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I used to think that planning NGSS aligned lessons was very difficult, now I think it will be easier with the screening tools that have been shared!

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I used to think that planning lessons and units aligned to NGSS was challenging. Now I know that with the right tools and support it can be done. I can start with small changes in my learning activities that will make a big difference in student engagement and learning outcomes.

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I used to think that finding phenomena was something that took quite a bit of research for the teacher, but actually I now think that the most effective phenomena to use are things that the students "see" in their daily life, but didn't really observe, explore, or understand.

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I used to think that finding phenomena was something that took quite a bit of research for the teacher, but actually I now think that the most effective phenomena to use are things that the students "see" in their daily life, but didn't really observe, explore, or understand.

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There were more asymptomatic passengers on the argentine cruise ship than on the diamond princess due to a number of factors. First, the argentine cruise ship contained more young people. These young people had a weaker reaction to the virus in their bodies. In addition, the passengers on the argentine cruise ship were mostly of south americans. Something about their genes predisposed them to be asymptomatic when infected with covid-19. The argentine cruise ship had more asymptomatic passengers due to age and ethnicity.

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I have always been a fan of giving my students the freedom to explore all the phenomena we study. Now that I understand that NGSS is not just a list of topics that I need to cover I realized that I have been closer to this philosophy all along. 

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I have always been a fan of giving my students the freedom to explore all the phenomena we study. Now that I understand that NGSS is not just a list of topics that I need to cover I realized that I have been closer to this philosophy all along. 

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Investigation. Question: Do age and ethnicity impact the number of aymptomatic vs symptomatic people with COVID?

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Investigation. Question: Do age and ethnicity impact the number of aymptomatic vs symptomatic people with COVID?

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To test this question I would collect more data. I would go back and look at the people who tested positive for COVID and obtain their age and ethnicities. I would then compare the ages and ethnicities of asymptomatic vs symptomatic people on both ships.

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What I would need to investigate the issue of the COVID symptomatic vs. asymptomatic patients on the cruise ships would be the demographic data.   From this data, I would explore relationships among age, sex, and ethnicity between the symptomatic vs. asymptomatic groups.

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What I would need to investigate the issue of the COVID symptomatic vs. asymptomatic patients on the cruise ships would be the demographic data.   From this data, I would explore relationships among age, sex, and ethnicity between the symptomatic vs. asymptomatic groups.

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Breakdown this Performance Expectation into even smaller learning targets for each dimension:
HS-LS2-1. Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.

SEP - Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
DCI - Ecosystems have carrying capacities, which are limits to the numbers of organisms and populations they can support. These limits result from such factors as the availability of living and nonliving resources and from such challenges such as predation, competition, and disease. Organisms would have the capacity to produce populations of great size were it not for the fact that environments and resources are finite. This fundamental tension affects the abundance (number of individuals) of species in any given ecosystem.
CCC - Scale, Proportion and Quantity

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I did not know how to implement NGSS and now i think that i already have done some NGSS practices mixed with traditional practices.
-Ameyali Garrido.

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My explanation is that people in Argentinian Cruise were all vaccinated so that's why they were more likely to be asymptomatic than the people in the other cruise. Age, gender and nationality may also be a factor to consider.
-Ameyali Garrido

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My essential question is: Does vaccination has an effect in the rate of infection?
I would start by gathering the data of vaccinated + not vaccinated people but i also will gather extra information such as age, gender, nationality, comorbidities.
After, i will analyze the data and start to think of correlations.
-Ameyali Garrido

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I use to think students would get bored with the phenomena, or a story line, after a few weeks, but now I think it's what helps them connect all of the information together, and they are excited to be so familiar with our topic. 

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I use to think students would get bored with the phenomena, or a story line, after a few weeks, but now I think it's what helps them connect all of the information together, and they are excited to be so familiar with our topic. 

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EQ - Does age, frequency of testing, and climate impact the number of reported asymptomatic vs. symptomatic people on two cruise ships?

To test, I would need to collect data on:
-  the ages of all people on board both cruise ships
- the frequency of testing on each cruise ship
- the locations of each cruise ship during the time of that specific cruise.

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I used to think that elaborating a NGSS lesson was going to be a challenge, now I know that having the flexibility to develop your own curriculum is easier to meet students’ needs.

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I used to think that using NGSS was going to involve starting from scratch. With the screening tool I realize now how to incorporate new aspects that I are not quite adequate while keeping those that are aligned with NGSS practices.

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I used to think that I could adapt existing schemes of work to NGSS, however after reading the screening tool I now realize that in order to fully embrace 3D learning it requires more of a radical change and a shifting towards phenomenon anchored storylines.
Helen Burnham

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The performance expectations for NGSS are different because developing proficiency requires students to master specific SEPs, to use CCCs and link them to the Core ideas. Previous performance expectations were limited to demonstrating mastery via recalling a very specific snippet of knowledge, i.e., mainly memorizing facts.
Helen Burnham

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Previous to adopting the NGSS at my school, we had standards that were heavily content driven.  The standards were lists of knowledge statements of which the students were to gain an understanding.  Since we have adopted the NGSS, the standards contain content, but also focus on students building skills, or the science and engineering practices.

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Previous to adopting the NGSS at my school, we had standards that were heavily content driven.  The standards were lists of knowledge statements of which the students were to gain an understanding.  Since we have adopted the NGSS, the standards contain content, but also focus on students building skills, or the science and engineering practices.

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Analogy model: You could use a bag with balls or counters of two different colors to represent the symptomatic infected and the asymptomatic infected on the two ships. This could be further developed into a behavioral simulation model to include different aspects such as the number of susceptible individuals, the number of people infected at the start and the R number.

A simple mathematical model:
Total passengers on cruise = covid negative passengers + (covid positive asymptomatic + covid positive symptomatic)

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HS-LS2-1. Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.

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HS-LS2-1. Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.

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With this PE, you are looking at using mathematical or computational representations. This is the science and engineering practice. To be able to allow students to gain this skill, the teacher will have to practice with them. Students will need to understand + and - integers, for example, so that they can represent mathematically how various factors may add to or reduce a carrying capacity. This will need to be modeled within examples that are shown to the class. The crossing cutting concept here is cause and effect. Building the skill of students making links between variables in experiments and observational data to indicate cause and effect relationships will need to be done. The content (DCI), then, specifically deals with knowing what a carrying capacity is and understanding how parts of an ecosystems interact to positively or negatively impact that carrying capacity.

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I use to think that teaching NGSS was something so new and different. I was intimidated but now I realize it's what I have been doing for many of my favorite lessons all along. Now I think I am excited and feel more confident with NGSS. 

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I use to think that teaching NGSS was something so new and different. I was intimidated but now I realize it's what I have been doing for many of my favorite lessons all along. Now I think I am excited and feel more confident with NGSS. 

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Diamond Princess cruise could have had more older people while the Argentine cruise had younger people. Also the strain could have been slightly different if the cruise ships didn't happen at the same time. Also, if it happened at different times then maybe the people in the Argentine cruise were mostly vaccinated. 

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Diamond Princess cruise could have had more older people while the Argentine cruise had younger people. Also the strain could have been slightly different if the cruise ships didn't happen at the same time. Also, if it happened at different times then maybe the people in the Argentine cruise were mostly vaccinated. 

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What was the boarding and testing date and the ages and sex of the population. 

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What was the boarding and testing date and the ages and sex of the population. 

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I would collect and analyze data.

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The previous standards I’ve worked with are just lists of content expectations that the student should learn that often promote memorization as opposed to a deep understanding. NGSS is designed to be assessed in real world context, the past standards I had worked with do not provide real life scenarios and are not interdisciplinary.

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Question: Does age impact the number of asymptomatic people that have tested positive with COVID?

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Question: Does age impact the number of asymptomatic people that have tested positive with COVID?

