Welcome to SFUSD Middle School Science Core Curriculum Page

Unit 0: Groupwork

Overview

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                                     Every grade level starts off with Unit 0: Groupwork. 

 

Unit 0: Groupwork, which prepares students for the kind of work required in the other four units, follows a different structure than the rest of our curriculum. 

Groupwork is an instructional strategy that helps to promote more equitable classrooms, provides opportunities for student interactions, and increases participation in science discussions with the goal of improving student learning. Unfortunately, some students are perceived by their peers as having low academic performance and/or linguistic abilities. Our goal is to equalize rates of participation so all students are able to contribute to the learning of the whole class. One effective method of doing this is to help students understand that they need the intellectual abilities of their group members to successfully complete the tasks throughout this curriculum. To promote the idea that all students have something to contribute, we suggest that you use the following two statements when introducing each project.

  • No one is good at all the abilities.
  • Everyone is good at some of the abilities.

Unit 0: Groupwork Unit Plan

Unit 0: Groupwork

How do we work productively in groups? 

Overview 

Groupwork is an instructional strategy that has the capacity to promote more equitable classrooms, provide opportunities for student interactions, and increase science discussion with the goal of improving student learning. However, groupwork can be challenging to implement. Student participation and the quality of the conversations and products can vary widely. Often the dynamics within a group and how students perceive each other become barriers to productive, equitable, and rigorous groupwork.

Groupwork takes significant time to learn to do well, for both students and teachers. That said, we recommend spending at most 2 weeks working in this unit before moving to Unit 6.1. Two weeks is enough time to introduce the structures of groupwork to students who have not used groupwork before, specifically the Groupwork Norms and Groupwork Roles that define student behavior. The activities in the unit are designed to take 6 instructional days, but there are optional extensions that can be used to reinforce ideas and routines that students struggle with, either at the beginning of or later in the year. In addition, you can continue to reinforce the use of Groupwork Norms and Groupwork Roles throughout the content lessons.

Make instructional decisions about the lessons in this unit based on the needs of your students and keeping within this 2-week time frame. For example, if your students have never worked in structured groups before, they may need 6–8 days to begin establishing these routines. If, on the other hand, students have been using groupwork in Science and Math class for a couple of years, they may just need a reminder before moving into content work. No matter what instructional decisions you make, remember to highlight the two main components of groupwork being introduced in this unit: Groupwork Norms and Groupwork Roles. Following are the focuses of each lesson:

 

Lesson

Groupwork Norms and Other Focuses

Lesson 1: Puzzle Challenge

  • Pay attention to what other group members need.
  • No one is done until everyone is done.

Lesson 2: Role Playing

  • Play your role in the group.
  • Introduction to Groupwork Roles.

Lesson 3: Match My Drawing

  • Explain by telling how/why.
  • Listen and pay attention to what others are saying.
  • Help others do things for themselves.

Lesson 4: Build the Tallest Tower

  • Everyone in the group participates.
  • Pay attention to what other group members need.

Lesson 5: Science and Engineering are for Everyone

  • Listen and pay attention to what others are saying.
  • Everyone in the group participates.

Lesson 6: Science Safety

  • Play your role in the group.
  • Everyone in the group participates.

Groupwork Norms

  • Pay attention to what other group members need.
  • No one is done until everyone is done.
  • Play your role in the group.
  • Explain by telling how/why.
  • Listen and pay attention to what others are saying.
  • Help others do things for themselves.
  • Be concise.
  • Rephrase and add on to others’ ideas.
  • Everyone in the group participates.

Role-Playing Descriptions

Facilitator

Recorder/Reporter

The Facilitator is responsible for making sure that the group understands the task and that the work runs smoothly.

