AAAS Project 2061 Textbook Evaluations

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Biology: A Community Context. South-Western Educational Publishing, 1998

Matter and Energy Transformations: Instructional Analysis

I: Providing a Sense of Purpose

Conveying unit purpose

Rating = Good
The material meets indicators 1–4 and 6, and somewhat meets indicator 5.

Indicator 1: Met
Each unit begins with a problem or question that is presented in the text and in an accompanying video. Unit 1 presents a scenario of a trash barge that spent five months unsuccessfully searching for a place to dump its trash and explains why the study of garbage is relevant to a biology course: “As you study the problem, you will come to understand important biological concepts that can help to resolve this distinctly human problem” (p. 6s). Unit 2 focuses on the almost total loss of the Copper Basin ecosystem that resulted from copper mining practices and how it can be restored (pp. 70–75s). And Unit 8, the culminating unit, focuses on how people can preserve the Earth’s resources (p. 490s).

Indicator 2: Met
Though the problems and issues dealt with are complex, they are presented in simple terms that are likely to be comprehensible to students.

Indicator 3: Met
The videos are likely to make the issues presented interesting to students.

Indicator 4: Met
Students are asked to think about the problem presented and discuss their ideas with classmates. For example, after viewing the video about the destruction of the Copper Basin ecosystem, they consider the following questions:

• Who is responsible for the Copper Basin disaster: only the copper companies or other groups as well?
• How did the almost total loss of plants affect animals and other organisms in the Copper Basin?
• Who benefited from the mining, and how did they benefit?
• Did anyone, at the time, understand the magnitude of the consequences?
• Does it really matter, nearly a century later, who is to blame?
• What normal human factors were involved in the decisions that led to this disaster?
• How did the loss of almost all vegetation affect the lifestyles of Copper Basin residents?
• What can we learn from this event as we enter the 21st century?
• How did the accumulation of sediment in local streams and reservoirs affect the decision to completely revegetate the Copper Basin?

pp. 74–75s

Indicator 5: Somewhat met
Some lessons are consistent with the stated purpose, but not all of the lessons seem relevant to the problem presented at the beginning of the unit. For example, the investigation and subsequent text on the role of light and pigments in photosynthesis (pp. 82–84s and 85–88s) and the investigation and subsequent text on nitrogen fixation (pp. 91–93s) do not appear to be relevant to the problem of ecosystem destruction in the Copper Basin; and no attempt is made to help students see their connection. Similarly, lessons on requirements for yeast growth, physical and chemical properties, states of matter, and chemical reactions do not appear to be relevant to the garbage disposal problem presented at the beginning of Unit 1.

Indicator 6: Met
Students return to the initial problem at the end of the unit. The garbage problem is taken up again in a role-play activity, in which students defend positions on how to solve a community landfill problem (pp. 66–67s). The Copper Basin problem is returned to in an imaginary court case, in which students prepare evidence-based arguments to support their positions (pp. 132–134s).

Conveying lesson/activity purpose

Rating = Fair
The material mostly meets indicators 1 and 2.

Indicator 1: Mostly met
The material provides purposes for Guided Inquiries, which are to occupy 75 percent of students’ time. The following examples illustrate how the investigations are introduced to provide purpose for students:

The compost that you are creating in Guided Inquiry 1.2 models decomposition in nature. You can also model the process of decomposition by looking more closely at some of the specific ways in which matter is transformed during decomposition. Your compost pile was created by combining organic matter (materials from living organisms) with microorganisms and water. In this inquiry, you will investigate combinations of a living organism (yeast, shown in Figures 1.15 and 1.16), organic molecules (sugar and/or flour), and water.

p. 28s

Can you develop a model for something as small and complex as an organic molecule? In this Guided Inquiry, you will make models to see how atoms are arranged and rearranged in biological systems.

p. 35s

Biomass is the total amount of matter in an organism. From where does the biomass of an organism such as a plant come? Under what conditions is biomass more quickly produced? How does soil type affect plant growth and biomass production? In this activity, you will compare the biomass of two types of plants, grown in three types of soil.

p. 78s

While separate purposes are not provided for readings, they could be viewed as extensions of the Guided Inquiries.

Indicator 2: Mostly met
Most purposes provided for activities are likely to be comprehensible to students. When technical terms are used in introducing activities, the terms are related to familiar examples, as shown above.

Indicator 3: Not met
Students are not asked to think about the purpose of investigations or readings. While questions are used in the introductions to the Guided Inquiries, students are not asked to think about them.

Indicator 4: Not met
This is not a feature of this material. No attempt is made to convey how investigations or readings relate to the purpose of the unit.

Indicator 5: Not met
The material does not engage students in thinking about what they have learned so far and what they need to learn next. An exception occurs when students are interpreting data from their yeast experiment and are asked:

How does this experiment relate to your compost pile? What are the inputs and possible outputs of the compost pile?

What additional tests would you like to make?

p. 31s, Interpretations, questions 6 and 7

However, this is the only instance where this type of questioning occurs.

Justifying lesson/activity sequence

Rating = Fair

The material somewhat meets the first indicator and minimally meets the second.

