources needed to make each substance.

Connections to Culminating Project Subunit 3: Create a life cycle assessment of each utensil material.

Estimated length of project: 3 weeks 

ESTABLISHED GOALS

MS-ESS3-1. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth’s mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how these resources are limited and typically non-renewable, and how their distributions are significantly changing as a result of removal by humans. Examples of uneven distributions of resources as a result of past processes include but are not limited to petroleum (locations of the burial of organic marine sediments and subsequent geologic traps), metal ores (locations of past volcanic and hydrothermal activity associated with subduction zones), and soil (locations of active weathering and/or deposition of rock).]

MS-PS1-3. Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on natural resources that undergo a chemical process to form the synthetic material. Examples of new materials could include new medicine, foods, and alternative fuels.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to qualitative information.]

MS-ETS1-2. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

MS-LS2-5. Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services. [Clarification Statement: Examples of ecosystem services could include water purification, nutrient recycling, and prevention of soil erosion. Examples of design solution constraints could include scientific, economic, and social considerations.]

NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

What materials should be used to make utensils for SFUSD cafeterias?

Students will be able to independently use their learning to

• Apply their understanding of the uneven distribution of Earth’s mineral, energy, and groundwater resources to their recommendation for types of utensils in SFUSD cafeterias.
• Apply their understanding of how synthetic materials are created from natural resources to the type of utensil.
• Create a life cycle assessment in order to make recommendations to SFUSD regarding the type of utensils used in cafeterias.

Students will know 

• That the uneven distribution of Earth’s mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.
• That synthetic materials come from natural resources.
• That the choice of materials used in SFUSD cafeterias has a potential impact on our ability to maintain biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Evidence

Assessment Evidence

Group Culminating Project PERFORMANCE TASK: Creating a Plan to Meet the SFUSD Sustainability Goals.

At the end of this unit, students work collaboratively to prepare a presentation on which type of material for utensils would meet the needs of SFUSD students while also conserving natural resources and maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services. In doing so, students are assessed on their ability to rank criteria to systematically make choices. Students’ arguments are based on what they learned and the data they collected throughout the unit. 

Recommendations will be determined by

1. Ranking each category in order of importance for making decisions. Do students want to prioritize human needs, conservation of resources, maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem services, or cost?

2. Providing an explanation of how and why the categories were ranked by addressing the following items:

Criterion 1: Human Needs

• Do these utensils work adequately for the types of food served in the cafeteria? Explain the reasoning. 
• How convenient is it to use, reuse, or dispose of utensils made of the selected material? Explain the reasoning. 

Criterion 2: Conserving Natural Resources

• What natural resources are required to make the selected utensils?
• Is the material used to make these utensils natural or synthetic? Explain the difference, and describe the risks and benefits of the way these utensils are made.  
• Are the natural resources for the utensils found in the San Francisco Bay Area, or will these resources need to be transported from elsewhere? 
• How much water is needed to make, use, and dispose of these utensils?

Criterion 3: Maintaining Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

• How are ecosystems disrupted to obtain and transport the natural resources used to make these utensils? 
• How does obtaining and transporting these natural resources affect biodiversity? 
• How does obtaining and transporting these natural resources affect ecosystem services? 
• What happens after these utensils are used and how does this affect biodiversity and ecosystem services? 

Criterion 4: Cost

• How much money is needed to make and transport these types of utensils?
• What are the economic costs involved after using these utensils?
   

3. Presenting a summary of the benefits, risks, trade-offs, or challenges of the selection: 

• What are some of the benefits of the material selected for the utensils?
• What are some of the risks of the material selected for the utensils?
• What are some of the trade-offs or challenges of the material selected for the utensils?

Individual Culminating Project: Presentation Feedback Letter

Students write a feedback letter about one group’s presentation that includes content related to the three main criteria in the Group Culminating Project.

Learning Plan

Subunit 1

Throughout the course of this subunit, students construct an understanding of the uneven distribution of natural resources on Earth and the geoscience processes in which they formed. 

Subunit 2

Throughout the course of this subunit, students investigate how synthetic materials are made from natural resources.

Subunit 3 

Throughout the course of this subunit, students develop an understanding of how biodiversity and ecosystem services are impacted when humans extract and use natural resources to make products for human use.
 

Earth’s Natural Resources

Essential Question: What materials should be used to make utensils for SFUSD cafeterias?

