2nd Grade - Gateway 3
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Usability
| Score | |
|---|---|
Gateway 3 - Meets Expectations | 92% |
Criterion 3.1: Teacher Supports | 10 / 10 |
Criterion 3.2: Assessment | 10 / 10 |
Criterion 3.3: Student Supports | 4 / 6 |
Criterion 3.4: Intentional Design |
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet expectations for Gateway 3: Instructional Supports & Usability; Criterion 1: Teacher Supports meet expectations. Criterion 2: Assessment meet expectations. Criterion 3: Student Supports meet expectations. Criterion 4: Intentional Design meet expectations.
Criterion 3.1: Teacher Supports
The program includes opportunities for teachers to effectively plan and utilize materials with integrity and to further develop their own understanding of the content.
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet expectations for the Criterion 3a-3h: Teacher Supports.
Indicator 3a
Materials provide teacher guidance with useful annotations and suggestions for how to enact the student materials and ancillary materials, with specific attention to engaging students in figuring out phenomena and solving problems.
The materials reviewed for Amplify Science Grade 2 meet expectations for providing teacher guidance with useful annotations and suggestions for how to enact the student materials and ancillary materials, with specific attention to engaging students in figuring out phenomena and solving problems. Materials provide comprehensive guidance that will assist the teachers in presenting the student and ancillary materials. Examples from all units include:
The Teacher Guide, Unit Overview introduces a real-world problem, which serves as the anchor phenomenon, and its relevance to our lives. It also gives an overview of how students will build knowledge in order to solve a new problem.
The Teacher Guide, The Progress Build explains how knowledge about the phenomenon deepens as the students progress through the unit, specifically noting bolded statements.
The Teacher Guide, Getting Ready to Teach specifically details what the teacher needs to do to prepare Before You Present the Lesson, While You Present the Lesson, and After You Present the Lessons.
All Chapters, Lessons, Digital Resources, Classroom Slide|Powerpoint and the Google Slides suggest teacher talk and teacher actions.
All Chapters, Lessons, Lesson Brief, Activity, Instructional Guide, Step-by-Step provides the instructional strategy and precise teacher talk and teacher action.
All Chapters, Lessons, Lesson Brief, Activity, Instructional Guide, Teacher Support provides background information about the three dimensions of the Next Generation Science Standards featured in the activity as well as the Rationale behind the teacher action and instructional suggestions.
The Teacher Guide, Unit Overview, Printable Resources, Coherence Flowcharts provide teachers with a graphic organizer for each chapter in the unit “that helps students see the connections between the phenomena and questions that drive students’ experiences, the evidence they gather, the ideas they figure out, and the new questions that those ideas generate.”
All lessons, Overview, Lesson at a Glance briefly describe student activities and suggested time allocation for each activity.
The instructional guides for each lesson from Grade 2 include suggestions about instructional strategies and guidance for presenting the content, which often includes identifying, with limited room for more targeted approaches to addressing student naive conceptions. Examples from all units include:
The Teacher Guide, Progress Build Section(s) provide prior knowledge (preconceptions) that students may bring to the lesson, foundational knowledge needed for student understanding and growth throughout the lesson, and progress build levels describing conceptual growth that students are expected to experience throughout the unit.
The Teacher Guide, Eliciting and Leveraging Student’s Prior Knowledge, Personal Experiences, and Cultural Backgrounds, supports teachers by introducing the phenomenon and consistently eliciting students' initial ideas related to the phenomenon. Also, this resource provides support for teachers to document ideas throughout the units on a class chart for ongoing reference and to help students add, revise, and reflect on their ideas.
With regard to addressing how to support students in figuring out phenomena and/or solving problems, the materials support the teacher in seeing connections between the phenomena and questioning, but miss the opportunity to clearly articulate/illustrate how the students’ understanding of the phenomenon deepens throughout. Evidence of connections between phenomena and questioning includes:
The Teacher Guide, Unit Overview, Printable Resources, Coherence Flowcharts provide teachers with a graphic organizer for each chapter in the unit “that helps students see the connections between the phenomena and questions that drive students’ experiences, the evidence they gather, the ideas they figure out, and the new questions that those ideas generate.”
Within each Activity, there is also an Instructional Guide with step-by-step guidance that is present for teachers to support their understanding of which Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) are the focus and how to support students in using them as students figure out the phenomena or solve the problems.
All units conclude by asking students to apply the knowledge acquired throughout the unit to a new problem. Teachers are provided support via the PowerPoint slides and include suggested teacher talk to frame how engineers solve problems, in context with the ideas students learned and also teacher action to help students consider and discuss solutions.
Indicator 3b
Materials contain adult-level explanations and examples of the more complex grade/course-level concepts and concepts beyond the current course so that teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject.
