# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
1. Ask the adult you are working with to light the candle.

2. Watch the candle flame start out small and get bigger.
Notice how some of the wax near the wick melts.

3. As the flame burns, the wax from the candle is reacting
with something else to make the flame.

What do you think it might be?

4. Ask the adult you are working with to
carefully place a glass jar over the candle
and to leave it there.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
1. Ask the adult you are working with to light the candle. 2. Watch the candle flame start out small and get bigger. Notice how some of the wax near the wick melts. 3. As the flame burns, the wax from the candle is reacting with something else to make the flame.

# data[].attributes.headline
Chilean Miners Video Clip: Trapped but Alive

# data[].attributes.subject
Chilean Miners Video Clip: Trapped but Alive

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Officials in Chile have drilled two holes down to 33 miners trapped underground in order to provide food and water until a full rescue. Seth Doane reports.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
teach the earth:enhancing your teaching:teaching in the field

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Investigating Photosynthesis: Discovering what plants need for photosynthesis

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In this inquiry lab, students design and conduct simple experiments using elodea and Bromothymol blue to determine whether plants consume or release carbon dioxide in the process of photosynthesis. Students will record their data which will be used to conclude whether carbon dioxide was consumed or released by the elodea.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Curriculum Maps:

Science curriculum maps will be revised in 2019-2020 to include the newly adopted instructional materials and will be ready at the start of 2020-2021 school year. The current curriculum maps are organized as the CA Framework in dividing the science standards into 4 instructional segments for each middle grade described in the California Science Framework (2017).

The Secondary Science Leadership Team composed of teacher leaders representing Local Districts added instructional resources for each instructional segment. These maps will be living documents with improvements made over time as we collectively develop a better understanding of the NGSS and schools provide feedback using the link below. Please click the following hyperlinks to access the curriculum maps:

TO ACCESS MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE CURRICULUM MAPS CLICK ON THE IMAGE

* Because of the requirement of a full semester of health education in grade seven, LAUSD, for the one semester of science, is prioritizing the teaching and learning of Instructional Segments 2 and 3 with Disciplinary Core Idea PS1.A from Instructional Segment 1. Prioritizing Segments 2 and 3 does not mean that Segments 1 and 4 are not important, it means that students will learn the foundational science principles needed for students to achieve in high school science courses.

Teachers are encouraged to collaborate during the transition towards the CA NGSS Integrated Model for middle schools. A collaboration is needed within and across grade levels since some of the content has shifted. Teachers may implement the lessons below in their classroom or use them as a conversation starter on the skills, knowledge, and rigor required for the NGSS implementation.

Professional Development Module to Develop NGSS Unit

A PD Module is available for science departments and grade level meetings to support the implementation of NGSS. The goal of the module is guide educators with one approach to develop NGSS aligned units. Click on this link to access the module. The Science Leadership Team utilized this module to develop some of the units below.

Websites for additional NGSS lessons and resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Science / Middle School Instructional Resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Curriculum Maps: Science curriculum maps will be revised in 2019-2020 to include the newly adopted instructional materials and will be ready at the start of 2020-2021 school year. The current curriculum maps are organized as the CA Framework in dividing the science standards into 4 instructional segments for each middle grade described in the California Science Framework (2017).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Activities and Answer Keys | CK-12 Foundation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Plants | Lesson 4 - Explaining How Plants Make Food, Move, and Function | CarbonTIME

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Students use molecular models to learn how matter and energy are transformed in plants during photosynthesis and cellular respiration. The focus of this lesson is on developing explanations for how plants make food, move, and function in the light and in the dark.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This lesson is appropriate for children ages 11 and up.

This lesson allows students to concretely experience the photosynthesis reaction by building models of the reactants and products with LEGO® bricks. Students construct a glucose molecule, simply by rearranging the atoms of carbon dioxide and water. They can go on to make chains of starch and cellulose. The lesson teaches students that most of the mass of a plant actually comes from the air and water, rather than from soil.