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I would go back to the cruise ships and look at the data for age groups amongst the people that tested positive for COVID and compare. I would also take a look at data reported around my community, in the hospitals. See the age group that have been reporting symptoms and testing positive. Those that are asymptomatic probably have not even known they were sick so hospitals might not have data on that. I would try to do an investigation where I test people from the community who don't have any symptoms to see if they test positive for COVID or could we do an antibody test and see if they had COVID recently? This data could have correlations with the cruise ship data or not. But would be interesting...

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I can identify abiotic and biotic factors that affect the ability of populations to survive.

I can analyze and interpret data on living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) factors influencing the ecosystem.

I can analyze a graph to determine the ideal living conditions (including temperature, population density, and food supply)  for a population.

I can analyze graphs of predator-prey population sizes and explain how carrying capacity is influenced by this relationship.

I can make a prediction of how a predator population will be impacted based on evidence of the prey population size.

I can make predictions about how various populations will be impacted when given a food web and scenarios related to that food web, such as destruction of a key producer due to a pest or over-hunting of a keystone species.

I can analyze data to determine which factors have a greater or lesser impact on carrying capacity.

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I used to think that it was so difficult to find space to allow students to engage with real life science happening around them. Now I think with NGSS this is the entire focus of the course.

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At this point I still have questions as there was one poorly defined set of data.
How were symptoms determined? Self reported? If one ship's passengers were locked down and the other were not symptoms may be noticed more. What was the time on deck/inside/inside with others in the ship itinerary? More outdoor activities could affect viral load and therefore severity of symptoms. When were symptoms determined, before or after testing? Numbers could change after reporting. No information about age or other relevant health is provided which could be relevant, as could the places the passengers were from and where the ship stopped as variants could account for differences in symptoms.

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NGSS Performance Expectations vs other Science Standards

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NGSS Performance Expectations vs other Science Standards

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NGGS is 3D; it has content but it also gives lots of importance on skills. This I feel is similar to AP Standards which also have Science Practices but is much more content heavy. NGSS focuses much more on real science and having students exploring and doing science where other standards like state standards were more focused on knowing this and that.

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Students will have to know what is carrying capacity and how it affects populations.

Students will need to know how to analyze and interpret graphs (population graphs and predator-prey graphs)

Students will mathematically calculate the change in populations and use this as evidence for population growth

Students will analyze data to determine the type of impact different factors are having on the population

Students will make predictions of how different factors may affect populations (cause and effect)

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The Immortal Cells of Henrietta Lacks --> what are cancer cells and how are HeLa Cells immortal? Video Link: https://youtu.be/22lGbAVWhro

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The immortal cells of Henrietta Lacks - Robin Bulleri

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I chose Saving Corals from teachers pay teachers which I have used before. Link: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/STEAM-Project-Based-Learning-Saving-Coral-4044826?st=cc987abd3c4913bad0f509ad1735be77

The tool I used for vetting was the NGSS Vetting Tool. In evaluating the lesson I found that this lesson has a anchoring Phenomena, and it is definetly relevant to our students. It has DCI and SEP. I am not to clear about the CCC - but I still havent gotten a hang on identifying CCC. So I think maybe some minor tweaking is needed. But it has great potential and it is a PBL which is also great too :)

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Journey through coral reefs and discover the beauty, biodiversity, and endangerment of this ecosystem. Students will complete digital interactive Google slides, take virtual field trips, complete Cornell notes as they watch Chasing Coral (or another documentary or your choosing), complete an individual project, and work with a group to create an advertisement that communicates the threats coral reefs face today. Individual projects include an artistic representation of coral, researching and graphing the economic impact of the extinction of corals, and creating a coral reef food web. (Rubrics are included for each project.) Students will then work together to create an advertisement such as a commercial, TedTalk speech, website or professional flier to communicate their research to their community. (Rubric included.) The project is fully customizable and all the slides and documents are editable so you can adjust to your classroom needs. This is also a great remote or distance learning tool for students who can't make it to class!

This resource includes:

-A teacher and student version of the interactive Google slides

-Video links and questions for written student responses

-Two virtual field trips

-Prefilled Cornell notes document to accompany "Chasing Coral" documentary

-Saving Coral Project Worksheet for students to plan and organize their work

-Three individual project ideas with instructions, links to helpful websites/resources -

-Rubrics for all individual projects

-Cumulative group advertisement project for students to communicate their research

-Rubric for group advertisement project

-Lesson plans and project outline

-Teacher instructions

Next Generation Science Standards Incorporated:

HS-LS2-6.

Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.

HS-LS4-5.

Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.

HS-ESS3-3.

Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and biodiversity.

HS-ESS3-6.

Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity.

*You will need an internet connection and a Google Drive account to access this file.

Like this resource? Check out these other awesome lessons and activities:
Full Year of Chemistry Bell-Ringers Glow-Stick Kinetic Energy Chemistry Lab with NGSS Practices STEAM Activity: Crystal Landscapes Natural Selection Lesson & Game Photosynthesis Digital Lesson and Activity Invertebrates Big Bundle of Lessons and Activities Save Humpty! Newton's 3rd Law Lesson & Activity Chemical Equations Interactive Digital Google Slides Lesson Atomic Models & Activity How to Graph Digitally Bundle Animal Classification Game Energy & Motion Scaling Space Intro to Cells Birds and the Bees of Plant Reproduction Genetics Interactive Digital Google Slides Lesson

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STEAM Project Based Learning: Saving Coral

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Journey through coral reefs and discover the beauty, biodiversity, and endangerment of this ecosystem. Students will complete digital interactive Google slides, take virtual field trips, complete Cornell notes as they watch Chasing Coral (or another documentary or your choosing), complete an individ...

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Is there a correlation between age, sex and ethnicity between asyntomatic and symptomatic patients?

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Is there a correlation between age, sex and ethnicity between asyntomatic and symptomatic patients?

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In the past I have always used standards that focus entirely on knowledge, specially because the education system in my country used to be based on that.
But!! NGSS is based on concepts and skills which are way more usefull for kids.

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Malaria and sickle cell disease--> how a mutation leads to new geno/phenotypes, how this trait gets passed down from generation to generation

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HS-LS3-2 Inheritable Genetic Variation and HS-LS4-4 Natural Selection Leads to Adaptation can be combined together. They can be linked in a unit by analyzing how genetic variation causes diversity which causes organisms to better adapt to the environment and through natural selection evolve.

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The resource I evaluated was related to DNA and RNA: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/High-School-Life-Science-Biology-DNA-and-RNA-2505989

In evaluating the TPT resource, the bundled lessons look like your traditional science education resources… not phenomenal, not 3D. There are hands-on/student centered aspects but it's teacher guided, step by step and includes use of traditional worksheets for reading comprehension.

I didn't see SEPs or CCCs being incorporated. Only the DCI was really present.

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I used to think that content-focused teaching was the most efficient method of teaching science because of the volume of content, but now I think that it is imperitive that we teach based on skills and inquiry, to become more efficient at handling content when it comes!

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I used to think that content-focused teaching was the most efficient method of teaching science because of the volume of content, but now I think that it is imperitive that we teach based on skills and inquiry, to become more efficient at handling content when it comes!

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One explanation could be that the individuals who were asymptomatic were previously infected with another virus that had a simiar pathology to COVID-19.

When we are exposed to an infectious agent, our immune system is able to develop an immune response in order to fight it off. It is also able to generate a "memory" of the infection, so that we can mount a more effective immune response if we become infected with the same agent again. Almost like when we learn new formula in Math. If we are exposed to a new problem that requires us to use a new specific formula, it will take us a long time to solve it the first time around. But, if we continue to see other similar problems that can be solved using the same formula, we will become faster and faster until we're experts, and we don't even notice we're doing it (Asymptomatic Einsteins!)