The materials reviewed for Amplify Science Grades 2 meet expectations for containing adult-level explanations and examples of the more complex grade-level concepts and concepts beyond the current course so that teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject. The materials include support for teachers to develop their own understanding of grade-level concepts and content knowledge beyond the scope of the current course.
Support for teacher understanding is present across all units. The Teacher Guide section, Science Background provides adult-level science background related to the unit. This section contains expository explanations of scientific background for the three dimensions of NGSS pertaining to the unit, with grade-level appropriate student background as well as common preconceptions by both students and adults. The Teacher Guide explicitly states that the information is meant to guide the teacher in teaching the correct content, but is not meant as student-facing material.
Also in the Teacher Guide, Planning For the Unit, Digital Resource Tab, Unit Map, there is an outline of the expected student practices for each Chapter. It presents a Chapter guiding question with an explanation for the teacher regarding how the students will develop understanding through lesson activities.
The Teacher Guide, Science Background provides detailed adult-level science background regarding each unit’s science content along with a description of the extent to which this content is to be shared with students. The Science Background section includes cited references to inform teachers of the pedagogical research-based approaches to support grade-level content delivery as it is presented in the materials. In the Connections to Future Learning section of the Science Background, there is support for teacher content knowledge beyond scope of the current course. For example, in Grade 2, Unit: Plant and Animal Relationships, Science Background, the Connections to Future Learning section states, "students learn that plants use their leaves and roots to get the light and water they need to grow. In grade 5, students learn that plants take in air and water, and that animals eat food to obtain the molecules they need to grow and acquire energy. These ideas lay the foundation for an understanding of the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration, which are introduced in middle school. Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are key in ecosystems because they provide most of the energy for organisms’ life processes. During photosynthesis, plants convert light energy to produce their own glucose (C6H12O6) and oxygen (O2) from carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). All plants and animals use cellular respiration to break down glucose and release energy into a form that organisms can use for life functions. In grade 2, students also learn that plants depend on animals for pollination and/or to move their seeds around. In grade 5, students gain a deeper understanding of relationships among three different kinds of organisms in an ecosystem: producers, consumers, and decomposers. Because plants make their own food through the process of photosynthesis, they are called producers. Consumers are organisms that gain their matter and energy from eating food, and decomposers meet their needs by breaking down dead organisms. Food consumed by almost any kind of animal can be traced back to producers, which play a vital role in an ecosystem by providing the energy all other organisms need to survive. In grade 5, students are introduced to the concept of a food web, and in middle school, students use food webs as models to demonstrate how matter and energy are transferred between producers, consumers, and decomposers as the three groups interact within an ecosystem. In understanding the interdependent relationships among all organisms in an ecosystem, students can predict how a change in one population of an organism might affect other populations of organisms."
Indicator 3c
Materials include standards correlation information, including connections to college- and career-ready ELA and mathematics standards, that explains the role of the standards in the context of the overall series.
The materials reviewed for Amplify Grade 2 meet expectations for including standards correlation information, including connections to college- and career-ready ELA and mathematics standards and that explain the role of the standards in the context of the overall series. The materials contain NGSS correlation information in multiple locations. All grades contain examples in the Teacher Guide:
Planning for the Unit and Standards at a Glance include a listing of the NGSS Performance Expectations (PEs), Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs), DIsciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs), and Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs) addressed in the Unit.
Teacher References, 3-D Statements outline three-dimensional statements for the unit level, the chapter level, and the lesson level of each unit for all grades.
Lesson Guide, Overview, and Standards sections provide a listing of the NGSS PEs, SEPs, and CCCs that are addressed in the lesson. The Lesson Progression at the beginning of each unit shows how each NGSS standard connects to and builds upon the previous grade level.
The materials also include an explanation for the role of the NGSS standards in the context of the overall series. The Teacher Guide, Teacher Reference, Standards and Goals lists the PEs, SEPs, DCIs and CCCs that are covered in the unit. This section also provides an explanation of the core ideas across the K-8 grade span of the materials in a subsection titled “Trajectory of Core Ideas.”
The materials also provide lists of corollary Common Core ELA and mathematics standards. The Teacher’s Guide, Planning for the Unit, Standards at a Glance and Standards and Goals (under Teacher References) all list the corollary Common Core ELA (CCSS-ELA) and Common Core Math (CCSS-Math) standards addressed in each unit. Lesson Guide, Lesson Brief, and Standards include a list of the CCSS-ELA and CCSS-Math addressed in each lesson. The materials offer suggested connections with ELA and/or Math and consistently provide specific explanations regarding how the standards are aligned with the context of the lesson and/or series. For example, in Grade 2, Properties of Materials in Standards and Goals section of the teacher's guide the publisher has added information explaining how students will engage in the ELA standards. The Reading: Informational Text section states for ELA, “CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.1: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text, is listed. Students have the opportunity to ask and answer questions to demonstrate their understanding of key details in a text after reading books in this unit. For example, in Lesson 1.2, students read the book, What If Rain Boots Were Made of Paper?, and then discuss questions as a class to demonstrate their understanding of what properties are. In Lesson 1.7, students read the book, Jelly Bean Engineer, and then discuss questions as a class to demonstrate their understanding of the design cycle described in the book. “ Also, it states the following for Math, “CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively. Students have the opportunity to reason quantitatively as they plan, create, and test glue recipes with different amounts of ingredients. For example, in Lessons 1.9, 3.5, and 4.2, students use the properties of various ingredients to determine the quantities of each ingredient they will use to make the stickiest glue. Students use fair testing to quantitatively measure how sticky each glue was by recording and comparing the number of beans or washers a card containing each type of glue held, and then analyze how the amounts of different ingredients affect the stickiness of the glue.”
