This Natural Selection 5E Science Unit Plan is an inquiry-based unit that focuses using evidence to construct an explanation for how variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in survival. Throughout the unit, students use evidence to provide explanations about natural selection. Students learn about different traits among species and investigate how those traits enable species to survive, find mates and reproduce. The unit includes three parts for each of the 5E’s (Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend, and Evaluate) and more.

FREE UPGRADE TO GOOGLE CLASSROOM RESOURCES:

• Google Slides Teacher Presentation that supports the student resources
• Google Slides Student Resources for a paperless option
• Google Form Exit Tickets

Included in this Natural Selection Science Resource

• Teacher Notes that provide an overview of the resource and explanation of the NGSS standard for Natural Selection 3-LS4-2
• Common Misconceptions about the Natural Selection
• Teaching Timeline available with four different options, including a correlation with the Third Grade Science Stations
• Vocabulary Cards to reinforce key terms of natural selection throughout the unit. These are the same vocabulary cards available in the Third Grade Science Stations
• Big Idea Posters that illustrate the main concepts students will learn
• Exit Tickets in three formats: short answer, fill-in-the-blank, and multiple choice
• Google Slides Teacher Presentation that supports the student resources
• Google Slides Student Resources for a paperless option
• Google Form Exit Tickets

What is the 5E Instructional Model?

The 5E Model is student-led, with the teacher acting mainly as the facilitator. Through open-ended questions, real-life experiences, guided investigations, and research, the students gain a deep understanding of the scientific topics that are covered in the lessons. Each stage of the model serves as a foundation to the next, creating a coherent model that frames lessons, activities, and units.

Find out more about the 5E Unit Plans in this blog post.

The 3-LS4 standards are part of the Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity standards in the NGSS Framework.

• 3-LS4-1 covers fossils and the evidence that we have of species and environments from long ago.
• 3-LS4-2 covers variation within and between species as the result of natural selection.
• 3-LS4-3 covers adaptations that enable organisms to survive in an environment, reproduce, and pass their traits to their offspring.
• 3-LS4-4 covers changing habitats, and how new environmental conditions trigger adaptations in organisms.
• 3-LS4-2, 3, and 4 are similar topics. In fact, in higher level life science instruction, they are often taught simultaneously. Adaptations are the result of natural selection, and natural selection drives new adaptations to arise in organisms when habitats change. NGSS has chosen to break these topics into separate standards, with distinct Disciplinary Core Ideas, Performance Expectations, Science and Engineering Practices, and Crosscutting Concepts. For this reason, we have created three separate 5E Unit Plans in order to thoroughly cover each of these standards.

Objectives and Timeline for Each Section of the 5E Natural Selection Unit

Engage

Objectives:

• Students will access their prior knowledge about how certain traits are naturally selected.
• Student interest in natural selection of traits will be elicited.
• The teacher will be able to identify student misconceptions about natural selection.

Parts and Duration:

• Part 1 (What Is This?): 10 minutes
• Part 2 (My Experiences): 15 minutes
• Part 3 (Introducing): 20 minutes

Explore

Objectives:

• Students will work together to investigate how traits are naturally selected. They will do this by observing different types of traits in animals, comparing and contrasting them to traits in other animals.
• Students will gather general information about natural selection.
• Students will begin to think about different traits among species, and how these traits help each species to be best suited for their environment.

Parts and Duration:

• Part 1 (Check It Out): 20 minutes
• Part 2 (Watch and Read This): 15 minutes
• Part 3 (You Try It): 15 minutes

Explain

Objectives:

• Students will work collaboratively to observe and discover how natural selection selects specific traits in species.
• Students will listen to the teacher’s explanation about natural selection.
• Students will use the new information to revise their explanations about natural selection and how traits selected in species enable them to survive in their environment.

Parts and Duration:

• Part 1 (What Does It Mean?): 20 minutes
• Part 2 (What is Natural Selection?): 20 minutes
• Part 3 (Putting It All Together): 20 minutes

Extend

Objectives:

• Students will apply what they have learned about natural selection to a new situation.
• Students will deepen their understanding of natural selection, gaining a more generalized knowledge of this specific scientific concept.
• The teacher will resolve all persisting student misconceptions about how natural selection causes changes in species over time.

Parts and Duration:

• Part 1 (Where Is Natural Selection?): 15 minutes
• Part 2 (Show What You Know): 20 minutes
• Part 3 (Have Fun With It): 20 minutes

Evaluate

Objectives:

• Students will evaluate their own understanding of how natural selection happens.
• Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the concepts and vocabulary.
• The teacher will encourage students to ask questions that could lead to future investigations.

Parts and Duration:

• Part 1 (What I Know): 15 minutes
• Part 2 (Showing Natural Selection): 15 minutes
• Part 3 (Going Forward): 15 minutes