Indicator 1: Somewhat met
Some of the lessons appear to be logically sequenced. For example, the following sequence of sections in Unit 1 appears logical:

The Biology of Trash
Section Title: Why Study Garbage in a Biology Course?
Section Title: What Can We Learn about Society from Studying Trash?
Guided Inquiry: A Trash Audit [students determine how much trash they generate]
Section Title: Garbage Is Us [what archaeologists learn about societies from their trash]
Section Title: A Stream of Waste [from source to disposal site]
Guided Inquiry: Composting [students set up compost bottles]
Section Title: So What Can We Do with Garbage? [alternatives described]

pp. 2–23s

However, subsequent text on properties of matter, composition of chemical substances, and chemical reactions; the Inquiry on modeling biological molecules; and text on photosynthesis and respiration are not related to the treatment of garbage and decomposition.

Indicator 2: Minimally met
The Teacher’s Guide first presents the rationale for presenting the content in Unit 1:

Unit 1 serves several functions. First, it introduces a variety of science concepts related to energy flow and transfer, which are essential to understanding the concepts and ideas in later units. For instance, without an understanding of energy paths, degradation, and some basic chemistry, students cannot understand how ecosystems (Unit 2) function.

p. 32t

However, no rationale is provided for the sequence of lessons within the unit. While the Teacher’s Guide indicates that the Guided Inquiries are “carefully sequenced to provide a reasonable flow of ideas and effort on the part of the student” (p. 32t), it does not describe the flow of ideas or justify it.

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II: Taking Account of Student Ideas

Attending to prerequisite knowledge and skills

Rating = Poor
The material only somewhat meets indicator 4.

Indicator 1: Not met
The material does not alert the teacher to specific prerequisite ideas or skills. While the Teacher’s Guide explains why the content in Unit 1 is presented first, only topics are noted:

[Unit 1] introduces a variety of science concepts related to energy flow and transfer, which are essential to understanding the concepts and ideas in later units. For instance, without an understanding of energy paths, degradation, and some basic chemistry, students cannot understand how ecosystems (Unit 2) function.

p. 32t

No mention is made elsewhere in the Teacher’s Guide of specific ideas or even topics that are prerequisite.

Indicator 2: Not met
The material does not alert teachers to the specific ideas for which prerequisites are needed. The only instance found indicates that certain topics are needed in order to understand how ecosystems function. See Indicator 1 discussion above.

Indicator 3: Not met
The material does not alert students to prerequisite ideas or experiences that are being assumed.

Indicator 4: Somewhat met
The student textbook addresses one prerequisite and mentions two others. The text conveys the idea that “All matter is made up of atoms....Different arrangements of atoms into groups compose all substances” (AAAS, 1993, benchmark 4D6–8#1; pp. 32–34s) and engages students in modeling the reactions of photosynthesis and respiration using gumdrops and toothpicks (pp. 35–37s). The text merely states two other prerequisite ideas about matter and energy conservation. In the section Chemical Reactions, the text states:

The numbers of specific atoms are always equal on both sides of a balanced chemical equation. The balance of atoms in reactants and products should remind you that matter cannot be destroyed, only converted to a different form. As in your compost, matter never really goes “away.”

p. 34s

In the section on photosynthesis and energy transformations, the text states the “First Law of Thermodynamics: Energy is not created nor is it destroyed during conversion to another form” (p. 88s). However, no examples are provided to illustrate these abstract ideas and make them real.

Other prerequisite ideas are presented only in the Teacher’s Guide, in suggested responses to Self-Check questions. For example, parts of the prerequisite ideas that “Energy can only change from one form into another” and that “Energy in the form of heat is almost always one of the products of an energy transformation” are mentioned in the suggested response to a Self-Check question:

Question: State the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and describe an example of how they are applied to living systems.

Suggested Response: First law of thermodynamics: In all chemical and physical changes, energy is neither created nor destroyed but is only transformed from one form to another. (An alternative: In any process, the total energy of the system plus its surroundings remain[s] constant.)

In a living system, light energy is transformed into chemical energy by plants during photosynthesis. Herbivores then eat the plants and take up the chemical energy that is stored in the plants. This energy may be maintained in a chemical form or changed and used to do work. Carnivores or saprobes then eat the herbivores, and the energy is transferred and perhaps transformed again. No energy has been created or destroyed, only transformed.

Second law of thermodynamics: Any system plus its surroundings tends spontaneously toward increasing disorder. (Alternatives: [1] No real process can be 100% efficient. [2] In any energy conversion, some energy is transferred to the surroundings as heat.)

