Appendix
Implementing District Standards
Tulsa Public Schools is moving away from the State of Oklahoma’s Priority Academic State Standards (PASS) and is implementing Oklahoma’s new Oklahoma Academic Standards (OAS). For science, this means that standards will be aligned with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) used throughout much of the nation. Two critical NGSS standards for this curriculum unit are included, along with Tulsa Public Schools additional clarification statements and additional framing.
MS-LS4-1
Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past. Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on finding patterns of changes in the level of complexity of anatomical structures in organisms and the chronological order of fossil appearance in the rock layers.
MS-LS4-2
Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer ancestral relationships. Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on explanations of the ancestral relationships among organisms in terms of similarity or differences of the gross appearance of anatomical structures
This unit aligns directly with MS-LS-1 and MS-LS-2 in that it provides direct evidence for the existence, diversity, extinction and change in life forms throughout Earth’s history. Teachers may want to do additional work and framing around the fossil record to meet MS-LS-1 standards. Additionally, teachers and students can utilize this unit and the information contained within it to construct explanations for anatomical similarities and differences in organisms from the ancient fossil record to modern species. Patterns of change and levels of complexity are observable through the history of cetacean evolution covered by this unit, meeting MS-LS-2 standards.
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