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Mairi McClean: Is there a relationship between previous infection with a related (non-specified) virus and probability of asymptomatic presentation of COVID infection

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Mairi McClean: Is there a relationship between previous infection with a related (non-specified) virus and probability of asymptomatic presentation of COVID infection

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Gather data from 2 groups, both with a history of COVID infection but one with known history of infection with an infectious agent related to COVID (specific type of infectious agent should be chosen after background research) and one with no known history of infection with this particular related agent.

I would then compare the rates of asymptomatic patients between the two groups and calculate statistical significance.

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I'm very lucky in that, being a new teacher this year, I'm learning NGSS as the only performance standard I know.

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An injured body part - how does it heal?

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 HS-LS2-1. Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.

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 HS-LS2-1. Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.

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DO: SEP - Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

·         Students would need to Model (Do) an ecosystem using a simulator (Game) to determine if the changes in scale, proportion and quantity of biotic and abiotic systems would affect the equilibrium of an ecosystem.

KNOW: DCI - Ecosystems have carrying capacities, which are limits to the numbers of organisms and populations they can support. These limits result from such factors as the availability of living and nonliving resources and from such challenges such as predation, competition, and disease. Organisms would have the capacity to produce populations of great size were it not for the fact that environments and resources are finite. This fundamental tension affects the abundance (number of individuals) of species in any given ecosystem.

·         Students will need to Know what is carrying capacities.

·         Students would need to Know why ecosystems have carrying capacities.

·         Students would need to Know what is predation, competition and disease.

·         Students would need to Know what biotic and abiotic factors are.

·         Students would need to Know what is the relationship between abiotic and biotic factors.

·         Students would need to Know why equilibrium between biotic and abiotic factors is necessary.

THINK: CCC - Scale, Proportion and Quantity

·         Students would need to Think if the scale of an ecosystem will impact the resources needed to maintain said ecosystem in equilibrium.

·         Students would need to Think if the proportion of biotic and abiotic factors would impact the equilibrium of the ecosystem.

·         Students would need to Think if the quantity of biotic and abiotic factors would impact the equilibrium of the ecosystem.

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They are very similar to the IB DP syllabus for Biology, as they both include a focus on the Nature of Science. However, they are still quite different in terms of focus on content to the IB DP.

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I also used the NGSS Vetting tool, and in evaluating the lesson from OpenSciEd, which I get almost all of my material from, I found all of the "Good to go" quick check list boxes checked. OpenSciEd prides itself in following NGSS to a T, and includes the anchoring and supplementary phenomenas, SPEs, DCI and CCCs.

It's an incredible resource if you're also teaching middle school classes, like myself.

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HS-LS2-2

Biodiversity and Populations in Ecosystems and HS-LS4-5

Environmental Change - Speciation and Extinction,

Looking at biodiversity and populations alongside speciation and extinction seems like a very coherent mashup. If we understand the explanation of speciation, we can also better understand biodiversity and populations, how they change overtime, how they evolve, etc.

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I'm looking for a way to change up my classes each year, and changing the storyline seems like an easy and smart way to do that.

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Looking at the initial website home page, the system of teaching biology seems chaotic, but it must be working for many to be so popular. I'd really like to explore this resource more to find out if it could be a good fit for me and my BIO class.

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Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy. (Energy and Matter)
Apply scientific principles and evidence to provide an explanation about the effects of changing the temperature or concentration of the reacting particles on the rate at which a reaction occurs. (Patterns)
Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales. (Scale, Proportion, and Quantity)

When exploring photosynthesis, I find an interesting connection with how quickly this reaction is occurring based on climate factors, which can help students understand productivity in tundra versus tropical rainforests, for example. These three standards could be tied together to explain why biomes are developing different in various parts of our globe.

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DCI: The definition of carrying capacity; biotic vs abiotic factors; implications of carrying capacity and overproduction as a requirement for natural selection; relationships that exist between organisms within food webs and ecosystems; to understand that different factors affect the carrying capacity for different organisms.

SEP: Have students run exponential and logistic growth models to compare data patterns

CCC: Comparing energy pyramids for different ecosystems

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I would like to try out from the NGSS Storyline "Why don't Antibiotics work like they use to?" for my natural selection unit. https://www.nextgenstorylines.org/why-dont-antibiotics-work-like-they-used-to This Storyline line frotm the website seems detailed and complete.... I think doing it will help me better understand what a Storyline should look like and help guide me to make my own or piece together my own for other units. I will probably explore all the other storylines they have for Biology in this website too!

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Why Don't Antibiotics Work Like They Used To? - Next Generation Science Storylines

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This high school unit on natural selection and evolution starts out with students exploring the case of a young girl with a life-threatening infection of pan-resistant bacteria. This case sparks questions that lead them to investigate the growing prevalence of such cases and discrepancies between antibiotic use in their communities and CDC recommendations.

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HS-LS2-4: Biomass and Trophic Levels

Use mathematical representations to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem.

HS-LS1-5: Photosynthesis and Energy Transformation

Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy. (Energy and Matter)

I think these 2 PEs could be linked by an anchoring phenomenon like viewing the different climate zones and biodiversity of Guatemala. Students could look at how primary production of a biome affects the types of biodiversity found there and figure out why. Links could also be made to cellular respiration and transfer of energy, as well as adaptations and natural selection when figuring out why certain species do well in certain biomes.

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Here's a great resource for biology teachers

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Here's a great resource for biology teachers

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https://curriculum.newvisions.org/science/course/biology/

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High School Biology - Designed to NGSS

Through ongoing partnership with teachers across New York City, New Visions has developed this course map for a high school biology course fully designed to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the New York State Science Learning Standards (NYSSLS). Each unit follows a common structure: students engage with an anchor phenomenon and develop questions; go through sequences of learning and sense-making to develop and iterate on answers to those questions; then complete a three-dimensional performance task.

Unit 1 -- Marathon Runner -- has been reviewed by the Achieve Peer Review Panel using the EQuIP rubric, and will be available on the Quality Examples of Lessons and Units page soon. The remaining units are in development now. Links to the blueprints for each unit are provided below. The units will continue to be published here as they are revised and finalized.
Please join our mailing list to learn about updates to this course and upcoming materials for High School Earth & Space Science.

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HS Biology - New Visions Science Curriculum

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Through ongoing partnership with teachers across New York City, New Visions has developed this course map for a high school biology course fully designed to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the New York State Science Learning Standards (NYSSLS).

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I am going to look through this resource a little more after I sign up. To be honest, finding good NGSS resources for biology has been difficult. There isn't a lot out there, and what is, isn't super useful. I shared a resource I came across last year and having taught a few of the units found it to be very helpful with figuring out how to use anchoring phenomenon and additonal phenomenon to support my unit. I hope this mdoel based biology will be just as useful.

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I used to consider that my teaching methods were far away to be aligned to NGSS, but now I noticed that I'm on the right path, off course with many strategies and practices to improve.

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I have picked the genetics unit from Inquiry Hub Biology. The unit seems very complete and has phenomena with which my student will identify. I like the connects with CRISPR as that this a great topic to build discussion and interest, as well as its a great way for students to apply knowledge about DNA structure and protein formation.

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My plan is to link that into if they think we could see how photons move from the sun to our food and then to our bodies.

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I evaluated one of my own lesson experiences and I found that it did had SEP and CCC present, but it was not built around an anchoring phenomena, it was just a investigatory phenomena that was not relevant to the students.

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Oriana Onofri -

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Why were more covid - Poster by Oriana Onofri

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MS Life Science
LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms

MS Physical Science

MS-PS3-5: Energy Transfer to or from an Object

I would link these two with the phenomena of how energy from the sun moves to earth and does not get lost, but transformed. I would help students explore the idea of how thermal energy is visible (with a special camera) and if we could have a photon vision we could see photons move through all the trophic chain.

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I think once I give myself the opportunity to try out an already designed Unit, I would gather more experience and then be able to design my own.

