Learning Expedition Overview

Title
School
Grade level
Discipline(s)
Specific topic:
Start & end
dates
Author(s)

Survive, Thrive, and Stay Alive! How do changes in our world

affect our survival?
Russell Byers Charter School
2nd Grade
Science, Literacy, Social Studies, Math
Adaptation, Evolution, and Extinction
March 9, 2015 - May ?
Allen Garner; Christie Kapothanasis; Courtney Taylor

Summary
Students will explore a series of topics leading up to the adaptation and extinction of
dinosaurs. They will investigate and compare the environmental factors surrounding
dinosaur extinction and human survival.
Guiding Questions
How do we know dinosaurs existed? (rocks & minerals; fossils; layers of earth)
How did dinosaurs change over time? How do we know?
When did dinosaurs live?
How did changes in the Mesozoic Era affect dinosaur survival?
How do changes in our environment affect our survival?
Standards Assessed in the Learning Expedition
Discipline
Literacy

Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.1
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.2
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.Ri
I.2.3

Science

NS.K-4.3: Life Science

NS.K-4.4: Earth & Science
NS.K-4.6: Personal and Social
Perspective
NS.K-4.7: History of Nature and
Science

Long-Term Learning Targets

I can ask and
answer questions before,
during, and after reading
an informational text.
I can find the main
idea and supporting
details of a paragraph.
I can describe the
connections between
events in a sequence.
I can identify the
connection between
organisms and their
environments.
I can identify the
layers of Earth and the

Social Studies

NSS-G.K-12.5: Environment and

Society

properties of each layer.

I can determine how
changing environments
affect life forms.
I can assess early
paleontologists
collaboration with one
another.
I can evaluate how
human actions modify our
environment.

Anchor Text(s) (See the Text Planner for more details re: texts)
Anchor texts are key texts read to support content and literacy skills. Usually all
students have a copy of anchor texts. Some anchor texts may be used with a single
case study; others may be used across multiple case studies.
Title

Author/Illustrator

Text Type

Digging Up
Dinosaurs
Fossils Tell of Long
Ago
Dinosaurs are
Different
My Visit to the
Dinosaurs
Dinosaur Bones

Aliki

Informational

Aliki

Informational

Aliki

Informational

Aliki

Informational

Aliki

Informational

Evidence
of/Notes on
Complexity
*

* This links to Evaluating Texts for their Level of Complexity, an excerpt from ELs Succeeding
with Complex Text toolkit booklet.

Case Study/Studies and Key Summative Assessments

1. Case study title
Case study content
(Guiding Question)
Big ideas (broad
concepts)

Layers of Earth and Types of Rocks;

Fossils and Paleontologists
How do we know dinosaurs existed?
We know dinosaurs existed because we have found
their fossils in rocks below Earths surface.
Fossils are the remains of dinosaurs and our evidence
of dinosaur existence.

Key standards that

drive the case study

Midpoint assessment
End of case study
assessment
Additional summative
assessments (Include at
least one text-based
literacy task per case
study)

Paleontologists study fossils and help us understand

what they tell us about dinosaurs.
NS.K-4.4
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.1
Ask/answer key questions about/from a
text
Describe properties of earth materials
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.1
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.2
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.5
NS.K-4.7
Informational text features
Determining importance
Fact vs. opinion
Evaluate collaboration/competition
amongst scientists to make new developments in
field of paleontology
Expert Group Presentations
Dinosaur Text about characteristics of all dinosaurs

Case Study/Studies and Key Summative Assessments

2. Case study title

Case study content
Big Ideas/Broad
Concepts
Key standards that
drive the case study

Midpoint assessment
End of case study
assessment
Additional summative
assessments (Include at
least one text-based
literacy task per case
study)

Dinosaur Evolution and Adaptation

How did dinosaurs evolve and change over time?
Creatures existed before the dinosaurs and continued
to evolve over time. Dinosaurs evolved over the
course of the Mesozoic Era based on the changing
environment.
CCSS.ELA-LIT.RI.2.3
CCSS.ELA-LIT.RI.2.9
NS.K-4.3
Connecting steps in a process
Organisms and their environments
Life cycles/evolution of organisms (prehistoric and after)
Compare/contrast information from
multiple texts
Idea: Individual/Small Group Scrolls

Case Study/Studies and Key Summative Assessments

3. Case study title
Case study content

Big Ideas/Broad
Concepts

Environmental Pollution and Conservation

Dinosaur Extinction Theories
What are the current theories of dinosaur extinction?
Who survived and why?
What threats do humans currently inflict on our
environment? How could these threats effect our
survival?
Scientists have several theories that explain dinosaur
extinction. Some creatures, like birds and some
mammals, survived because of they adapted to the
environment.
Humans continue to threaten their environment as
evidenced by pollution, global warming, and the
depletion of natural resources.

Key standards that

drive the case study

Midpoint assessment
End of case study
assessment
Additional summative
assessments (Include at
least one text-based
literacy task per case
study)
Resources & Links

Project(s)
Project Title

Project summary

Dinos A-Z Book

A-Z Book of words related to field of

paleontology and dinosaur study OR PSAs

Product/Performa
nce and Audience
Academy of Natural
Sciences

Connections to the Community and the Larger World

Arts/Technology
Integration
Fieldwork
Experts
Service learning
Expedition kickoff

Expedition
culmination

Science, Art
Academy of the Natural Sciences Partnership: Weekly field
work trips/enrinchment
Jason Poole (Academy of Natural Sciences Paleontologist)
Donation of proceeds from book sales to the Academy of
Natural Sciences
Ideas for Mystery Pieces:
Spray paint a watermelon to represent a dinosaur egg,
other sized eggs
Create dinosaur footprints
Tools paleontologists use
Fossils
Vocabulary
Close-up photos of dinosaur skin
*Put an artifact on each table (Scoot)
Celebration of Learning Presentation