Indicator 3d
Materials provide strategies for informing all stakeholders, including students, parents, or caregivers about the program and suggestions for how they can help support student progress and achievement.
The materials for Grade 2 provide strategies for informing all stakeholders, including students, parents, and caregivers about the program including suggestions for how they can help support student progress and achievement. There are examples across all units in the Printable Resources of the Teachers’ Guide:
In the NGSS Information for Parents and Guardians, for each grade level there is an explanation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and how the lessons within the grade level address three-dimensional learning. This document is available in English and Spanish.
The Eliciting and Leveraging Students’ Prior Knowledge, Personal Experiences, and Cultural Backgrounds sections recommend teachers send home a Family Connections Homework assignment. This support provides questions for students to ask their families, so students are positioned to engage in class discussions about class experiences connected to the focal phenomenon. .
The materials also include forms of communication for parents and caregivers, including for families that may speak and read in a language other than English.
In each grade level’s Teacher Guide, Printable Resources section, there are letters titled NGSS Information for Parents and Guardians about the NGSS that are available in both Spanish and English.
Each chapter of each unit at every grade level includes At-Home Discussion Questions. The At-Home Discussion Questions are offered in both English and Spanish.
The Amplify website has some materials available for caregivers in Spanish and English. While the site does provide some materials in both Spanish and English, it misses the opportunity to support caregivers in other languages. The Amplify website has resources for teachers to send to parents with information about the NGSS standards, unit maps, resources for back-to-school night and Home Investigations that extend instructional units completed in school. These caregiver and family extension resources are found through a direct search on the website and miss the opportunity to be embedded in the teacher materials.
Within the teacher materials, each grade level had specific examples of strategies for informing stakeholders. For example, In Grade 2, Unit: Plant and Animal Relationships, Digital Resources, under the Chapters tab, there is a Home-Connection Homework Letter in Lesson 1.1. It is English-only.
Indicator 3e
Materials provide explanations of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research-based strategies.
The materials for Grade 2 meet expectations for providing explanations of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research-based strategies. The materials explain the instructional approaches of the program. Evidence of this can be found throughout the K-2 grades, units and lessons. In each Unit Overview, Teacher References, and Standards and Goals section the materials explain an instructional approach that incorporates the strategies of Do, Talk, Read, Write, and Visualize in coordination with the NGSS CCCs and the DCIs associated with the specific unit of instruction. These strategies are further explained in each Lesson with more explicit detail.
Examples at the Grade 2 level include:
In Grade 2, Unit: Changing Landforms, Teacher Guide, Lesson Guides, Lesson 1.4, Activity 1, Teacher Support, Literacy Note: Visualizing, it states, “Visualizing is a sense-making strategy that is useful in both science and reading. Readers of science text often create pictures in their minds to assist their comprehension. Being able to think visually is a critical strategy in science and is particularly useful in this unit, as students learn to generate mental images to make meaning from science text. Visual representations and models of erosion are prevalent throughout this unit, and visualizing gives students a way to access these representations. Students will have many opportunities to learn about and practice visualizing throughout the unit.”
In Grade 2, Unit: Plant and Animal Relationships, Lesson 1.2, Activity 1, Teacher Support, Literacy Note: Approach to Reading, it states, “Skillful readers use a variety of strategies to actively engage with informational text…In this unit, the sensemaking strategy of setting a purpose [in reading] helps students focus as they read and make sense of what they are reading.”
The materials provide some explanation for the research-based strategies that are used in the design of the program. While the Program Guide, Science Program Guide, Designed for the NGSS, and Program Development sections explain the Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize pedagogical approach that drives Amplify Science, there is a missed opportunity to incorporate explicit citations or references to the research base in the teacher materials. Instead, the references for “Research Behind the Program'' exist on a website outside of the teacher materials.
Indicator 3f
Materials provide a comprehensive list of supplies needed to support instructional activities.