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Unit Summary

This unit on metabolic reactions in the human body starts out with students exploring a real case study of a middle-school girl named M'Kenna, who reported some alarming symptoms to her doctor. Her symptoms included an inability to concentrate, headaches, stomach issues when she eats, and a lack of energy for everyday activities and sports that she used to play regularly. She also reported noticeable weight loss over the past few months, in spite of consuming what appeared to be a healthy diet. Her case sparks questions and ideas for investigations around trying to figure out which pathways and processes in M'Kenna's body might be functioning differently than a healthy system and why.

Students investigate data specific to M'Kenna's case in the form of doctor's notes, endoscopy images and reports, growth charts, and micrographs. They also draw from their results from laboratory experiments on the chemical changes involving the processing of food and from digital interactives to explore how food is transported, transformed, stored, and used across different body systems in all people. Through this work of figuring out what is causing M'Kenna's symptoms, the class discovers what happens to the food we eat after it enters our bodies and how M'Kenna's different symptoms are connected.

Unit Examples

Simulations

Additional Unit Information

Building Toward the Following Standards and Practices

This unit builds toward the following NGSS Performance Expectations (PEs):

MS-LS1-3: Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.

MS-LS1-5: Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.

MS-LS1-7: Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism.

MS-PS1-1: Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures. *

MS-PS1-2: Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred. *

* This unit reinforces these NGSS PEs that students should have previously developed. In the OpenSciEd Scope and Sequence, these are first built in Unit 7.1. In this new context of metabolic reactions, students will engage in the analysis and interpretation of various forms of data on how molecules change or do not change as they move through digestion. Chemical reactions starting in our mouths and stomachs and continuing throughout the rest of the digestive system drive this change, breaking down large food molecules into smaller ones. Some molecules, like fiber, stay the same throughout digestion and, therefore, do not undergo chemical reactions.

The current version of the unit expands students' understanding of metabolic reactions, which include these Grade 6-8 DCI elements:
LS1.A Structure and Function LS1.B Growth and Development of Organisms

The growth of an animal is controlled by genetic factors, * food intake, and interactions with other organisms, and each species has a typical adult size range.
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms

Within individual organisms, food moves through a series of chemical reactions in which it is broken down and rearranged to form new molecules, to support growth, or to release energy.
PS3.D Energy in Processes and Everyday Life

Cellular respiration in plants and * animals involves chemical reactions with oxygen that release stored energy. In these processes, complex molecules containing carbon react with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and other materials.

*There is a slash through the pieces of the DCIs that are not developed in this unit. In the OpenSciEd Scope and Sequence, students will develop an understanding of genetic factors in the OpenSciEd Unit 8.5, how plants do chemical reactions to obtain and store energy in the subsequent OpenSciEd Unit 7.4, and interactions with other organisms in the ecosystem dynamics in OpenSciEd Unit 7.5.

In addition, this unit introduces the concept of food as fuel and lays the groundwork for future units in which students figure out that both food and other sources of fuels are sources of matter and sources of energy, drawing connections between chemical reactions that transfer and convert energy in living and nonliving systems. This connects to the idea identified on page 196 of Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012): "By middle school, a more precise idea of energy-for example, the understanding that food or fuel undergoes a chemical reaction with oxygen that releases stored energy-can emerge."

You can view the placement of this OpenSciEd Unit 7.3 and associated units within the OpenSciEd Middle School Scope and Sequence.

Focal Science & Engineering Practices

Developing & Using Models

Analyzing & Interpreting Data

Engaging in Argument from Evidence

What are prerequisite math concepts necessary for the unit?

In Lesson 8 students use a NetLogo simulation to discover the relationship between the rate of food absorption and the height of villi that line the small intestine. Prerequisite math concepts that may be helpful include:

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.NS.C.8: Solve real-world and mathematical problems by graphing points in all four quadrants of the coordinate plane.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.2: Understand the concept of a unit rate a/b associated with a ratio a:b with b ≠ 0, and use rate language in the context of a ratio relationship.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.SP.C.6: Approximate the probability of a chance event by collecting data on the chance process that produces it and observing its long-run relative frequency, and predict the approximate relative frequency given the probability.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.SP.C.8.C : Design and use a simulation to generate frequencies for compound events.

Students analyze and interpret M'Kenna's height and weight growth charts in Lesson 10. Prerequisite math concepts that may be helpful include:

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.SP.B.5.C: Giving quantitative measures of center (median and/or mean) and variability (interquartile range and/or mean absolute deviation), as well as describing any overall pattern and any striking deviations from the overall pattern with reference to the context in which the data were gathered.

In addition, within the domain of Measurement and Data in the Common Core Mathematics Standards, students will be drawing on what they have learned across a number of standards under the category of Represent and Interpret data for Grades 1-5 when they are generating and interpreting the tables and graphs of their data collected from the simulation and during analysis of several food molecule graphs in many lessons across the unit.

What modifications will I need to make if this unit is taught out of sequence?

This is the third unit in 7th grade in the OpenSciEd Scope and Sequence. Given this placement, several modifications would need to be made if teaching this unit earlier in the middle school curriculum. These include:

Introducing the students to the concept of a Driving Question Board and a shared set of classroom norms. This would not be necessary if taught after other OpenSciEd units.

Supplemental teaching of the nature of matter, so that students see matter as made of particles.

Supplemental teaching of the foundations for chemical reactions in PEs MS-PS1-1 Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures and MS-PS1-2 Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred . This unit is designed to come directly after two units involved in the foundations of chemical reactions and explicitly builds on those understandings. It is critical to note that students need the idea of chemical reactions and the idea that matter can be rearranged through these reactions yielding resultant materials with different properties to develop the explanations in this unit.

Supplemental teaching of PE s MS-LS1-1 Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells and MS-LS1-2 Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways the parts of cells contribute to the function. This unit does not introduce cells to students. It uses that prerequisite knowledge to build understanding that the organization of the body goes from cells, to tissues, to organs, to subsystems to multiple subsystems working together in one body system.

Tara McGill, Unit Lead, Northwestern University

Michael Novak, Field Test Unit Lead, Northwestern University

Kate Cook-Whitt, Writer, Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance

Kathryn Fattalah, Writer, The Nora Project

Emily Harris, Writer, BSCS Science Learning

Lindsey Mohan, Writer, BSCS Science Learning

Jamie Noll, Writer, Northwestern University

Barbara Taylor, Writer, Charles A. Dana Center at University of Texas Austin

Heather Galbreath, Pilot Teacher, Lombard Middle School

Michael Clinchot, Teacher Advisor, John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science

Nicole Vick, Reviewer, Abingdon-Avon High School

Betty Stennett, Reviewer, BSCS Science Learning

Katie Van Horne, Assessment Specialist

Kelsey Edwards, Project Coordinator, Northwestern University

Barbara Hug, Unit Advisory Chair, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

BSCS Science Learning

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Achieve's Science Peer Review Panel

An integral component of OpenSciEd's development process is external validation of alignment to the Next Generation Science Standards by NextGenScience's Science Peer Review Panel using the EQuIP Rubric for Science. We are proud that this unit has been identified as a quality example of a science unit. You can find additional information about the EQuIP rubric and the peer review process at the nextgenscience.org website.

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This unit on metabolic reactions in the human body starts out with students exploring a real case study of a middle-school girl named M'Kenna, who reported some alarming symptoms to her doctor. Her symptoms included an inability to concentrate, headaches, stomach issues when she eats, and a lack of energy for everyday activities and sports that she used to play regularly.

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I chose "white blood cells kills bacteria"

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Is there a correlation in the early PCR testing and the number of total asymptomatic cases in the Argentina cruise?

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Is there a correlation in the early PCR testing and the number of total asymptomatic cases in the Argentina cruise?

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Opposite to the Diamond Princess cruise that travel around january 2021, The argentina Cruise set sail around march 2021, when there was more knowlegde about the safety protocols to follow. For that, they did PCR test as soon as possible, but covid-19 can last 14-days in a incubation  process. So maybe a huge percentage of the  a symtomatic haven´t develop any of the symptoms yet, or they can also be paucisymptomatic (with very mild symptons and never suspect an infection)

oriana onofri

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How are NGSS performance expectations similar to or different from other science standards or resources you have seen or used?