The second law states that...[s]ome of the energy that drives any process will be converted to or remain as heat. Therefore processes such as photosynthesis or cellular respiration are never 100 percent efficient. In other words, much of the original energy in the sunlight striking a plant is lost as heat rather than being stored as chemical energy, and much of the original energy in the foods organisms consume is lost as heat rather than being converted to ATP energy.

pp. 117s and 142t, Self-Check 1, question 7

Indicator 5: Not met
The material makes essentially no connections between ideas treated in a particular unit and their prerequisites. For example, even though the Teacher’s Guide notes that “some basic chemistry” is needed for students to understand how ecosystems work (p. 32t), no use is made of that chemistry in its presentation of ecosystems. The suggested response quoted for Indicator 4 does relate the prerequisite to the key idea that “At each link in a food web, some energy is stored in newly made structures but much is dissipated into the environment as heat....” (Idea d₂). However, the key idea is only partially treated; so even if the suggested response is presented to students, the connection between the prerequisite and key ideas may not be appreciated.

Alerting teachers to commonly held student ideas

Rating = Poor
The material meets no indicators.

Indicator 1: Not met
The material presents none of the commonly held ideas that are relevant to the key ideas and have appeared in the scholarly publications, such as the following:

1. Students think that food is whatever nutrients organisms must take in if they are to grow and survive rather than those substances from which organisms derive the energy they need to grow and the material of which they are made (American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 1993, pp. 120, 342; Driver, Squires, Rushworth, & Wood-Robinson, 1994, p. 27).
2. Students think that food is a requirement for growth rather than a source of matter for growth (AAAS, 1993, p. 343; Driver et al., 1994, p. 60).
3. Students think that plants get their food from the environment (mainly from the soil) rather than manufacture it themselves (AAAS, 1993, p. 342; Driver et al., 1994, p. 30).
4. Students think that plants have multiple sources of food rather than that plants make food from water and carbon dioxide in the air, and that this is their only source of food (AAAS, 1993, p. 342; Driver et al., 1994, pp. 31, 60).
5. Students may think that organisms and materials in the environment are very different types of matter and are not transformable into each other (AAAS, 1993, p. 342).
6. Students may not believe that a plant’s mass may increase mainly due to the incorporation of matter from carbon dioxide (a gas) (Driver et al., 1994, pp. 32, 39).
7. Students may think that plants do not respire, or that they respire only in the dark (Driver et al., 1994, p. 34).
8. Students tend to regard food that is eaten and used as a source of energy as belonging to a food chain, while the food that is incorporated into the body material of eaters is often seen as something different and is not recognized as the material that is the food at the next level (Driver et al., 1994, p. 35).
9. Students may think that dead organisms “rot away”; they do not realize that the matter from the dead organisms is converted into yet other materials (AAAS, 1993, p. 343).
10. Middle school students seem to know that some kind of cyclical process takes place in ecosystems. Some students see only chains of events and pay little attention to the matter involved in processes such as plant growth or animals eating plants. They think of the processes in terms of creating and destroying matter rather than in terms of transforming matter from one substance to another. Other students recognize one form of recycling through soil minerals but fail to incorporate water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide into matter cycles. Students may see no connection between the oxygen/carbon dioxide cycle and other processes involving the production, consumption, and use of food (AAAS, 1993, p. 343; Driver et al., 1994, p. 65).
11. Students may think that matter and energy are converted back and forth in everyday (non-nuclear) phenomena (Schneps & Sadler, 1988).

Indicator 2: Not met
No commonly held ideas are presented or explained.

Assisting teachers in identifying their students’ ideas

Rating = Poor
The material meets no indicators.

Indicator 1: Not met
While acknowledging that students have ideas about various topics when they begin class, the material provides teachers with no questions relevant to the key ideas that could be used to find out what students’ ideas are. The Teacher’s Guide indicates that a teacher using Biology: A Community Context should be aware that:

Students—like it or not, right or wrong—have their own perceptions and often have already formulated their own conceptions about science and the world around them. In this curriculum, teachers use strategies that encourage students to reveal and explain their current views, thinking, and ideas. With this knowledge, teachers can structure their interactions with students more purposefully and decisively, seeking pathways for moving students’ thinking in desired ways.

p. 7t

Yet the questions and tasks provided are either unrelated to the key ideas (e.g., “What do you need to know that might help you solve the problems in the Copper Basin?” [p. 73s]; “Can we humans learn to coexist with other organisms?” [p. 490s]) or are too general to reveal students’ misconceptions or preconceptions about them (e.g., “Where does matter go when society discards it?” [p. 1s]). And while relevant questions are sometimes used to introduce inquiry activities (e.g., “How do [organisms] interact with the composted materials and with each other?” [p. 40s]; “Do you end up with the same mass, or is there actually a loss?” [p. 54s]), students are not expected to respond to these questions.

Indicator 2: Not met
The above questions are comprehensible but will not be helpful in probing for any of the misconceptions students commonly have on this topic.

Indicator 3: Not met
None of the questions are identified as serving the purpose of identifying students’ ideas.

Indicator 4: Not met
Students are not asked to make any predictions that could reveal misconceptions or preconceptions about the key ideas.

Indicator 5: Not met
The Teachers’ Guide reminds teachers that the role of the initial inquiry is to encourage students to brainstorm (pp. 8–9t). No suggestions are given for how teachers could probe students’ initial responses more deeply.

Addressing commonly held ideas

Rating = Poor
The material meets no indicators.