The materials for Grade 2 meet expectations for providing a comprehensive list of supplies needed to support instructional activities. In the Teacher’s Guide, Unit Overview, Planning for the Unit, Materials and Preparation section for each unit, a thorough list of the materials needed over the course of each chapter and lesson is present. Every list includes the quantity needed to support a class of 36 students, a description of each item, and which lessons the item(s) will be used for. It also contains a comprehensive list of materials that need to be provided by the teacher or school, the quantity needed, item description and the lessons requiring these materials.
In addition to the unit overview, each Lesson Brief contains a lesson-level Materials and Preparation section outlining the materials needed for the class, groups of students and/or individual students and preparations needed before the start of each lesson.
Indicator 3g
Materials provide clear science safety guidelines for teachers and students across the instructional materials.
The materials for Grade 2 meet expectations for embedding clear science safety guidelines for teachers and students across the instructional materials. In the Unit Overview, Printable Resources section, an Investigation Notebook is provided for student use. Each Investigation Notebook contains a section titled, “Safety Guidelines for Science Investigations.” It is important to note that teachers should always locate and adhere to local policies and regulations related to science safety in the classroom. In each Unit Overview, Materials and Preparation, Materials at a Glance section, there is a reminder: “Note: Check and follow your district’s safety regulations pertaining to the use of proper equipment and procedures for students participating in hands-on science activities.”
Additional safety notes are located in the teacher print or digital materials within lessons which have specific safety notes for the teacher to communicate to students.
One example of an additional safety note at the Grade 2 level includes:
In Grade 2, Unit: Plant and Animal Relationships, Lesson Brief 4.2, the safety note states, “Caution students not to place their hands near the blades of the fan. Let students know that the fan may harm them if their fingers are too close.”
Indicator 3h
Materials designated for each grade are feasible and flexible for one school year.
The materials for Amplify Grade 2 include some opportunities for teachers to effectively plan and utilize materials with integrity and to further develop their own understanding of the content. The materials are feasible for one school year. The materials within each Unit and Lesson allow students to learn at an appropriate pace for the given grade level. In the Materials and Preparation section of the Unit Overview, it lists the preparation time required for each Lesson, with some Lessons requiring more time to prepare than others.
Examples of information related to feasibility and flexibility include:
The Program Guide, Scope & Sequence states that Grade 2 consists of three Units made up of 22 Lessons each. In each Unit, two days are allocated for the full session Pre-Unit Assessment and End-of-Unit Assessment. Each Lesson for Grade 2 takes approximately 60 minutes “though teachers can expand or contract the timing to meet their needs.” The Program Structure K-5 Trifold provides the same information as the Program Guide.
In each Unit, the Teacher Guide, Teacher References, and Lesson Overview & Compilation summarize lessons and provide suggested time allocations for each lesson activity. This information is also found in the Lesson Brief and Step-by-Step for each lesson.
In each Lesson, the Lesson Overview and Lesson at a Glance list the activities for the Lesson and the time allocated.
According to an Amplify Q&A article on the Amplify Help Site, all collections, Amplify Science, Amplify Science K-8 Resources, Amplify Science Pacing Guidance, “Because science is implemented in such varied ways across districts, we do not offer a specific pacing guide. However, the lesson information below will help you determine the best way to fit the program into the structure of your district’s instructional calendar.”
Lessons for each Unit provide a summary of suggested time frames for each lesson activity. This information is provided within the Lesson Guide for each Lesson. Adaptations for materials or guidance for a range of district constraints due to time and or scheduling differences are not directly available in the materials.
Criterion 3.2: Assessment
The program includes a system of assessments identifying how materials provide tools, guidance, and support for teachers to collect, interpret, and act on data about student progress towards the standards.
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet expectations for the Criterion 3i-3l: Assessment.
Indicator 3i
Assessment information is included in the materials to indicate which standards are assessed.
The assessment materials for Grade 2 are comprehensively designed and aligned within the Units. It is clear for teachers where the assessments are, the type of assessments that are provided, and to what standard(s) each assessment opportunity is intended to be aligned. For instance, in the Grade 2 Teacher’s Guides, any Unit, Teacher References, Assessment System, each assessment opportunity throughout the Unit is listed in a chart in relation to the Lesson, type of assessment, and NGSS standard intended to be assessed. In addition, in the Teacher Guide for every Grade 2 Unit, under Printable Resources, there is a document titled 3-D Assessment Objectives This document contains the 3-D Statement and accompanying objectives, their pertinence with the unit, and the type of assessment aligned to that objective. “Each table includes the Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs), Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs), and Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs) included in that Performance Expectation and specifies the location of assessments associated with these three dimensions.”
The materials provide information detailing how assessments build toward the standards for the grade level or band. In the Teacher Guide of each Unit, Teacher Reference, Assessment System, Monitoring Progress section, there is a discussion of Critical Juncture Assessments with an outline of each Critical Juncture concept and assessment in each Unit. The Critical Juncture assessments provide the teacher with specific three-dimensional statements to assess before moving forward in the Lessons. Lessons that provide Critical Junctures or On-the-Fly Assessments also provide an Assessment Guide or a Hands-On Flextension Lesson Guide in the Lesson Brief, Overview, Digital Resources section which states the DCI, SEP, and CCC.