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How are NGSS performance expectations similar to or different from other science standards or resources you have seen or used?

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The NGSS are Similar  to other standars I used in the past beacuse both are students centered methods, both use the phenomena along the unit plan.
Different mainly in the order; for example I used to use explain first and then explore.  And the type of evaluation, I consider this is one part where I need to improve considerably.
Oriana Onofri

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HS-LS2-1. Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.

I can identify factors affecting the carrying capacity.

I can explain the relationship between limiting factors and population extinction.

I can analyze and use data  of the factor affecting the carrying capacity in a ecosystem.

I can use several types of data to predict predator and prey relationship.

I can use data to support an argument to infer which factor affect an ecosystem carrying capacity.

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I think that the standards i use in my country are more focused in the core ideas and with some interest in the crosscruit concept, but there is no focus on the practice part. I think NGSS are very detail on how and what the students should know.

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I can explain the interactions between species in an ecosystem.
I can use scale and proportion to analyse data of an ecosystem population.
I can use mathematics and computational thinking to process data

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The impact of Genetic modified organism in human nutrition.
https://www.who.int/health-topics/food-genetically-modified#tab=tab_1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TmcXYp8xu4

Oriana Onofri

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World Health Organization WHO Regional websites

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Timelapse: photosynthesis seen from space

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Timelapse: photosynthesis seen from space

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https://www.calacademy.org/educators/timelapse-photosynthesis-seen-from-space

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"We will be looking at food webs this year, so all the information about photosynthesis and the food chain are great supplemental materials to our curriculum."
-3rd-5th Grade Science Teacher from San Rafael, CA

"I would use the Timelapse of Photosynthesis from Space as an assessment of students' understanding of photosynthesis inputs and outputs." -Middle School Life Science Teacher from Pleasant Hill, CA

"I showed the entire Habitat Earth film as a virtual field trip at the end of our cell energy unit. I specifically asked students to write down what was familiar about photosynthesis and what (if any) questions they had. Additionally, I showed the time lapse video and had the students guess what was going on/what time of year it was at each point in the time lapse (as the activity for that lesson suggested.)"
- Middle School Life Science Teacher from Vallejo, CA

"I will be using the timelapse photosynthesis with our climate unit, because it is an excellent visualization tool."
-High School Earth and Space Science Teacher from Portland, OR

"The short videos of photosynthesis from space and bird migrations overlaying photosynthesis, and the water transport videos will be great hook activities for my cell energetics lessons. I appreciate that there isn't any narration, allowing the students to watch and draw their own conclusions. Great for developing critical thinking!"
-High School Life and Environmental Science Teacher from San Rafael, CA

"I suggested the photosynthesis from space video as a phenomenon to base a photosynthesis lesson on for NGSS implementation work I am doing with other science teachers."
-High School Life Science Teacher from San Lorenzo, CA

Have an idea you'd like us to post on this page? Email us.

Visualizations based on aggregated data provide the unique opportunity to engage your students in various Science Practices highlighted in the Next Generation Science Standards, including asking questions, analyzing and interpreting data, and constructing explanations. As an example, Academy educators developed sample activities such as and

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Timelapse: Photosynthesis Seen From Space

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Witness the influence of the sun on the seasonal abundance of plant matter produced on land and in our oceans.

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Option 1: NGSS Vetting Tool Google Doc (below). I found that my lesson need some work and that i will change the phenomena so it its more relevant to students.

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NUmber of asyptomatic vs symptomatic people with COVID

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NUmber of asyptomatic vs symptomatic people with COVID

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investigate the ages of the passengers and make a table indicating whether they are asymptomatic or symptomatic, and then conclude if age has to do with being asymptomatic

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Inquiry Hub Biology

I will use this because it is very detailed and 3D.

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My question would be whether there is a correlation between the % of symptomatic cases is associated with a certain age group.

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My question would be whether there is a correlation between the % of symptomatic cases is associated with a certain age group.

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I would conduct an anonymous survey to collect basic information that may be connected to development of symptoms like age, sex and use of biosecurity measures such as mask and gel. I would also inquire about the frequency with which some areas of the cruise are used (ballrooms or other entertainment areas). Last but not least, I would include in the survey a list of symptoms that the person may have experience.
To test for association between characteristics or behaviors and the symptoms, I would conduct a correlation analysis.

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NGSS does not leave out the content, but gives the teacher a much better idea of how to help the students build these concepts themselves or how to apply them in other contexts. The objective is not limited to the rote memorization of concepts.

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NGSS are similar to other standards in that they describe the main idea and main concepts. They are different from others in that they embrace 3 dimensions. The other standards do not contain science and engineering practice.They also have integration with other areas such as language, mathematics or physics

# data[].attributes.subject
NGSS are similar to other standards in that they describe the main idea and main concepts. They are different from others in that they embrace 3 dimensions. The other standards do not contain science and engineering practice.They also have integration with other areas such as language, mathematics or physics

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NGSS are very complete as they allow integration with other areas

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Yes, definitely!
The lesson is driven by the phenomena and contains 3d instruction and assessment.

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Competition in Ecosystems

What you will learn from this video What you will learn

All living things compete for resources like food, water and shelter.

Competition can affect the growth and survival of organisms.

Changes in an ecosystem can also effect which organisms survive.

Give 2 examples of what organisms compete for in an ecosystem.

Explain why non-living things are important parts of an ecosystem.

If organisms are being outcompeted in an ecosystem, what could they do?

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Learn that organisms compete for the resources they need to survive, grow, and reproduce. Competition also influences the population size of some organisms.

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Science and Engineering Practices: use mathematical and /or computatinal representation
the Cross Cutting Concepts, explanations of factors :  DAtos,   escalas prorpociones y cantidades
estructura y función
Disciplinary Core Ideas,hat affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.

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HS-LS4-6:

Create or revise a simulation to test a solution to mitigate adverse impacts of human activity on biodiversity. (Cause and Effect).

HS-ESS3-4:

Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems. (Stability and Change)

These two performance expectations from life science and Earth science domains are linked and can be used in the same unit by making students to revise a technological solution that mitigates human impact on biodiversity.

Oriana Onofri

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This unit contains all the NGSS characteristics and it is very easy to understand and practical to use.
Oriana Onofri

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Landing Page - Unit 3 Ecosystems: How Do Small Changes Make Big Impacts on Ecosystems? iHub Biology

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SEP: Use simulation to collect data. Analyze, interprete data. Organize the data in tables. Represent data in graphs.

DCI: Differentiate population from other levels of organization in the ecosystem. Understand that carrying capacity has effects on population size. Identify factors that can affect the carrying capacity of a given system.

CCC: Cause and effect. Scale and proportion

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Antibiotic-resistant bacteria in permafrost (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5614383/)

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ABSTRACT

Background: Permafrost preserves a variety of viable ancient microorganisms. Some of them can be cultivated after being kept at subzero temperatures for thousands or even millions of years.

Objective: To cultivate bacterial strains from permafrost.

Design: We isolated and cultivated two bacterial strains from permafrost that was obtained at Mammoth Mountain in Siberia and attributed to the Middle Miocene. Bacterial genomic DNA was sequenced with 40-60× coverage and high-quality contigs were assembled. The first strain was assigned to Staphylococcus warneri species (designated MMP1) and the second one to Staphylococcus hominis species (designated MMP2), based on the classification of 16S ribosomal RNA genes and genomic sequences.

Results: Genomic sequence analysis revealed the close relation of the isolated ancient bacteria to the modern bacteria of this species. Moreover, several genes associated with resistance to different groups of antibiotics were found in the S. hominis MMP2 genome.