Indicator 1: Not met
The material does not explicitly address any commonly held student ideas.

Indicator 2: Not met
The material does not include any questions, tasks, or activities that are likely to help students progress from their initial ideas.

Indicator 3: Not met
The material does not include suggestions to teachers about how to take into account their own students’ ideas.

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III: Engaging Students with Relevant Phenomena

Providing variety of phenomena

Rating = Poor
Since the rating scheme depends on how many phenomena meet both of the indicators, the report for this criterion is organized to reflect the overall rating rather than each indicator judgment.

This material provides very few phenomena to illustrate the key ideas on matter and energy transformations. For the idea that other organisms also break down stored sugars, students observe that live yeast gives off carbon dioxide (pp. 28–31s). While students do not observe a corresponding decrease in sugar, a figure in the text lists sugar as an input and CO₂ as an output of yeast respiration (p. 31s). Students also observe a color change of contents of a paramecium’s food vacuole, which is to be interpreted as evidence of digestion (pp. 223–224s, 232t). And students observe that yeast breaks down simple sugars faster than starch (pp. 226–227s). However, no phenomena are used to illustrate the other key ideas. In most cases, no observations are made relevant to the key ideas. For example, students are not asked to observe the increase in temperature accompanying yeast metabolism (pp. 28–31s). Even when students do make relevant observations, their observations are not linked to the key ideas. For example, while students observe that germinating seeds give off carbon dioxide whereas dry seeds do not (p. 260s), these observations are not linked to the transformation of sugar into carbon dioxide and water. Instead, the emphasis is on plants “giving off” carbon dioxide.

It is worth noting that the material does provide students with many firsthand experiences with data, but the experiments rarely relate to the key ideas. For example, students separate plant pigments on paper chromatography (pp. 83–84s) and determine the density of stomates on upper and lower surfaces of leaves (pp. 120–121s). These investigations are relevant to the general topic of plants but not to the key ideas about matter and energy transformations. In cases where investigations are more relevant to the key ideas, the emphasis is often on experimental design. For example, students investigate observable changes in biomass of seeds grown in different kinds of soil, but the questions merely focus on identification of dependent and independent variables (pp. 79–80s).

Providing vivid experiences

Rating = Poor
Since the rating scheme depends on how many phenomena meet all of the indicators, the report for this criterion is organized to reflect the overall rating rather than each indicator judgment.

The material meets no indicators. While the inquiries provide students with firsthand experiences, few of the phenomena involved in the inquiries are used to support the key ideas. Given the few relevant phenomena, there is little to be judged for vividness.

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IV: Developing and Using Scientific Ideas

Introducing terms meaningfully

Rating = Poor
The material minimally meets both indicators.

Indicator 1: Minimally met
The material links few terms to relevant experiences. While the terms “photosynthesis” and “cellular respiration” are introduced in the text (pp. 38–39s) after students have used gumdrops and toothpicks to represent the chemical reactions (pp. 35–37s), the text discussion does not relate respiration to students’ observations of yeast metabolism. And photosynthesis is not related to any observations about plant food-making. The material does a better job of illustrating the terms “producers” and “consumers”: the text shows a picture of organisms in a simple food chain to illustrate the terms “producer,” “primary consumer,” “secondary consumer,” and “tertiary consumer” (p. 99s) and involves students in collecting and tabulating numbers of organisms at each trophic level (pp. 100–102s). Students observe how they interact, and discover the relative amount of energy available to each subsequent level of a food chain (pp. 99–102s).

Indicator 2: Minimally met
The material minimally restricts the use of technical terms to those needed to communicate intelligibly about key ideas. While technical terms like “thylakoid,” “stroma,” “PGA,” and “PGAL” are not used, many technical terms are included in introducing key ideas on matter and energy transformations. When presenting photosynthesis and respiration, the text uses the terms “light reactions,” “dark reactions,” “Calvin-Benson Cycle,” “Krebs Cycle,” “electron transport chain,” “aerobic respiration,” “anaerobic respiration,” and “fermentation” (pp. 38–39s). And its presentation of the nitrogen cycle uses the terms “ammonification,” “nitrate,” “leaching,” and “nitrification” (p. 92s).

Representing ideas effectively

Rating = Poor
Since the rating scheme depends on how many representations meet all of the indicators, the report for this criterion is organized to reflect the overall rating rather than each indicator judgment.

Even though the material includes a few representations that meet indicators 1–3, few of the key ideas are adequately represented. Decent representations are provided for two of the key ideas. Students use gumdrops and toothpicks to simulate the transformations of matter in photosynthesis and respiration (pp. 35–37s). And the carbon cycle diagram (p. 40s) represents the cyclic nature of the matter transformations in these two processes. However, the diagram of the nitrogen cycle is not helpful in clarifying ideas about matter cycling (p. 92s). Since nitrogen is shown in only some of the boxes, there is no way for students to follow the nitrogen to see that it cycles.