In addition to listing intended standards alignment in the Teacher Guide of all Units, Teacher References, Assessment System, and the Formative and Summative Assessment Opportunities section lists the DCI, SEP, and the CCC addressed in each assessment. These also include strikethroughs of the portion of the standard that is not assessed in the Unit. While strikethroughs indicate which portion of the standard is not being assessed, there is a missed opportunity to state how the assessments contribute to building toward the end of grade-level performance expectations.
Indicator 3j
Assessment system provides multiple opportunities throughout the grade, course, and/or series to determine students' learning and sufficient guidance to teachers for interpreting student performance and suggestions for follow-up.
The materials for Grade 2 meet expectations for providing an assessment system with multiple opportunities throughout the grade, course, and/or series to determine students' learning, sufficient guidance for teachers to help them interpret student performance, and suggestions for following-up with students.
Examples include:
In each Unit, the Assessment Guide for the End-of-Unit Assessment provides three rubrics, one each for the DCI, SEP, and CCC, as well as questions to support teachers in determining students’ initial understanding of the standards identified for each assessment. For example, in Grade 2, Unit: Properties of Matter, Lesson 4.4 , Digital Resources, Assessment Guide: Assessing Students’ Understanding of the Practice of Constructing Design Arguments: The guidance does not tell teachers how to assign a grade, but tells them to use the resource to “provide formative feedback to students rather than assign summative grades.” The rubric is criterion referenced and assists with monitoring student progress toward the performance expectations in three areas: the practice of constructing design arguments, understanding of science ideas, and the crosscutting concept of cause and effect. Further, the rubrics regularly incorporate suggestions for follow-up with students for each of the three dimensions.
The Embedded Formative Assessments, The Critical Juncture and On-the-Fly Assessments, provide guidance on what to look for among students who do not demonstrate understanding. For instance, in Grade 2, Unit: Changing Landforms, Digital Resources, Teacher References, Embedded Formative Assessments, Lesson 2.2, Activity 3, On-the-Fly Assessment 3: Using Observations of Models to Explain How Water Changes Rock, Look for: “After considering both real-world examples of water changing landforms and a model that shows water changing chalk, students can be expected to acknowledge that water can change landforms. Students’ responses in this activity can provide insight into students’ understanding of ideas at Level 2 of the Progress Build (water can change landforms) and their developing ability with the practice of using models.”
Indicator 3k
Assessments include opportunities for students to demonstrate the full intent of grade-level/grade-band standards and elements across the series.
The materials for Grade 2 meet expectations for providing assessment opportunities for students to demonstrate the full intent of grade-level standards and elements across the series. The assessment system consistently incorporates the three dimensions. The assessment system also provides a variety of assessment types, but constructed response is the predominant modality. The Pre-Assessment, On-the-Fly, Critical Juncture, and End-of-Unit assessments require written responses. They consistently assess a DCI, CCC, and SEP. There is a missed opportunity for students to demonstrate all of the SEPs, but there is a consistent focus on the practices of constructing explanations, argumentation, and modeling. Both versions (A and B) of the summative assessment ask students to provide written explanations. Version B provides students with sentence starters. The assessments in Grade 2 rely heavily on oral communication skills. Examples of assessments in this grade can be found in the reports for Indicators 1b and 1c.
In addition to summative assessments, Conversation Rubrics found throughout the resources offer prompts, look fors, and/or suggestions for how to evaluate students but most focus on a singular dimension. In Grade 2, there are rubrics that provide questions to develop understanding of the students’ ability to demonstrate each dimension. In Grades 2-5, the rubrics have additional detail, beyond that of Kindergarten and Grade 1, and provide partial scores for partial student answers.
Indicator 3l
Assessments offer accommodations that allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills without changing the content of the assessment.
The materials for Grade 2 include some assessments that offer accommodations that allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills without changing the content of the assessment. The materials offer some general suggestions to help students demonstrate their knowledge such as allowing more time for writing. Most support is provided for formative assessments as they are embedded within the instructional process. However, the materials miss the opportunity to provide specific examples for access or accommodation for the summative assessments for disabled students or multilingual learners beyond suggesting that teachers think about how to accommodate students who need more support.
In the Materials Overview of each Lesson, a section regarding differentiation provides embedded support for diverse learners, potential challenges in the lesson, specific differentiation strategies for multilingual learners, and specific strategies for students who need more support and who may experience more challenges. This information is provided at the Lesson level but is applicable to the formative assessments as these assessments are embedded within the lesson structure. To the extent that instruction is supported with accommodation suggestions, most lessons have suggestions for differentiation that rely on the teacher to “make a plan” for special accommodations but do not provide specific guidance to support the teacher. For example, in Grade 2, Properties of Materials, Print Teacher Guide, Lesson 1.9, Differentiation, Specific Differentiation Strategies for Students Who Need More Support, the More time for writing section suggests, “Some students will benefit from having additional time to complete the writing. Consider who these students might be and how you can provide them with this extra support during the Critical Juncture Assessment.”