Conclusions: These findings supports a hypothesis that antibiotic resistance has an ancient origin. The enrichment of cultivated bacterial communities with ancient permafrost strains is essential for the analysis of bacterial evolution and antibiotic resistance.

Permafrost, genome sequence, evolution, antibiotic resistance, microbial physiology, biofilm, KEYWORDS: Staphylococcus

Introduction

Psychrotrophs and psychrophiles are microorganisms that can survive or even thrive in cold places [ 1, 2]. Investigations of glacier ice at the Vostok station in the Antarctic [ 3] and surface snow from the South Pole [ 4] revealed that bacteria, fungi, diatoms, and other microorganisms were probably trapped in the snow and remained in the ice for thousands of years. Microbial activity was also found in ice sediments of perennial and permanent lake ice [ 5, 6] and in the Antarctic Sea [ 7, 8]. Anaerobic microorganisms were isolated from glacier samples in the Arctic [ 9, 10] and Greenland [ 11].

Permafrost (permafrost soil) is soil that stays at 5-10ºC below zero for 2 years or longer. Most of the permafrost is located in lands close to the North and South Poles. However, some permafrost exists at much lower latitudes. A thin active layer of the soil above the permafrost usually thaws during the summer. The thickness of this active layer varies depending on season and location, but is typically 0.6-4.0 m. In the northern Lena and Yana River basins in Siberia (Russia), the permafrost depth may be more than 1400 m. The structure of permafrost is very stable, with nothing changing for thousands and even millions of years. The permafrost environment is considered extreme because of subzero temperatures and background radiation over geological timescales. The age of permafrost can be proven by its history of freezing, geological conditions, and radioisotope dating [ 12, 13].

Permafrost sediments contain microorganisms [ 14- 17]. Viable bacterial strains have been isolated from 25,000-year-old ice wedges from Alaska [ 12, 18, 19]. These bacteria, which were isolated from the rest of the world for a long period (thousands and millions of years), are invaluable for studies on modern diseases and the evolutionary history of microorganisms.

Ancient viable microorganisms were claimed to have been be cultured from Dominican amber, considered to be 20-40 million years old [ 20]. In our previous collaborative work, viable bacteria were obtained from permafrost of the Mammoth Mountain, Siberia, aged 40,000 to 4 million years depending on the sampling depth [ 13, 16, 21]. Moreover, the genomic DNA of one strain of bacteria, identified as Bacillus cereus, was isolated and sequenced [ 22].

In the present work, we aimed to enrich the number of viable bacteria from permafrost, study their morphology, and analyze the genomic sequences.

Material and methods

Permafrost samples and microorganism cultivation

In this article, we describe bacterial strains isolated from permafrost in the River Lena region in Central Yakutia, Russia. According to the composition of seeds, pollen, and leaves, this permafrost is of Middle Miocene, and thus the permafrost may be up to 3.5 million years old [ 21]. Permafrost samples were taken from an exposure, due to river erosion, on the Mammoth Mountain on the Aldan River, as described in detail previously [ 21].

In brief, permafrost samples were taken in July 2009 at a depth of about 50 m below the surface and below the active layer of 1 m. Samples of the frozen soil were cut with a handsaw or a circular saw and preserved at a temperature of about −15°C. Permafrost was kept frozen until delivery to the laboratory at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet (MTC). Collected material (approximately 10 cm ³) was kept at −20°C at MTC. Smaller blocks of permafrost were cut out using a sterile handsaw at −20°C (in the freeze room at MTC). These blocks were fragmented under sterile conditions using a sterile hammer. Small portions of still-frozen soil were drilled out of the bigger block in a laminar flow cabinet, after sterilization of the cabinet by an ultraviolet-C germicidal lamp for 15 min. These samples were bathed in 90% ethanol and put in Lauri-Bertani (LB) medium (about 6 g of soil in 5 ml of LB medium). A suspension possibly containing microorganisms was plated on a large (14.5 cm diameter) Petri dish with rich yeast extract peptone dextrose (YPD) medium without glucose. Two LB plates with no suspension were used as a negative control. Plates were incubated at 37°C. Two different colonies were isolated on 18 January 2010. Both strains were cultured individually, on agar plates and in liquid LB medium supplemented with glucose (2% w/v). No colonies were observed on the control plates.

Transmission electron microscopy

Cells were grown in tryptic soy broth (TSB) at 37°C overnight. Fixation was achieved in a mixture of 2% glutaraldehyde and 1% formaldehyde in 0.1 M phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), pH 7.4, at room temperature and stored at +4ºC. After fixation, cells were rinsed in 0.1 M PBS and centrifuged. The pellets were then post-fixed in 2% osmium tetroxide (TAAB, Aldermaston, UK) solution in 0.1 M PBS at 4°C for 2 h, dehydrated in ethanol followed by acetone, and embedded in LX-112 (Ladd, Williston, VT, USA). The ultrathin sections (approximately 50-60 nm) were cut by a Leica Ultracut UCT (Leica, Vienna, Austria). Sections were contrasted with uranyl acetate followed by lead citrate and examined in a Hitachi HT 7700 (Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan) at 80 kV. Digital images were taken with a Veleta camera (Olympus Soft Imaging Solutions, Münster, Germany).

Biofilm formation

The ability of bacteria to form biofilms was assessed on Congo red (CR) agar, as described previously [ 23]. In brief, bacterial strains were grown in TSB medium overnight. For all strains, the cell density was adjusted to optical density (OD) = 1 and 10 μl of cell suspension was plated on a CR agar plate (3% TSB, 0.75% glucose, 0.008% CR dye, and 1% agar). Cells were grown at 37°C for 17 h. The black color of the grown colony indicates biofilm formation, while a reddish or pinkish color indicates no or less biofilm. For the quantitative studies on biofilms, experiments were performed as described previously [ 24]. In brief, strains were grown overnight in TSB and diluted to an OD of 0.01 in TSB the next morning. For each strain, 200 μl of the diluted culture was loaded into 16 wells of a flat-bottomed 96-well microtiter plate (TPP, Trasadingen, Switzerland). Following 24 h of incubation at 37°C, the cell density was measured at λ = 595 nm. Wells were carefully emptied and washed with the physiological saline. Biofilm attached to the wells was stained with 250 μl of 0.4% crystal violet (CV) for 10 min. After removing CV and washing, the dye was dissolved in 250 μl of 30% acetic acid, and absorbance at λ = 595 nm was measured. Relative biofilm formation was calculated as the ratio of the absorbance of the CV-stained biofilm matrix to the cell density at λ = 595 nm.

Genomic sequencing

Bacterial genomic DNA was isolated from liquid cultures originating from a single colony using a PowerSoil® DNA Isolation Kit (MO BIO Labs, Carlsbad, CA, USA) on 15 February 2010. The quality and concentration of the extracted DNA was verified using a NanoDrop™ spectrophotometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) and by electrophoresis in the 0.8% agarose gel.

Next, 500 ng of DNA from each strain was used for Roche 454 library preparation according to the manufacturer's protocol ( www.454.com) and sequenced in one or two lanes of a four-region FLX Titanium picotiter plate on a Roche 454 FLX instrument (Roche, Basel, Switzerland).

Sequence assembly

Genome de novo assembly was performed using a Roche GS De Novo Assembler (version 2.7) with default parameters. Alignments to reference genomes were performed with a Roche GS Reference Mapper (version 2.7) with default parameters.

Classification

The 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes were classified using SINA Alignment Service version 1.2.11 [ 25] with default parameters. NCBI Microbial Nucleotide BLAST [ 26] with de novo assembled contigs, database of draft genomes, and the Megablast algorithm was also applied.

Genome annotation

Genome annotation was performed using NCBI Prokaryotic Genome Automatic Annotation Pipeline (PGAAP) [ 27]. Plasmid sequences were identified with PlasmidFinder version 1.3 [ 28]. The identity threshold was set to 85%.