  • Makes sure everyone understands the instructions.
  • Makes sure all group members participate.
  • Helps people ask for and get help when needed.
  • Keeps the group on task.
  • Sees that all Groupwork Roles are being performed.
  • Encourages group discussion.
  • Helps the group identify different parts of
    the task.
  • Helps the group assign time limits to the task.
  • Keeps the group aware of how much time is left.
  • Encourages all group members to make good use of the time.

The Recorder/Reporter is responsible for making sure that group and individual written work is done and for reporting out to the teacher or class as needed.

  • Makes sure the group product is completed and represents the group’s best effort.
  • Organizes the group’s report for the class.
  • Summarizes the activity to introduce the report to the class.
  • Reports to the teacher and/or class on how the group worked together.
  • Makes sure that all parts of the project are correctly labeled and turned in on time.
  • Makes sure that everyone has notes or diagrams from the discussion/research.
  • Records all the group’s thoughts and ideas.
  • Makes sure everyone completes
    individual reports.

Resource Manager

Team Captain

The Resource Manager is responsible for accessing all types of resources, such as lab materials, research materials, and the teacher through group questions.

  • Makes sure that all supplies and materials
    needed for the task are available.

  • Makes sure that materials are used properly
    and safely.

  • Supervises the cleanup and returns all materials.

  • Sees that the group’s work space is clean and orderly.

  • Looks up additional information for the group.

  • Shares all additional information with everyone.

  • Puts away all additional resource materials used by the group.

  • Asks the teacher for help if necessary.

The Team Captain is responsible for making sure that the group works and learns well together.

  • Makes sure all group members are talking to one another.

  • Makes sure there are no put-downs.

  • Encourages positive responses.

  • Recognizes effort and contributions by individuals.

  • Makes the group aware of individual contributions.

  • Helps the group come to agreement.

  • Helps the group form a consensus.


View and download (by making a copy) of Groupwork Unit Plan

Unit 0: Groupwork Materials

Materials

The Groupwork Materials table includes all of the items needed to teach five sections of this unit in a classroom size of 32 students (eight groups of four.) A detailed breakdown of how these items are used throughout the unit can be found in each individual lesson in your Teacher Edition. 

  • Permanent materials have already been provided to all middle schools in the district and are expected to be reused from year to year.
     
  • Consumable materials are replenished on an as-needed basis from year to year. 
     
  • Teacher Provided materials must be supplied by teachers each year. 

Unit 0: Groupwork Materials

Permanent

Consumable

Teacher Provided

  • None
  • None
  • Jigsaw puzzle with at least 20 pieces (8)
  • Piece of chart paper (11)
  • Ream of printer paper
  • 10”x13” envelopes (8)
  • Letter-size envelopes (32)

View and download (by making a copy) Materials

Unit 0: Groupwork Lessons

Unit 0: Groupwork

Lessons

This Groupwork Unit will help students learn two important components of productive and efficient groupwork. The first component is each member having a Groupwork Role and playing it throughout the lesson. These Groupwork roles are Facilitator, Recorder/Reporter, Resource Manager, and Team Captain. Lesson 2 introduces these Groupwork Roles; thereafter, the Groupwork Roles should be used in every lesson. The second important component of groupwork is a set of Groupwork Norms that every member must adhere to. These Groupwork Norms are introduced in different Groupwork lessons. In the Groupwork Norms handout (Lesson 1), each Groupwork Norm is provided on a separate page to allow you to make posters to display in your classroom.

 

Lesson Lesson Name Teacher Document Student Handout
1 Puzzle Challenge

MS SU1 Lesson 1 Teacher

MS SU1 Lesson 1 Teacher BehNor

MS SU1 Lesson 1 Student

MS SU1 Lesson 1 Student BehNor

2 Role Playing

MS SU1 Lesson 2 Teacher

MS SU1 Lesson 2 Teacher Roles

MS SU1 Lesson 2 Student

MS SU1 Lesson 2 Student HO

3 Match My Drawing MS SU1 Lesson 3 Teacher

MS SU1 Lesson 3 Student

MS SU1 Lesson 3 Student HO Observ

4 Build the Tallest Tower MS SU1 Lesson 4 Teacher MS SU1 Lesson 4 Student
5 Science and Engineering Are for Everyone MS SU1 Lesson 5 Teacher MS SU1 Lesson 5 Student
6 Science Safety

MS SU1 Lesson 6 Safety Teacher

MS SU1 Lesson 6 Safety Slides

MS SU1 Lesson 6 Safety Student

📂 Download ALL lessons at one time for Unit 0: Groupwork from this folder. 📂

Want to know more about Groupwork?