Criterion 3.3: Student Supports
The program includes materials designed for each student’s regular and active participation in grade-level/grade-band/series content.
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet expectations for the Criterion 3m-3v: Student Supports.
Indicator 3m
Materials provide strategies and supports for students in special populations to support their regular and active participation in learning grade-level/grade-band science and engineering.
The materials for Grade 2 meet expectations for providing strategies and supports for students in special populations to support their regular and active participation in learning grade-level/grade-band science and engineering. In Grade 2, several strategies are provided for students to support their regular and active participation in learning. Some examples include strategic partnering, differentiated response options, and paired and classroom discussions before developing individual written responses. Specific evidence of each is listed below:
Grade 2, Unit: Changing Landforms, Lesson 2.2 Brief “Sentence frames are a useful scaffold to provide for students so they can begin to use the language of science as they discuss ideas. You may choose to write the following sentence frames on the board to support students as they share their ideas:
“When I sprayed the chalk with water, I observed _____.”
“After I sprayed the chalk with water, I observed _____.”
“When water hits a real landform, it _____.”
Grade 2, Unit: Properties of Matter, Teacher Guide and Digital Resources, Lesson 1.8, “Students Who Need More Support: Before students write, they have several low-stakes opportunities to discuss the question they will write about with a partner and as a whole class.”
Grade 2, Unit: Properties of Matter, Teacher Guide and Digital Resources, Lesson 1.8, “Students Who Need More Support: Pull a small group of students who may need support with the open-ended writing exercise and encourage them to talk through their thinking and assist them in building sentences as they write.”
The materials miss the opportunity to draw a clear connection between specific strategies and supports for “students who need more support” and any below grade-level knowledge or skills.
Indicator 3n
Materials provide extensions and/or opportunities for students to engage in learning grade-level/grade-band science and engineering at greater depth.
The materials for Grade 2 partially meet expectations for providing extensions and/or opportunities for students to engage in learning grade-level/grade-band science and engineering at greater depth. Materials provide some opportunities for advanced students to engage in grade-level/grade-band science at a higher level of complexity. In some instances, the program differentiates for students who need more challenge. For example, in Unit: Changing Landforms, Lesson 3.3, the assignment for students is to answer yes or no, but for students who need more challenge, they are expected to elaborate and explain their thinking. There are a few instances of students, who need more challenge, doing more assignments than their fellow classmates.
Additionally, in the digital platform, the Programs and Apps icon, Other Resources, Science Program Hub, Additional Unit Materials, any grade, any unit, Unit Extensions; teachers are provided a list of recommended extension activities such as field trips, integrating STEAM activities, incorporating forms of art, and conducting a research project in a group that can be offered to all students. Each document contains a statement similar to: “The experiences above can support the Disciplinary Ideas addressed in this unit, as well as practices such as Designing Solutions and crosscutting concepts such as Structure and Function.” These extension activities are activities that all students can benefit from. The extension activities are optional, but do present extra work for students who are asked to complete them. For Instance, in Grade 2, Unit: Plant and Animal Relationships, Lesson 2.4, differentiation tab, Specific Differentiation Strategies for Students Who Need More Challenge, Additional writing. “Following Activity 3, have students return to the 2.4 Plant Growth: City Park digital model. Challenge them to write a paragraph about a good and bad place for a seed to grow into a full-grown plant in that habitat.”
Indicator 3o
Materials provide varied approaches to learning tasks over time and variety in how students are expected to demonstrate their learning with opportunities for for students to monitor their learning.
The materials for Grade 2 provide multiple approaches to presenting the material throughout the lessons. Students are engaged in reading, watching videos, making observations, partner discussions, class discussions, developing models, contributing to class models, analyzing models for patterns, and writing explanations. The approaches to learning vary throughout the materials based on the topic and the appropriate types of observation needed for the information being taught in the Unit.
Examples include:
Properties of Materials, Teacher Guide and Digital Materials, Think-Pair-Share is a three step routine used for discussing questions.
Think. When the teacher says, “Think,” students think silently about the question for about one minute.
Pair. When the teacher says, “Pair,” students discuss their ideas with their partner.
Share. When the teacher says, “Share,” students stop talking and raise their hands to share an idea—their own ideas or their partner’s—with the class.
Properties of Materials, Teacher Guide and Digital Materials, Lesson 1.8: Talking before writing: “At the end of the unit, students will be writing letters to the principal in which they will make a claim about what the best recipe for glue is and providing evidence to support their claim. To help prepare for this, in lesson 1.8, students discuss their ideas before writing their arguments, first in a Thought Swap activity (Activity 2) and then in a whole-class discussion (Activity 3).”