Lift-Off and Introduction to the Culminating Project

 Subunit 1: The Formation of Natural Resources

Where on Earth do we find natural resources, and how do they form?

Engage • Explore • Explain • Elaborate • Evaluate

Subunit 2: Synthetic Materials

How are natural resources used to make synthetic materials?

Engage • Explore • Explain • Elaborate • Evaluate

Subunit 3: Maintaining Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

How are biodiversity and ecosystem services affected when people obtain and use natural resources?

Engage • Explore • Explain • Elaborate • Evaluate

Group Culminating Project

Presentation: Traditional Plastic, Metal, or Biodegradable Plastic Utensils

Individual Culminating Project

Presentation Feedback Letter 

Course Crosscutting Concepts

+ Foundational Crosscutting Concepts: These concepts are foundational to the understanding of middle school science. They are present throughout the course. Students are expected to continue to apply their knowledge of the concepts to subsequent relevant projects. 

* Focal Crosscutting Concept: This concept is called out consistently in the Teacher Edition and once per subunit in the Student Book. Students consider the unit project through the lens of this Crosscutting Concept. 

Crosscutting Concept

Unit 1: Chemical Reactions

Unit 2: Geoscience Processes and Earth’s Surface

Unit 3: Ecosystems

Unit 4: Earth’s Natural Resources

Patterns

+

+

+

Cause and Effect

+

+

*

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

*

+

Systems and System Models

Energy and Matter

+

*

Structure and Function

+

Stability and Change

*

+

+

Science and Engineering Practices 

+ Foundational Science and Engineering Practices: These practices “carry forward” through the course. Students focus on one of them per unit and are then expected to continue to apply that knowledge to subsequent relevant projects. 

* Focal Science and Engineering Practice: This practice is called out consistently in the Teacher Edition and once per subunit in the Student Book. Students use this practice to complete the unit project. 

Science and Engineering Practices

Unit 1: Chemical Reactions

Unit 2: Geoscience Processes and Earth’s Surface

Unit 3: Ecosystems

Unit 4: Earth’s Natural Resources

Developing and Using Models 

*

*

+

Asking Questions and Defining Problems 

+

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

+

*

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

+

+

+

+

Engaging in Argument from Evidence

+

*

+

Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

+

*

MS-ESS3-1 

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth's mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how these resources are limited and typically non-renewable, and how their distributions are significantly changing as a result of removal by humans. Examples of uneven distributions of resources as a result of past processes include but are not limited to petroleum (locations of the burial of organic marine sediments and subsequent geologic traps), metal ores (locations of past volcanic and hydrothermal activity associated with subduction zones), and soil (locations of active weathering and/or deposition of rock)]

MS-PS1-3

Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on natural resources that undergo a chemical process to form the synthetic material. Examples of new materials could include new medicine, foods, and alternative fuels.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to qualitative information.]

MS-ETS1-2

Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

MS-LS2-5 

Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.[Clarification Statement: Examples of ecosystem services could include water purification, nutrient recycling, and prevention of soil erosion. Examples of design solution constraints could include scientific, economic, and social considerations.] 

Misconception 

Accurate Concepts

[To come in future edition]

[To come in future edition]

Misconception 

Accurate Concepts

[To come in future edition]

[To come in future edition]

Misconception 

Accurate Concepts

[To come in future edition]

[To come in future edition]

Misconception 

Accurate Concept

If a population in a food web is disturbed, there will be little or no effect on populations that are not within the linear sequence in the food web. (Webb & Boltt, 1990).

From the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Misconceptions website (http://assessment.aaas.org/misconceptions/1/IE/173/IEM022)

All organisms, both land-based and aquatic, are connected to other organisms by their need for food. This results in a global network of interconnections, which is referred to as a food web.

Permanent

Consumable

Teacher Provided

• 16 oz clear plastic cup (86)
• Gravel (10 lb)
• Sand (5 lb)
• Modeling clay (red, blue, yellow, white) (2 lb)
• Magnifying glass (8)
• 100 mL graduated cylinder (1)
• Hot plate (1)
• Thermometer (1)
• 400 mL Beaker (8)
• Metal teaspoon (8)

• White vinegar (½ gal)

• Piece of chart paper (6)
• Large 5"x7" sticky note (144) 
• Small sticky note (144) 
• Marker (32) 
• Pushpin (8)
• Tap water
• Milk (2.5 gal)
• Roll of Paper towels (1)
• Food coloring (1 oz)