Phylogenetic analysis

We used MEGA version 6.06 [ 29] and maximum likelihood method with default parameters for phylogenetic tree building on the basis of 16S rRNA sequences. Known 16S rRNA sequences were obtained from the SILVA database [ 30]. The MUSCLE algorithm was applied for sequence alignment. Bootstrap values were calculated based on 1000 replications.

Detection of antibiotic resistance and virulence genes

The search for antibiotic resistance and virulence genes was performed with ResFinder version 2.1 [ 31] and VirulenceFinder version 1.5 [ 32] web services. The identity threshold was set to 85% and the minimum length to 40% for both tools.

Results

Phenotype characteristics

The novel strains of microorganisms, which were called MMP1 (Mammoth Mountain Permafrost 1) and MMP2 (Mammoth Mountain Permafrost 2), showed an ability to proliferate under ordinary culturing conditions, both on agar plates and in liquid LB medium. On LB agar plates, both strains produced opaque colonies, which were slightly rough and had wavy edges. MMP1 and MMP2 displayed as whitish to yellowish smooth round colonies on tryptic soy agar (TSA) plates ( Figure 1). Cultivation was carried out at 37°C and with intensive aeration (shaking) to reach the logarithmic phase of growth. The cultures were maintained by reseeding on agar plates and were also stored with glycerol (40%) at −80°C.

MMP1 cells had a smooth surface and the majority of the cell population showed a fully formed septum ( Figure 2(a)). MMP2 had an irregular cell surface and few cells formed the septum ( Figure 2(b)), as shown by ultrastructural analysis of bacteria grown up to the stationary phase by TEM.

Biofilm formation

To assess the ability of ancient bacteria to form biofilm, MMP1 and MMP2 were grown on CR plates. For MMP1, the formation of the reddish smooth colonies was observed ( Figure 3(a)), indicating biofilm formation. MMP2 showed a greater ability to form biofilms, as can be concluded from the appearance of the black rough colonies ( Figure 3). Bacterial strains which had previously been characterized for their biofilm formation capacity, i.e. Staphylococcus aureus SC08 and S. epidermidis ATCC 12228 [ 33], served as the positive and negative controls, respectively.

These data were confirmed by a relative biofilm formation assay in 96-well plates ( Figure 3(b)). MMP1 formed less biofilm than MMP2, and this difference was statistically significant ( p < 0.05).

Sequencing data on the ancient strains

For the ancient strain MMP1, 421.5 k reads with average length of 361 bases were obtained. The reads were assembled in 56 contigs (35 large ones) with total length equal to 2.44 M bases. The sequencing coverage was about 60×. For the ancient strain MMP2, 272.8 k reads with an average length of 323 bases were obtained. The reads were assembled in 84 contigs (65 large ones) with total length equal to 2.21 M bases. Hence, the sequencing coverage was about 40×. The N50 value was 171.3 k bases for strain MMP1 and 92.5 k bases for strain MMP2, indicating that the assemblies were of a high quality. The detailed information is presented in Table 1.

Table 1.

Classification

Contigs containing 16S rRNA genes of the ancient strains were found using NCBI BLAST: #27 (1619 bases) for MMP1 and #59 (1541 bases) for MMP2. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, both bacteria were classified by SINA as being of genus Staphylococcus. The nearest neighbors for strain MMP1 were strains of S. warneri and S. pasteuri species ( S. warneri group), and the nearest neighbors for strain MMP2 were strains of S. haemolyticus and S. hominis species ( S. haemolyticus group). The same results were obtained using the de novo assembled contigs and NCBI Microbial Nucleotide BLAST through Staphylococcus group (taxid: 90964). To determine the species of the examined strains more precisely, the raw reads of strain MMP1 were aligned to NCBI representative genomes S. warneri SG1 and S. pasteuri SP1. The same procedure was performed for strain MMP2 and NCBI representative genomes S. hominis subsp. hominis C80 and S. haemolyticus JCSC1435. All representative genomes are complete genomes, except for S. hominis subsp. hominis C80, which is a scaffold. The results of the mapping are summarized in Table 2.

Table 2.

As seen from Table 2, strain MMP1 showed a significantly higher similarity to the reference S. warneri SG1 compared to S. pasteuri SP1 (93.4% vs 88.5% of reads were mapped), and strain MMP2 showed a significantly higher similarity to reference S. hominissubsp. hominis C80 compared to S. haemolyticus JCSC1435 (85.3% vs 18.9%). Thus, ancient Staphylococcus strains MMP1 and MMP2 were assigned to S. warneri and S. hominis species, respectively [ 34]. A phylogenetic tree was built including several known S. warneri, S. pasteuri, S. hominis, and S. haemolyticus strains, and the two examined ancient strains, on the basis of 16S rRNA sequences ( Figure 4). The ancient strains revealed close relations to the modern ones within species.

Annotation

Two contigs (#23: 4058 bases; and #24: 4946 bases) from S. warneri MMP1 genome and three contigs (#51: 2458 bases; #53: 2908 bases; and #54: 2458 bases) from S. hominis MMP2 genome were recognized as plasmids by PlasmidFinder. An additional alignment test showed that all five plasmids were complete and circular.

The genome annotation results obtained by NCBI PGAAP indicate a close relation of features of ancient Staphylococcus strains to those of modern reference strains ( Table 3).

Table 3.

Whole Genome Shotgun projects have been deposited at DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank: LNVI00000000 for MMP1 and LNTW00000000 for MMP2. The versions described in this article are LNVI01000000 (MMP1) and LNTW01000000 (MMP2).

Antibiotic resistance and virulence genes

Staphylococci are known to be resistant to different groups of antibiotics [ 35]. The ancient strains were tested for genes, the presence of which is known to be associated with antibiotic resistance, using ResFinder. Staphylococcus warneri MMP1 showed no resistance genes and S. hominis MMP2 possessed multiple genes associated with resistance to aminoglycoside, beta-lactam, MLS (macrolide, lincosamide, and streptogramin B), and phenicol antibiotic groups ( Table 4). All identified genes showed at least 99% identity and 100% length query (except for the blaZ gene and S. hominis MMP2, with 96% identity and 100% length query).

Table 4.

Some Staphylococcus species are known to be pathogenic [ 36]. We examined the Staphylococcus strains using VirulenceFinder and no virulence genes were identified in either the representative or the ancient genomes.

Discussion

It used to be thought that microorganisms present in the permafrost were mostly in a dormant or dead state. However, there is a growing body of evidence that various microorganisms isolated from permafrost and glacier ice are capable of growing, i.e. they show metabolic activity. Hence, permafrost may contain a vast number of viable microorganisms that may have a tremendous impact on a biosphere. Studies on permafrost microbial communities may lead to potentially important biotechnological applications, such as cold-tolerant enzymes [ 37].

A significant number of viable microorganisms from permafrost has been isolated from several Arctic and Antarctic sites. These include aerobic heterotrophs, and nitrogen-fixing, sulfur-oxidizing, sulfur-reducing, and anaerobic bacteria. These microorganisms are psychrotrophic, mesophilic, and thermophilic. For example, aerobic heterotrophic plate counts were detected in 192 out of 220 samples (87%) from nine Siberian permafrost collections [ 38].

The 16S rRNA from a number of permafrost microorganisms has been amplified and sequenced. Members of three major lineages were found: Gammaproteobacteria (mostly Xanthomonadaceae), Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes. The bacteria also included Actinomycetales (Arthrobacter and Microbacteriaceae), followed by Firmicutes ( Exiguobacterium and Planomicrobium), Bacteroidetes ( Flavobacterium), Gammaproteobacteria ( Psychrobacter), and Alphaproteobacteria ( Sphingomonas). Both culture and culture-independent approaches showed the presence of high and low guanine and cytosine (G+C)-content Gram-positive bacteria and Gammaproteobacteria [ 15, 39].