Properties of Materials, Teacher Guide and Digital Materials, Lesson 4.1, Peer Feedback: “Before a design is finalized in the real world, other engineers will review and test it to make sure that it works properly. Often times, engineers learn from each other and improve their own designs in this way. Students understand that the purpose of having them work alongside a partner and of sharing results with the whole class is not to make any of them feel bad about how their designs compare to those of their peers but instead to create a supportive community that helps to make everyone’s designs better. Encourage students to be supportive of one another and to provide suggestions about how a solution could be improved to better meet the design goals.”
Resources provide information about regular opportunities for students to assess their own learning. One specific example is in Unit: Properties of Materials, Teacher Guide and Digital Materials, Assessment System, Student Self-Assessments: where it describes the role of student self-assessments and an example from the Unit, “At the end of each chapter, students are invited to check their progress toward understanding and asks students to reflect on whether they understand or don’t yet understand about the core concepts from the unit.
I understand how to describe the properties of a material like glue.
I understand how mixtures made of different ingredients can make glue that has different properties.
I understand that heating or cooling can change the properties of ingredients that are mixed to make glue.
I understand that scientists and engineers look for causes and effects, like how ingredients can cause the properties of mixtures to change”
Additionally, the Student Notebook resource indicates that student self-assessments are optional, however, this is not indicated in the Teacher Guide.
Indicator 3p
Materials provide opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies.
The materials for Grade 2 include limited opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies and limited guidance for grouping students. The different groupings promote interaction, engagement, and learning. Teacher guidance on how and when to use groupings is provided; however, there is a missed opportunity to provide suggestions on how to form the different groupings strategically. In all units, pairs of students engage in Partner Reading, exploring simulations on digital devices, and the Think-Write-Pair-Share routine. During hands-on investigations, students may be encouraged to work in groups of four. Examples of teacher guidance on how and when to use a variety of grouping strategies to increase interaction, engagement, and learning include:
Grade 2, Unit: Properties of Materials, Lesson 1.2, Overview, Differentiation, Specific Differentiation Strategies for Students Who Need More Support, the guidance for reading with a small group or as a class states, “One option for adjusting the lesson to support some students who need more support is to form small groups of students who would preview the book together before the first read, and/or who would read with you or another adult.”
Grade 2, Unit: Plant and Animal Relationships, Unit Overview, Planning for the Unit, Getting Ready to Teach, the guidance to make a plan for how students will move between individual, partner, and group work states, “Most lessons involve students working individually as well as discussing with a partner. Some lessons also have students working in groups of four. If you already have table groups, this will be relatively easy. If students sit at individual desks, decide how they will talk to partners and how they will reorient their seats to work in groups of four.”
Grade 2, Unit: Changing Landforms, Lesson 1.3, Lesson Overview, Differentiation, Potential Challenges in This Lesson, the guidance for group work states, “Throughout this unit, students will need to work in groups–sharing sand samples and using different materials for models. Before you asks students to explore and compare sand samples…,you may want to review guidelines for working in groups.”
Indicator 3q
Materials provide strategies and supports for students who read, write, and/or speak in a language other than English to regularly participate in learning grade-level/grade-band science and engineering.
The materials for Grade 2 partially meet expectations for strategies and supports for students who read, write, and/or speak in a language other than English to regularly participate in learning grade-level/grade-band science and engineering. Throughout the Grade 2 Units there are language supports and strategies intended to assist with anticipating and addressing potential language demands as well as supporting student agency. Examples include:
Grade 2, Unit: Changing Landforms, Teacher Guide, Lesson 1.1 Brief states, “Words with multiple meanings may present an obstacle for English learners. To help avoid confusion, before reading, explain that some words have more than one meaning. Discuss some examples likely to be familiar such as fly or play. Then, have partners work together to complete the optional activity on page 4, Multiple Meaning Words: Landform Postcards, in the Investigation Notebook.”
Grade 2, Unit: Plant and Animal Relationships, Teacher Guide, Lesson 1.7 Brief states, ”In the Concept Mapping routine in Activity 2, students work in groups to create sentences by using at least two of the vocabulary words in each sentence. You could meet with students who would benefit from a preview of the vocabulary words (sunlight, water, seeds, sprout, full-grown) before they need to share their ideas in a group. Be sure that students have a working idea of what these words mean and have a chance to practice using them in a sentence before they start to work in their groups. At the end of Activity 2, students are asked to present the sentences they create to another pair. To ensure that English learners are prepared to participate fully, circulate and visit students who might benefit from additional linguistic support while they are working with their partners to give them a chance to practice what they will say.”