No representations are helpful in clarifying ideas about energy transformation. For example, the carbon cycle diagram shows sunlight (energy) entering and heat (energy) leaving the cycle, but does not indicate that energy is stored in the glucose molecule (p. 40s). The flow of energy and matter diagram does not even show heat loss (p. 88s). And while the terms “solar energy,” “heat energy,” and “chemical energy” are all mentioned in the diagram “Energy flow in an ecosystem” (p. 107s), the text does not explain the diagram.

Demonstrating use of knowledge

Rating = Poor
The material meets no indicators.

Indicator 1: Not met
The material does not demonstrate the use of key ideas or suggest how teachers could do so.

Indicator 2: Not met
No demonstrations are provided.

Indicator 3: Not met
No demonstrations are provided.

Indicator 4: Not met
No demonstrations are provided.

Providing practice

Rating = Poor
Since the rating scheme depends on how many practice tasks meet all of the indicators, the report for this criterion is organized to reflect the overall rating rather than each indicator judgment.

Two kinds of questions and tasks were considered for this criterion. These included Self-Check questions and student tasks and questions within the chapter requiring application of ideas presented in the text. The material provides some tasks, including novel tasks for the set of key ideas. However, none of the key ideas are adequately treated in practice tasks.

Although one or two practice tasks are provided for the key ideas treated in the material, there is not a sufficient number or variety of tasks for any key idea. For the idea that “Plants make sugar molecules from carbon dioxide (in the air) and water” (Idea a₁), the material provides two questions:

Question: How does photosynthesis cause mass to increase in plants?

Suggested Response: The mass of plants increases as a result of photosynthesis because only about 50 percent of the sugar (carbohydrates) made from photosynthesis is consumed as fuel in cellular respiration to maintain the current size of the plant. Some of the remaining sugars are linked together to make the polysaccharide cellulose. Cellulose is a major component of cell walls and is the most abundant organic molecule in a plant (and probably on the earth’s surface). The remaining sugars are made into starch, which can be stored more easily than can the sugars alone. The starch is stockpiled in various parts of the plant. (Some is stored in chloroplasts and some in storage cells of roots, tubers, bulbs, or fruit.) Cellulose and stored starch make up a large portion of a plant’s mass.

pp. 117s and 141t, Self-Check 1, question 6

Question: What are the reactants and the products of photosynthesis?

Suggested Response: The reactants of photosynthesis are water and carbon dioxide (inorganic compounds). The products are carbohydrates (organic compounds) and oxygen.

CO₂ + H₂O + Light → [CH₂O] + O₂

pp. 117s and 141t, Self-Check 1, question 5

The first of these questions also involves using the idea that “Plants break down the sugar molecules that they have synthesized into carbon dioxide and water, use them as building materials, or store them for later use” (Idea b₁).

For the ideas that “Plants get energy to grow and function by oxidizing the sugar molecules....” (Idea b₂) and that “Other organisms break down the sugars or the body structures of the plants they eat (or animals they eat) into simpler substances....” (Idea c₁), the material provides a single question:

Question: What happens to the energy that is transformed in photosynthesis?

Suggested Response: The energy that is transformed in photosynthesis is harnessed into molecules of carbohydrates; it becomes stored as chemical energy in the bonds of sugar molecules. The plant can burn the sugars during cellular respiration to release the energy when it is needed. The plant can use this energy to build other organic materials it needs, such as lipids or proteins. Animals may eat plants and use the energy that is stored in plant sugars in a similar manner. This energy transformation is not 100 percent efficient as much of the original energy is lost as heat.

pp. 117s and 141t, Self-Check 1, question 4

The material provides one question for the idea that “At each link in a food web, some energy is stored in newly made structures but much is dissipated into the environment as heat....” (Idea d₂):

Question: State the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and describe an example of how they are applied to living systems.

Suggested Response: ...much of the original energy in the sunlight striking a plant is lost as heat rather than being stored as chemical energy, and much of the original energy in the foods organisms consume is lost as heat rather than being converted to ATP energy.

pp. 117s and 142t, Self-Check 1, question 7

As noted in the Teacher’s Guide, the purposes of the two sets of Self-Check questions differ: “Self-Check 1 questions are primarily factual or related to student personal experiences. Self-Check 2 questions put more emphasis on issues and broad concepts” (p. 11t).

Additional Self-Check 1 questions relate to some, though not all, of the key ideas treated in the material:

How does carbon cycle in the environment? Explain this cycle.

p. 44s, question 7

How is light important for photosynthesis?

p. 117s, question 2

What is the relationship between light and chemical energy?

p. 117s, question 3

The other question relevant to the topic does not require key Idea d₂ (as indicated by the suggested response):

Question: Explain the shape of an energy pyramid.

Suggested Response: The relative size of each level in an energy pyramid is representative of the amount of energy present at each trophic level of a food web. The sections are very wide at the bottom but become much narrower with each rise in trophic level. This illustrates the relative amount of energy loss from this particular system and the inefficiency of energy transfer between trophic levels.

pp. 117s and 142t, Self-Check 1, question 9

None of the Self-Check 2 questions are relevant.

