NGSS Lesson Planning Template

Lesson # __6__ in a series of

_7___ lessons
Brief Lesson Description: Mission crew will need to sustain themselves when they land on Mars. This lesson
helps students think about how to support life and deal with misconceptions about what is living and what is not
living.
Performance Expectation(s):
4-LS1-1 Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that
function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
4-LS1-2 Use a model to describe that animals receive different types of information through their
senses, process the information in their brain, and respond to the information in different ways.
Grade/ Grade Band: 3-5th grade

Topic: Is it living

Specific Learning Outcomes: Students will engage in a field research study to determine the
conditions for supporting life on Mars. Based on observations, categorizations, and evaluations
about Earth conditions, students will begin a narrative about how to support the Mars mission crew
once they get established on the surface.
Lesson Level Narrative
Now that we are on the surface of Mars, it is time to transform the surface so that is can support life. Your tasks
is to figure out what on Mars needs to be transformed, what about Mars makes it inhospitable to life currently
and how can we change it? You will construct the criteria for supporting life based on observations that you have
made about planet Earth.
Science & Engineering
Practices:
Developing and Using Models to
test interactions concerning the
support of life on Mars.

Disciplinary Core Ideas:

LS1.A Structure and Function

Plants and animals have

both internal and external
structures that serve
various functions in growth,
survival, behavior, and
reproduction.

Crosscutting Concepts:
Systems and System models

A system can be described

in terms of its components
and their interactions

Engaging in Argumentation from

Evidence

Students will construct an

argument based on their
observations about what is
living and what is not living.
They will come up with the
best criteria for supporting
life on Mars.
Possible Preconceptions/Misconceptions:
Students will need to know that the atmosphere on Mars is thin and cannot currently support life on the surface.
In addition, it is very cold, has a carbon dioxide based atmosphere, and has a source of water, which is a BIG
BINGO. Students will need to have this discussion with you about what can happen on the surface to help
transform the surface to support Earth based life. So, the mission crew would need breathable air, use the water
to support plant life, plants make O2 as a byproduct of photosynthesis. Preconceptions of students may include
seeing food as substances (water, air, minerals, etc.) that organisms take directly in from their environment
Anderson, C., Sheldon, T., Dubay, J. (1990). The effects of instruction on college nonmajors' conceptions of
respiration and photosynthesis. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 27, 761-776. Students may also think
that food is a requirement for growth, rather than a source of matter for growth. They have little knowledge
about food being transformed and made part of organism.
LESSON PLAN 5-E Model

EXPLORE: Lesson Description What should the teachers ask and do? What will the students do?

What are we trying to find on Mars? Life.

How do we know something is alive?

EXPLAIN: Concepts Explained and Vocabulary Defined:

Show pictures of things alive vs not alive

Vocabulary

ELABORATE: Applications and Extensions:

Have 3 samples of substances mixed with sand in cups and test with water. Have before and after
pictures and descriptions drawn and written out.
EVALUATE:

What did you notice about each substance?

Was there any smells

Formative Monitoring (Questioning / Discussion):
Summative Assessment (Quiz / Project / Report):
Elaborate Further / Reflect: Enrichment:

We have collected our life samples and have done all that was required of this mission. Now what? We
go home!!