Classroom Resource

Threatened Species Paired Text

Subject Area

English Language Arts
Science

Grade(s)

7

Overview

The teacher will present two pieces of informational text from the website, ReadWorks. Students will interact with these non-fiction texts by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the articles as an assessment. This learning activity will describe two different threatened species, one plant, and one animal species, and explain how changes in the species' ecosystem led to a population shift. 

English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 7

ELA21.7.11

Compare and contrast the effectiveness of techniques used in a variety of digital sources to generate and answer literal, interpretive, and applied questions and create new understandings.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.7.11

Vocabulary

  • Compare and contrast
  • Literal questions
  • Interpretive questions
  • Applied questions

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Strategies to compare and contrast the effectiveness of techniques used in a variety of digital resources.
  • Text sources can be used to create and answer questions, as well as develop new understandings.
  • Literal questions are those that can be answered using information directly from the text.
  • Interpretive questions are those that can be answered by inferring information from the text.
  • Applied questions are those that can be answered using information inferred from the text and a reader's background knowledge and experience.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Compare and contrast specific techniques identified across multiple digital sources.
  • Generate and answer literal, interpretive, and applied questions in response to reading a digital source.
  • Create new understandings in response to reading digital sources.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Different techniques are used across digital texts.
  • Comparing and contrasting the effectiveness of an author's use of particular techniques deepens their understanding of digital text structures.
  • There are three levels of questions that can be generated: literal, interpretive, and applied.
  • Generating and answering a variety of questions helps to develop new understandings.
Science (2015) Grade(s): 7

SC15.7.7

Use empirical evidence from patterns and data to demonstrate how changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem (e.g., deforestation, succession, drought, fire, disease, human activities, invasive species) can lead to shifts in populations.

Unpacked Content

UP:SC15.7.7

Vocabulary

  • Empirical evidence
  • Patterns
  • Data
  • Ecosystem
  • Populations
  • Physical components (e.g., water, air, temperature, sunlight, soil, etc.)
  • Biological components (e.g., plants, animals, etc.)
  • Phenomena (e.g., deforestation, succession, drought, fire, disease, human activities, invasive species, etc.)

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Ecosystems are dynamic in nature and can change over time.
  • Disruptions to any physical or biological component of an ecosystem can lead to shifts in all its populations.
  • Changes in the physical or biological components of an ecosystem (e.g., rainfall, species introduction) can lead to changes in populations of species.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Demonstrate the scientific idea that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem can affect the populations living there.
  • Identify and describe the given evidence needed to demonstrate the scientific idea that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem can affect the populations living there.
  • Evaluate the given evidence, identifying the necessary and sufficient evidence for supporting the scientific idea.
  • Use reasoning to connect the evidence and support an explanation using patterns in the evidence to predict the causal relationship between physical and biological components of an ecosystem and changes in organism populations.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Changes in the amount and availability of given resource may result in changes in the population of an organism.
  • Changes in the amount or availability of a resource may result in changes in the growth of individual organisms.
  • Resource availability drives competition among organisms, both within a population as well as between populations.
  • Resource availability may have an effect on a population's rate of reproduction.

Scientific and Engineering Practices

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Crosscutting Concepts

Stability and Change
Link to Resource
https://www.readworks.org/article/Threatened-Species/8e7ed4c3-56e2-4bf2-91c6-71…

CR Resource Type

Learning Activity

Resource Provider

Other

Resource Provider other

ReadWorks.org
Accessibility

Accessibility

Audio resources: includes a transcript or subtitles
License

License Type

CUSTOM

Custom License Type (URL)

https://about.readworks.org/terms-of-use.html

Comments or Notes

ReadWorks is a website that provides K-12 teachers with free literacy resources (About ReadWorks). ReadWorks has literary and informational texts on a variety of subjects and reading skills. You may narrow your search using grade level or Lexile level, making this website a wonderful tool for differentiation. Students will complete their work digitally, and you will provide their score and feedback digitally. This makes it easy to go paperless for this activity.

Prior to implementing this activity, you will need to sign up for an Educator Account on ReadWorks. After setting up an account, create a class from the Class Admin tab, this will provide you with a Class Code to give to students. Next, use the Find Content tab to search for the informational article that will be used during this activity, "Threatened Species." After navigating to the article, click on the blue Assign button to assign it to your class.

Each student will need access to a digital device, such as a tablet or laptop. The first time students enter the website they will need to enter the Class Code that is listed on your Class Admin page. Alternatively, you can print the article and corresponding questions for students, if digital devices are not available. 

Approved Date

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