A couple of the questions noted above are novel: “How does photosynthesis cause mass to increase in plants?” (p. 117s, question 6) and “[D]escribe an example of how [the first and second laws of thermodynamics] are applied to living systems” (p. 117s, question 7). But this is insufficient to give students practice in using the set of key ideas and certainly insufficient to promote transfer of knowledge.

The material does not provide a sequence of questions or tasks in which the complexity is progressively increased.

The material does not provide students with opportunities for guided practice with feedback in which the amount of support is gradually decreased.

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V: Promoting Students’ Thinking about Phenomena, Experiences, and Knowledge

Encouraging students to explain their ideas

Rating = Poor
The material meets no indicators.

Indicator 1: Not met
The material does not routinely encourage students to express their own ideas about the key ideas. The introductory pages of the Teacher’s Guide stress the importance of brainstorming sessions (p. 9t); of having “real conversations” with students (p. 10t); and of having students present their ideas in biologs (p. 17t), conferences (p. 12t), congresses (p. 13t), and forums (p. 14t). However, almost no specific questions are provided which allow students to express their opinions about the key ideas. For example, in preparing for the conference in Unit 1, students are asked to “[s]elect the Guided Inquiry in this unit from which you feel you learned the most. Identify what is important about what you learned” (p. 45s).

Similarly, for the congress in Unit 2 (which involves an imaginary class action suit against a company that devastated the Copper Basin), students are to “compile information in a briefing document to argue your side at the trial. Focus on the biological evidence. Present your position to your group for initial feedback” (p. 132s).

Furthermore, students are not asked to express their ideas following the readings.

Indicator 2: Not met
Students are not asked to clarify, justify, or represent their ideas relevant to the key ideas.

Indicator 3: Not met
Since most of the questions do not apply to this criterion, the fact that students are expected to write answers to those questions is not relevant.

Indicator 4: Not met
The material does not include specific suggestions to help the teacher provide explicit feedback to students, nor does the text do so.

Indicator 5: Not met
The material does not include suggestions on how to diagnose student errors, explanations about how these errors may be corrected, or recommendations for how students’ ideas may be further developed.

Guiding student interpretation and reasoning

Rating = Poor
One indicator is somewhat met.

Indicator 1: Somewhat met
The material includes specific questions at the end of each Guided Inquiry. However, the questions at the end of the Guided Inquiries are only rarely related to the key ideas, even when the investigations themselves are relevant. For example, after students determine the biomass of both corn and beans that are grown in different soils, the questions focus on experimental design:

1. Identify your independent variables—the causes of change—in this experiment.
2. Identify other variables that should be kept constant (controlled).
3. Identify the dependent variable in your study. This is the effect or result of the experiment. How did you measure the dependent variable? How often did you measure it?
4. On the basis of your responses to the three preceding instructions, write a hypothesis for this experiment. This should be an “If..., then...” sentence, with the “if” representing your independent variable(s) and the “then” representing your dependent variable(s).
5. Why is it a good idea to calculate the average or mean values of height and mass for each type of plant?

p. 80s

In only one instance do the questions focus on any of the key ideas. Following Guided Inquiry 1.5: Modeling Biological Molecules, the following questions are provided:

1. How does Figure 1.28 [sic: 1.29] support the idea that the two processes of photosynthesis and respiration are related? [Ideas a₁, b₁, c₁]
2. What molecules that are put together in photosynthesis are taken apart in respiration? [Ideas a₁, b₁, c₁]
3. What molecules are the products of cellular respiration? [Ideas b₁, c₁]
4. Where do the atoms that are used to produce glucose molecules come from? [Idea a₁]
5. Why is the carbon cycle in nature called a cycle? [Idea d₁]

p. 37s

Indicator 2: Not met
None of the questions have helpful characteristics such as framing important issues, helping students make connections between their own ideas and the presented scientific ideas, or anticipating student misconceptions.

Indicator 3: Not met
While the questions at the end of Guided Inquiry 1.5: Modeling Biological Molecules are scaffolded to build understanding of the carbon cycle, this is the exception rather than the rule.

Encouraging students to think about what they have learned

Rating = Poor
The materials meet no indicators.

Indicator 1: Not met
The material does not give students an opportunity to revise their initial ideas based on what they have learned. While the Teacher’s Guide notes that “Self-Checks allow students to assess their own progress and compare it to the expectations of the curriculum,” there are no explicit suggestions to use Self-Check questions for this purpose (p. 11t). The questions provided in these sections do not ask students to consider what they thought at the beginning of the unit, how their ideas have changed throughout the unit, and what convinced them of their new ideas.

Indicators 2 and 3: Not met
The material does not engage students in monitoring how their ideas have changed.

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VI: Assessing Progress

To assess students’ understanding of concepts at the end of instruction, Biology: A Community Context provides a test for each unit (pp. 443–517t) and provides generic Assessment Rubrics for each kind of activity—for example, Initial Inquiry, Guided Inquiry, Self-Check, and Conference (pp. 524–540t). These assessment features were examined for the first two assessment criteria.

Aligning assessment to goals

Rating = Poor
Since the rating scheme depends on how many assessment tasks meet both of the indicators, the report for this criterion is organized to reflect the overall rating rather than each indicator judgment.