Do you want to learn more about Groupwork?

Resources

Here are some resources for Unit 6.1 Energy:

Thermal Energy

Energy Foundations for High School Chemistry
“ENERGY FOUNDATIONS for High School Chemistry.” Energy Foundations for High School Chemistry. Accessed November 1, 2019. http://highschoolenergy.acs.org/content/hsef/en.html.
(These resources were written with the high school teacher in mind, but they could be helpful for those wanting to brush up on their understanding of thermal energy.)
 

Engineering Design

PBS LearningMedia California
“What Is the Engineering Design Process?” PBS LearningMedia. Building Big, October 4, 2019. https://ca.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/phy03.sci.engin.design.desprocess/what-is-the-engineering-design-process/#.XbMGDUX0k62.
(These resources are helpful for familiarizing yourself with the engineering design process students use during the unit.)

Experimental Design

National Center for Education Statistics: Kids’ Zone
“National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Kids' Zone Home Page, Part of the U.S. Department of Education.” NCES Kids' Zone Test Your Knowledge. Accessed November 1, 2019. https://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/

Recommended Videos

BrainPOP: Scientific Method
“Scientific Method.” BrainPOP. Accessed November 1, 2019. https://www.brainpop.com/science/scientificinquiry/scientificmethod/.

Recommended Reading

Science Buddies: Variables in Your Science Fair Project
Science Buddies. “Variables in Your Science Fair Project.” Science Buddies. Science Buddies, August 28, 2019. https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/science-fair/variables#whatarevariables.

mathxscience.com: Experimental Variables
“Middle School Science Help: Krystal Cortez: Scientific Method Variables.” Middle School Science Help | Krystal Cortez | Scientific Method Variables. Accessed November 1, 2019. http://mathxscience.com/scientific_method_variables.html.

Science Made Simple: Designing Science Fair Experiments
“Designing Science Fair Experiments by Science Made Simple.” Designing Science Fair Experiments. Accessed November 1, 2019. https://www.sciencemadesimple.com/science_fair_experiment.html.

The Human Spark: Experimenting with Experiments
“Experimenting with Experiments ~ Lesson Activities.” PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, January 19, 2011. https://www.pbs.org/wnet/humanspark/uncategorized/experimenting-with-experiments-lesson-activities/431/.
 

Assessment Practice Items

Stanford University: Stanford NGSS Assessment Project, Short-Response Items
“Short-Response Items.” Short-response items | Stanford NGSS Assessment Project. Accessed November 1, 2019. https://snapgse.stanford.edu/snap-assessments/short-response-items.

Other Resources Used in  6.1 Energy

“Beat the Heat!” NASA. NASA. Accessed November 1, 2019. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/beat-the-heat/en/.

“Inverted Bottles.” Exploratorium, August 1, 2017. https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/inverted-bottles.

Lab Interactive. Accessed November 1, 2019. http://lab.concord.org/embeddable.html#interactives/sam/phase-change/6-phase-changes-caused-by-energy-input.json.

PhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado Boulder,
https://phet.colorado.edu.

“Observation & Inference.” Observation & Inference • Unit [T1] SciGen SERP. Accessed November 1, 2019.
https://serpmedia.org/scigen/t1.html.


View and download (by making a copy) of Resources

 

 

 

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This page was last updated on May 2, 2023