Photo courtesy of Craig Weakley
Next Generation Science Standards in this unit:
3-LS4-3 - habitats, adaptations for survival
5-ESS3-1 - communities use science to protect the environment
MS-LS2-1 - effects of resource availability on individual organisms and populations
MS-LS2-4 - changes to ecosystems affect populations of organisms
MS-ESS3-3 - minimizing human impacts
British Columbia’s Science CURRICULUM in this unit:
Big Ideas - Grade 4: All living things sense and respond to their environment.
Curricular Competencies - QP - questioning and predicting, PA - processing and analyzing data and information, C - communicating, E - evaluating
What this unit is about…
Killer Whale Task Force accompanies the Introduction of Explore the Salish Sea, A Nature Guide for Kids. and brings to life the main phenomenon for the Explore the Salish Sea curriculum: our sea’s top predator is endangered. Next, students develop their own overarching Essential Question, such as: How can we help endangered killer whales recover? This will guide the rest of their explorations. No matter which units you choose to implement with your class, start here to set the premise and spark an intrinsic desire to figure out how to help the beloved killer whales.
The Sequence
After you have registered for the curriculum, preparing the unit is as easy as 1, 2, 3!
Review the unit plan, and customize it to suit your needs
This unit plan is flexible, adaptable, and in Word format to ensure that your experience can be tailored geographically to your local watershed and community, and to your particular teaching objectives and needs. Use the plan like a map- it has directions, resources, learning targets and performance expectations, and more to guide every step of the way, but the adventure you and your students share is your own.
Review and customize the slideshow
This slideshow presents helpful background information, including links to online resources and videos. With helpful presenter notes, it also acts as a guide as you progress. As with the unit plan, you may want to customize certain slides to make them even more relevant and local. For this reason, it is in PowerPoint. Save a copy and make the change you see fit.
Review, customize, and print the accompanying student journal
This editable Word document is your students’ place to wonder, record observations, take notes, diagram, and plan and record scientific investigation or engineering processes. It is also a place to celebrate hard work with well-deserved stamps on the back page. Review and customize the journal to reflect the changes you’ve made in your unit plan and slideshow.
HOW TO PRINT
In Microsoft Word, click on the Layout menu, then the arrow to expand the Page Set Up options. Click Margins and select “Book Fold” in the drop down menu by Multiple pages. Print in landscape orientation on 8.5 x 14” (legal) paper with two staples along the center fold. Note: the font is Helvetica. Changing the font can change alignment of journal pages.
Utilize the materials below for additional student resources throughout the unit.
Additional Resources & Materials
Assessments
Every unit has its own pre- and post-assessments for tracking the progress and growth that students make throughout the curriculum. Links to these (and additional formative assessments!) are also provided in the unit plan.
TASK FORCE POST-ASSESSMENT
TASK FORCE PRE-ASSESSMENT
WONDER
Give your students a visual or sensory experience that provides a chance to wonder at a particular aspect of the Salish Sea. This is referred to in the NGSS as a “discrepant event.” Let them wonder at the phenomenon. It is okay to clarify student input for your understanding, but do not steer their understanding. Let them form their own concepts. For this introduction unit, view photos of a skinny Southern Resident Killer Whale, such as J-50, “Scarlet.”
Essential question
After students experience the “wonder” phenomenon, it is time to give a Task Force Student Journal to each person. Have students read the book Introduction: Welcome to the Salish Sea. Here is a time to write their thoughts, ideas, and questions inspired by their reading. After students have read and written, invite an open discussion with the class. Near the end of this discussion, ask what the students know about the resident orca population and their endangered status. Guide them to develop an overarching essential question for their Salish Sea explorations, and steer it to be about the health of these killer whales. Each chapter will address aspects of the ecosystem that ultimately support the health of the whales, and of us humans, as well.
Background research
Once you have established an essential question, information-gathering begins. The Explore the Salish Sea book is a great place to start! There are some additional resources in the link below and in the slideshow, and you may find many more of your own. Of course, you’ll come back to this step throughout the process, as your questions and claims will require support.
put science to work
In chapters 1-8, students will conduct their own authentic, hands-on research, as well as consult existing science. This introductory Task Force unit prepares them for doing so. In this unit, students must glean evidence from existing research and tribal perspectives to make their own recommendations to the Governor for killer whale recovery. They do so by simulating the Working Groups of the actual Governor-appointed Southern Killer Whale Task Force of 2018.
communicate your findings
This is a crucial part of the scientific process! It is the part where the results of all your hard work can make a difference. Your research can equal a difference in the choices a few citizens make each day to help the sea or vote for a new bill that changes the way our whole state or province helps the whales. This Task Force unit concludes by communicating student recommendations in actual letters to your Legislators. See the video in the button below and use the Task Force Slideshow and Student Journals for support.
An adult Southern Resident Killer Whale needs about 385 lbs (or 175 kg) of salmon per day.
(Photo courtesy of Brandon Cole)
Click the button below to go to the Box folder of all the documents for this unit in one place.
Ideas for improvement? Share ideas and resources with our Education Coordinator, Mira, at mdlutz@ucdavis.edu.