Biology: A Community Context includes only the following two items that assess the key ideas, which is far from sufficient:

A student conducted an experiment with plants and animals living in the same environment. She placed water, a small amount of soil, a few green aquatic plants, and a fish in a large plastic 2-liter bottle, as shown in Figure 1.1. It was then sealed with an airtight cap. The bottle was placed on the window sill so that it could receive direct sunlight.

You know that:

1. the plant will make the water foul, killing the fish.
2. the fish will make the water foul, killing the plant.
3. the fish will die for lack of carbon dioxide.
4. carbon dioxide and water are used by the plant to produce oxygen and plant matter.
5. carbon dioxide is used by the plant to produce water and plant matter for the system.

pp. 443t and 454t, question 2

In an ecosystem, what happens to biomass?

1. It can be broken down to provide energy.
2. It can contribute to the growth of the consuming organism.
3. It increases from trophic level 1 to trophic level 4.
4. Both a and b are correct.
5. None of the above.

pp. 455t and 467t, question 2

Another item probes a relevant misconception—that plants take in food from the soil:

Julie carried out a long-term experiment in which she measured the mass of a seedling and the dry soil in which it was placed. Five years later the mass of the tree that grew from the seedling and the dry soil were measured. She found a very large increase in the mass of the plant and almost no loss of mass to the soil.

On the basis of the results from Julie’s five-year study, choose the response that best fits her experiment.

1. Conclusion: Air is needed for this to occur.
2. Conclusion: Plants get their nutrients from the soil.
3. Conclusion: Water creates the mass for the plants.
4. Conclusion: Soil provides the nutrients needed by the plant.
5. Conclusion: Plants do not gain mass by using up soil.

pp. 444t and 454t, question 3

Other relevant items assess less sophisticated ideas on the topic (p. 450t, question 30) or knowledge of terms like photosynthesis (p. 450t, question 30) or respiration (p. 452t, question 41).

The generic rubrics used to assess student performance on activities do not assess the key ideas on matter and energy transformation. Rather, they typically assess such things as level of participation or degree of investigation completion (p. 525t, criteria 2 and 4), communication with others (p. 526t, criterion 10), helping others in their efforts to self-check (p. 527t, criterion 7), or design of investigation and persistence (p. 530t, criteria 4 and 5). When rubrics relate to conceptual information, they provide no guidance in assessing specific ideas. For example, the following rubrics are given for Criterion 3, Understands Major Themes of Unit, and for Criterion 4, Learning of Specified Factual Information: “Has provided remarkable evidence,” “Provides some evidence,” and “Little or no evidence” (p. 527t).

Testing for understanding

Rating = Poor
Since few assessment tasks were aligned to the key ideas, the report for this criterion is organized to reflect the overall rating rather than each indicator judgment.

Of the relevant assessment items described under the previous criterion, none require understanding of any of the key ideas. Clearly this is not sufficient to assess students’ understanding of the set of key ideas on matter and energy transformation.

Using assessment to inform instruction

Rating = Poor
Since the material provides no tasks for this criterion, this report is organized to reflect the overall rating rather than each indicator judgment.

Although the Teacher’s Guide indicates that “Many of the assessments and evaluations are embedded, included as an integral part of a learning activity” (p. 18t), it does not specify any particular tasks or questions that are to be used to inform instruction.

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VII: Enhancing the Science Learning Environment

Providing teacher content support

Rating = Some support is provided.

The material provides minimal support in alerting teachers to how ideas have been simplified for students to comprehend and what the more sophisticated versions are. Teacher Background Information provides peripherally more extensive (p. 421t) or sophisticated versions of ideas for student activity sections (e.g., p. 54t). The advanced explanations often do not explicitly alert teachers to how ideas have been simplified for students (e.g., pp. 57–58t). Overall, the Teacher Background Information may be used as a selective but not a comprehensive content resource by the teacher.

The material provides some sufficiently detailed answers to Discussion Questions in the Teacher Guide and tasks in the student book for teachers to understand and interpret various student responses (e.g., p. 71t, Self-Check, answer 7; p. 141t, Self-Check, answer 4). However, there are some limitations to the responses provided in the teacher notes, which occasionally are brief and require further explanation (e.g., p. 53t, Answers to BioPrediction, answer 2; p. 142t, Self-Check 1, answer 10).

The material provides minimal support in recommending resources for improving the teacher's understanding of key ideas. A reference list without annotations is provided at the end of each unit in the Teacher's Guide (e.g., p. 100t). The Instructional Resource includes a list of additional resources for each unit (e.g., pp. 19–20) and Web sites for the entire material (e.g., pp. 173–178). While these resources might help teachers improve their understanding of the key ideas, the lists lack annotations about what kind of specific information the resources provide. In addition, annotated reference lists are provided at the end of each unit in the student text (e.g., pp. 136–137s) and supplemental Instructional Resource (e.g., pp. 159–160). The annotations identify topics and sometimes specify scientific concepts that are addressed in the resources.

Encouraging curiosity and questioning

Rating = Some support is provided.