Some of the 16S rRNA gene sequences of environmental clones matched those of Arthrobacter isolates. Two-thirds of the isolates grew at −2.5°C, indicating that they are psychroactive, and all are closely related to phylogenetic groups with strains from other cold environments, most commonly from Antarctica. The culturable and non-culturable microorganisms found in the terrestrial permafrost provide a prototype for possible life on the cryogenic planets of the Solar System [ 17, 40].

The ability to recover viable bacteria from permafrost depends strongly on the age of the permafrost. The number and variety of microorganisms diminish with the increasing age of the permafrost. There is probably an upper time limit to the viability of microorganisms [ 21].

In the present paper, we report on the isolation and culturing of two ancient Staphylococcus strains, named MMP1 and MMP2. Genomes of the ancient bacteria were sequenced (with coverage of 40-60×) and annotated. Analysis of the sequences allowed us to classify the examined bacteria as S. warneri MMP1 and S. hominis MMP2.

Both 16S rRNA and whole genome analyses of the ancient Staphylococcus strains indicated their close genetic affinity with today's Staphylococcus isolates. Staphylococcus MMP1 and S. MMP2 16S rRNAs were assigned to branches with modern ones within the species and 86-94% of reads obtained for the ancient strains were successfully mapped to appropriate representative genomes. A previous study showed that 2.3- and 1.8-billion-year-old deep-sea mud-inhabiting sulfur-cycling microbial communities were essentially identical and, furthermore, they were identical to the modern microbial biotas discovered off the coast of South America [ 41].

Many genes and gene mutations are known to be associated with bacterial pathogenicity or antibiotic resistance [ 42, 43]. We performed a search for such genes in the examined ancient strains to elucidate whether these genes were present in Staphylococcus genomes 3 million years ago.

Staphylococcus species are divergent in their pathogenicity [ 36], and within species, patterns of virulence genes can be drastically different [ 44]. It is known that S. warneri and S. hominis species are not pathogenic [ 36] and we showed that this was also likely to be true 3 million years ago, as no virulence genes were identified in either of these ancient Staphylococcus strains.

As well as patterns of virulence genes, patterns of antibiotic resistance genes vary from strain to strain [ 45]. For S. warneri MMP1, no resistance genes were observed. However, for S. hominis MMP2, multiple genes associated with resistance to different groups of antibiotics were identified. It has been shown that 30,000-year-old bacteria also contained antibiotic resistance genes in their genomes [ 46], and evidence has been presented in support of this finding [ 47]. Our results strengthen the hypothesis that antibiotic resistance is an ancient feature.

Biography

EK, GG, VK, UR, and AB conceived and designed the work; EK, SMK, OM, GG, VK, and AB performed the experiments; EK, AD, OM, IE, SMK, UR, and VK analyzed the data; and EK and AD drafted the work. All authors revised the work critically for important intellectual content, approved the version to be published, and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Funding Statement

This work was supported by the Swedish Institute, the Concern Foundation (Los Angeles), and the Cancer Research Institute (New York).

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

References

[36] Gotz F, Bannerman T, Schleifer K. The genera Staphylococcus and Macrococcus. In Dworkin M, editor. The Prokaryotes, vol. 6. New York: Springer US; 2006. [ Google Scholar]

[38] Gilichinsky D, Khlebnikova G, Zvyagintsev D, et al. Microbiological characterization by studying sedimentary deposits of cryolithozone. Izvestiya AN SSSR, Ser Geol. 1989;63:114-126. [ Google Scholar]

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Ancient permafrost staphylococci carry antibiotic resistance genes

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Background: Permafrost preserves a variety of viable ancient microorganisms. Some of them can be cultivated after being kept at subzero temperatures for thousands or even millions of years. Objective: To cultivate bacterial strains from permafrost. Design: We isolated and cultivated two bacterial strains from permafrost that was obtained at Mammoth Mountain in Siberia and attributed to the Middle Miocene.

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Children with DMD. There is not explanations about what is going on with the kids. Students should watch the video and start formulating questions that may lead to answering how the phenomenon can be explained. Questions are then prioritized. Students narrow down the symptoms to boys and genetics and start investigating the causes.
(begining of the video is not shown, as it reveals the name of the genetic disorder)
https://youtu.be/RcQcNPn5V9Y

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Many Faces of DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY World Duchenne Awareness Day

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I used this tool.
In evaluating the lesson from Khan Academy I found the there is very little for the student to do. The content is described in detail, but the practices are not incorporated - little to no room for inquiry.
Other resources from nextgenstorylines or the wonder of Science are a lot more explicit about what the 3 dimensions are and when and how they are being used, presented, assessed.

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Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the structure of DNA determines the structure of proteins which carry out the essential functions of life through systems of specialized cells.
Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.
Both look at genetic information and its expression, from 2 different perspectives of concepts: structure and function, and cause and effect. They can also be bundled with a PE in evolution

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KASHQe6__SDk-Qkmofp4NETFaEoymOrZodMs35yl0CY/edit
I have used one of the resources in the storyline "How can science makes our lives better", and it was great (bend 1). The level of detail of the lesson makes is easy to adapt the lessons or part of lessons to our curriculum. I am ready to try bend 2: may interesting aspects to CRISPR - it is current, relevant, and exciting for the kids (I hope). It also will open the door for some Ethics debates that may spark interest as well.

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Vetting tool: NGSS Vetting Tool

Resource: The Wonder of Science Genetics unit planner (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vGd2GwbPgFzsYkPFHz9d5uzjyptGrlEzbsIEDrFabJo/edit)

Evaluation: "Yes, definitely"(But tentatively, because I couldn't see the contents of the assessment. Other points:
- Clearly aligned with performance expectations and CCCs.

- SEPs present in activities chosen

- Starts with a phenomena and contains investigatory phenomena as well

- The assessments were hard to vet because I couldn’t see the content (to see how content-focused they were), so that’s why I put “needs some work”. However, the “Make a Baby” activity suggests that the assessment is 3D.

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HS-PS1-1 Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level of atoms. 

# data[].attributes.subject
HS-PS1-1 Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level of atoms. 

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Identify the parts of an atom Identify mass, charge and atomic number Identify the outermost (valence) electrons in an atom recognize patterns in the periodic table.predict relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level of atoms.outermost energy level of atoms.

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HS-LS1-3: Feedback Mechanisms and Homeostasis
Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis. (Stability and Change)

HS-ESS2-2: Feedback in Earth's Systems

Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to earth's surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other earth systems. (Stability and Change)

I think that you could link these two PEs based on the idea of cycling and response to stimuli at two levels of organism complexity.

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HS-ESS2-3: Cycling of Matter in the Earth's Interior Develop a model based on evidence of earth’s interior to describe the cycling of matter by thermal convection. (Energy and Matter)

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I liked InquiryHub Biology

How do populations change over time?

They use a very interesting approach to the standard.

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https://education.ky.gov/curriculum/conpro/science/Pages/tct.aspx?View=Grade%2012&Title=Through%20Course%20Task

This resource looks excellent! I think that my natural tendency as a teacher is to focus on the content (especially due to the course I teach), and my primary concern is whether my students know the content enough to pass the final assessment (external exam). However, I think that being able to practice other (more useful) forms of assessment will help me make the shifts required (and permitted within the scope of the course) towards a more holistic learning experience. Thank you very much!

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Disciplinary Core Idea:

ESS2D: Weather and Climate

ESS3D: Global Climate Change

http://studentclimatedata.unh.edu/index.shtml

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The tool I used for vetting was khan academy. 

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The tool I used for vetting was khan academy. 

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In evaluating the lesson I found Khan academy I think it contains the 3D NGSS, because it provides practicals, videos, tutorials, as well as the extra of informing parents, students and teachers about the progress of the students. Something that does not seem to me is that students can only watch videos to earn points and leave practices behind

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HS-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

# data[].attributes.subject
HS-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

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HS-LS2-1. | Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on quantitative analysis and comparison of the relationships among interdependent
HS-LS2-2. Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales.  LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience