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Lessons / Biological evolution with species counter

Biological evolution with species counter

Individual lesson

MakeCode

7-11 yrs

Collecting data is easy and efficient with the BBC micro:bit. Students collect data on two different species of animals or plants in their school playground, neighbourhood, or local park. Then students can use the data they collected to develop evidence-based arguments as scientists.

Students can use the data collected to support their claim about the merit of a solution (their own idea or one produced by others).


Sciences:

Animals

Plants

Working scientifically

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Overall key learning

Learning objectives are at three different levels:

  • Mild - I can collect data about different animals and plants in my local environment using the micro:bit species counter.
  • Medium - I can modify my own species counter program to collect accurate species data.
  • Spicy - I can create my own species counter program to collect accurate species data.

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This content is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) licence.

CA NGSS Standards

3-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

  • 3-LS4-3 Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

CA CS Standards

  • 3-5.DA.8 Organize and present collected data visually to highlight relationships and support a claim. (P7.1)
  • 3-5.DA.9 Use data to highlight and/or propose relationships, predict outcomes, or communicate ideas. (P7.1)
  • 3-5.CS.2 Demonstrate how computer hardware and software work together as a system to accomplish tasks. (P4.4)
  • 3-5.CS.3 Determine potential solutions to solve simple hardware and software problems using common troubleshooting strategies. (P6.2)
  • 3-5.AP.14 Create programs by incorporating smaller portions of existing programs, to develop something new or add more advanced features. (P4.2, P5.3)
  • 3-5.AP.17 Test and debug a program or algorithm to ensure it accomplishes the intended task. (P6.2)