Lesson Plan

An interactive video called "Roots, Shoots, and Wood," with Dr. Kathleen Vandiver (inventor of this lesson), and produced by BLOSSOMS can assist you in teaching this lesson. A teacher's guide, written transcript, and class handouts can be found here. BLOSSOMS (Blended Learning Open Source Science or Math Studies) is a collaborative initiative seeking to begin to develop a large, free repository of video modules for high school math and science classes created by gifted volunteer teachers from around the world, seeded initially by MIT faculty members and by partnering educators in Jordan and Pakistan.

Materials

This lesson can be taught using the same LEGO bricks described in our Chemical Reactions and Understanding Air lesson. The Atoms and Molecules Layout Mat shows the LEGO bricks we recommend for this lesson and the chemical reactions lesson. We chose these bricks because they can be used to illustrate a number of chemical and biological concepts. Their colors match those commonly used in other chemical models. The layout mat can also be used as an easy clean up tool to check if students have all of their bricks.

12 Black bricks 2X4 size ( model of carbon atom)

36 Red bricks 2X4 size (model of oxygen atom)

24 White bricks 1X2 size (model of hydrogen atom)

A container (box or clear plastic bag) is needed for each kit

Optional - about 20 connector pegs are needed for class for optional activity that builds cellulose molecules

If this is too many bricks to purchase, the lesson can be done with half the number of bricks stated above in each student kit with a lesson modification. (6 Black bricks 2X4 size; 18 Red bricks 2X4 size; 12 White bricks 1X2 size). For more information, please view the lesson at BLOSSOMS.

Supporting Documents
Laminated Mats and Posters Videos
Video instructions to build the glucose molecule are in our TechTV collection: "Making Glucose Molecules." An interactive video called "Roots, Shoots, and Wood," with Dr. Kathleen Vandiver (inventor of this lesson), and produced by BLOSSOMS can also assist you in teaching this lesson.
Student Worksheets
We are currently developing a new teacher's guide and student sheets. Note that the "Photosynthesis Student Key" found below serves well as a Teacher's Guide.
Teacher Resources
The teacher's guide is not yet ready. However, you may like to use this older version of LEGO Education's Teacher's guide:

Curriculum Standards

This lesson meets the following item of the Massachusetts State Frameworks for grades 6-8, Life Sciences (Biology) Strand.

16. Recognize that producers (plants that contain chlorophyll) use the energy from sunlight to make sugars from carbon dioxide and water through a process called photosynthesis. This food can be used immediately, stored for later use, or used by other organisms.

It also meets the following AAAS benchmarks:

4c, grades 9-12, Processes That Shape the Earth: Plants alter the earth's atmosphere by removing carbon dioxide from it, using the carbon to make sugars, and releasing oxygen. This process is responsible for the oxygen content of the air.

5E, grades 6-8, Flow of Matter and Energy: Food provides the fuel and the building material for all organisms. Plants use the energy from light to make sugars from carbon dioxide and water. This food can be used immediately or stored for later use. Organisms that eat plants break down the plant structures to produce the materials and energy they need to survive.

Energy can change from one form to another in living things. Animals get energy from oxidizing their food, releasing some of its energy as heat. Almost all food energy comes originally from sunlight.

And it meets the following National Science Foundation Content Standard:

Content Standard C, grades 5-8: For ecosystems, the major source of energy is sunlight. Energy entering ecosystems as sunlight is transferred by producers into chemical energy through photosynthesis. That energy then passes from organism to organism in food webs.

Document Versions prior to June 2012

2009 Version - Reactants and Products 2009 Version - Atom and Molecules Layout Mat

Contact us if you would like to learn how to use the materials at our next workshop, or if you would like to inquire about a complete classroom set of materials including LEGO bricks.

LEGO®, the LEGO logo, and the brick and knob configurations are trademarks of the LEGO group, used here with permission. ©The Lego Group and MIT. All rights reserved.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This lesson is appropriate for children ages 11 and up. This lesson allows students to concretely experience the photosynthesis reaction by building models of the reactants and products with LEGO® bricks. Students construct a glucose molecule, simply by rearranging the atoms of carbon dioxide and water.