The material provides many suggestions for how to encourage students' questions and guide their search for answers. Students are often asked to design their own experiments on topics related to the activities (e.g., p. 25s, Interpretations, item 7; p. 116s, Interpretations, item 7). In addition, the material sometimes asks students to generate questions (e.g., p. 3s, The Mobro Video), additional tests (e.g., p. 31s, Interpretations, item 7) and research answers to their questions (e.g., p. 57s, Extended Inquiry 1.5).

The material provides many suggestions for how to respect and value students' ideas. Introductory teacher notes emphasize the importance of valuing students' ideas (pp. 15–17t, Communicating with Students). Many tasks elicit students' ideas about particular concepts and issues (e.g., p. 4s, BioIssue, items 1 and 3; pp. 40–41t, The Second Showing of the Video). In addition, teacher notes state that multiple student answers should be acceptable for some questions (e.g., p. 9t, Initial Inquiry; pp. 46–47t, Answers to Applications, items 1–7).

The material provides some suggestions for how to raise questions such as "How do we know? What is the evidence?" and "Are there alternative explanations or other ways of solving the problem that could be better?" The material includes some tasks that ask students to discuss evidence or reasons in their responses (e.g., p. 42s, Interpretations, item 8; p. 63s, Self-Check 2, item 11).

The material provides many suggestions for how to avoid dogmatism. Introductory teacher notes portray science as a durable yet dynamic enterprise in which many people participate (pp. 19–20t, The Nature of Science). Throughout the material, the writing avoids dogmatism by being explicitly directed to students (e.g., pp. 5–6s, Why Study Garbage in a Biology Course?) and including accessible excerpts from trade books (e.g., p. 9s, Garbage Is Us). In addition, the material discusses the work of current scientists (p. 98s, BioOccupation) and contemporary issues in biology (e.g., p. 72s, Setting).

The material does not provide examples of classroom interactions (e.g., dialogue boxes, vignettes, or video clips) that illustrate appropriate ways to respond to student questions or ideas. However, some sense of desirable interactions may be gained from general guidelines (e.g., pp. 4–17t) and particular directions for cooperative group activities (e.g., pp. 29–30s, Day One Procedure; pp. 99–102s, Guided Inquiry 2.5).

Supporting all students

Rating = Some support is provided.

The material generally avoids stereotypes or language that might be offensive to a particular group. For example, photographs include a diverse cultural mix of students and adults (e.g., pp. 14s, 88s, 496s). In addition, the material's use of multiple writing genres, including expository text (e.g., pp. 38–39s, How Do Living Things Obtain and Use Energy?), journal excerpts (e.g., p. 493s) and poetry (e.g., p. 26s) may support the language use of particular student groups.

The material provides a few illustrations of the contributions of women and minorities to science and as role models. Most of the contributions of women and minority scientists, however, appear in a separate career feature entitled BioOccupation. For example, one BioOccupation feature describes the work and education of a woman environmental quality manager named Kathy Stecker. Stecker consults with community groups to identify problem sources in lakes and recommend solutions for their restoration (p. 90s). While these sections highlighting science careers are interesting and informative, they may not be seen by students as central to the material because they are presented in separate features.

The material suggests multiple formats for students to express their ideas during instruction and assessment, including individual log writing (e.g., pp. 2–3s, The Mobro Video), pair work (pp. 45–46s, Conference), cooperative group activities (e.g., pp. 73–74s, The Copper Basin Video), laboratory investigations (e.g., pp. 91–92s, Guided Inquiry 2.3), whole class discussions (e.g., p. 60t, Mystery Bags Discussion), essay questions (e.g., p. 37s, Interpretations, item 5; p. 117s, Self-Check 1, item 6), oral reports (e.g., pp. 66–67s, Forum), research projects (e.g., p. 115s, Applications, item 1), concept mapping (e.g., p. 23s, BioPrediction, item 2), drawings (e.g., p. 24s, Procedure, item 6), and making models (e.g., pp. 35–38s, Guided Inquiry 1.5). For a few activities, the material provides alternatives for the same task (e.g., p. 44t, Student Options).

The material does not routinely include specific suggestions about how teachers can modify activities for students with special needs. However, the student text with corresponding teacher notes and the Instructional Resource provide some additional activities for students. At the end of each unit, there are investigations similar in complexity to those in the student text (e.g., pp. 47–62s, 74–88t, Extended Inquiries; Instructional Resource, pp. 22–29).

The material provides many strategies to validate students' relevant personal and social experiences with scientific ideas. Some text sections relate specific personal experiences students may have had to the presented scientific concepts (e.g., pp. 11–12s, A Stream of Waste). In addition, many tasks (e.g., pp. 7–9s, Guided Inquiry 1.1; p. 63s, Self-Check 2, item 10; p. 92s, Applications, item 2) ask students about particular personal experiences they may have had or suggest specific experiences they could have. However, the material rarely encourages students to contribute relevant experiences of their own choice to the science classroom. Overall, the tasks are well integrated with students' personal and social experiences with scientific ideas.

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