Grade 2, Unit: Plant and Animal Relationships, Lesson 1.1, Lesson Brief, Differentiation, the Specific Differentiation Strategies for English Learners section states,
“Alternate means of expressing ideas. Some English learners may experience more success expressing their ideas when provided a few different options. After students have recorded their responses on the Pre-Unit Assessment, you may wish to invite them to elaborate orally as you record their ideas. Providing alternate ways of expressing understanding can ensure that you will have a baseline from which to measure students’ growth of understanding over the course of the unit. Allow English learners, particularly those at the Emerging level of English language proficiency, to discuss the prompt with a partner using their primary language, if they desire to do so. Students may also be permitted draw a picture or to write their initial ideas in their primary language, as well as English, in order accurately capture students' knowledge of the science concepts prior to moving through the unit.”
“Strategic partnering. Throughout the unit, students will often work with partners. Extended academic discourse that is equitable (that is, all students have an opportunity to engage) is critical for developing both language and content knowledge. Strategic partnering is essential for English learners as they develop understanding of new content. Therefore, consider carefully which partner to assign for each English learner in your class and assign a partner who has slightly higher English language skills than the student in question. Opportunities for English learners to engage in conversations that are slightly above their language-proficiency levels can accelerate second-language learning and increase students’ confidence with engaging in science discourse. Try to assign each English learner a partner who will be likely to engage in discussion at the appropriate language level. We suggest you assign different partners over the course of the unit so an English learner who serves as a language mentor for another English learner in one lesson gets a partner with more advanced English in another lesson. When assigning partners, consider which partnering structure will be most supportive for your students.”
“Academic language support. Developing science language and literacy is a complex process that includes, yet is broader than, vocabulary knowledge and usage. Science texts include general academic and discipline-specific vocabulary, and they also include disciplinary ways of using language, such as grammatically complex sentences and texts that are structured in more academic ways than everyday language. These broader aspects of academic language in science can be highlighted to students.”
“Vocabulary support. The study of science provides an authentic purpose for using academic language to describe, explain, and argue. Sophisticated understanding of science vocabulary is developed throughout the unit. This is an area that can be difficult for English learners and primary English speakers alike. In each unit, students practice using a small set of high-utility science vocabulary words that are contextualized and used repeatedly in a variety of modalities. To help English learners gain greater access to the language of science, pay attention to their developing understanding of words such as habitat and investigate. You can refer students who speak Spanish to the bilingual Glossary in the Investigation Notebook (pages 72–73) to provide additional support.”
There are also examples of general accommodations for students who read, write and/or speak in a language other than English. At the Grade 2 level this is illustrated with opportunities for oral language development, and reading/writing activities that engage multilingual learners in topics to engage with peers and the teacher. An example includes:
Grade 2, Unit: Properties of Materials, Teacher Guide, Lesson 1.6 Brief states,“Allowing for practice through other language modalities (listening, reading, speaking, writing) builds a rich linguistic context for students to learn English and solidify science understandings. Give students additional practice with the language of degree to prepare them for the language they will use to discuss their glue. Create a continuum on chart paper with the word tall on the left side, taller in the middle, and tallest on the far right side. Inform students that when you add –er to an adjective (a word that describes a noun) like tall, it means that you are comparing at least two things and that one thing is more than another. Adding –est to the end of an adjective means that the thing described is the most of all the things that are being compared. Ask for three student volunteers and have the class sort them by how tall they are. Create sentences such as “Maria is tall,” “John is taller,” “Jesse is the tallest.” Practice this with other items as well (such as pencil length). Add the words to the continuum so students can see the pattern.”
There is also a Multilingual Glossary that provides definitions and translations for key Unit vocabulary for each Unit in ten languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu, and Vietnamese).
In addition, there are general supports for students who are performing on grade level, but nothing beyond grade level for those who may exceed grade-level understanding of content but who may have limited English proficiency. There are also missed opportunities to provide guidance for teachers to identify students at various levels of language acquisition and to provide specific supports for multilingual learners at differing levels of English language acquisition. As a result, while suggestions for multilingual learners appear consistently across lessons, they do not consistently provide the support necessary for multilingual learners to regularly participate in learning grade-level/grade-band science and engineering.
Indicator 3r
Materials provide a balance of images or information about people, representing various demographic and physical characteristics.
The materials for Grade 2 provide a balance of images or information about people, representing various demographic characteristics. These contain images and drawings of people from various cultures, demographic regions, and different genders. Additionally, the materials provide ebooks that also include a diverse representation of people across the series. Depictions of people in the materials and books represent many different physical characteristics.
Examples include:
Grade 2, Unit: Plant and Animal Relationships, Lesson 1.4, Digital Resources,Classroom Slides, Slide 3, there is a picture of four students with diverse characteristics.
Properties of Materials, Lesson 2.1, Digital Resources,Classroom Slides, Slide 4, there are two male-presenting engineers depicted displaying different characteristics.
Indicator 3s
Materials provide guidance to encourage teachers to draw upon student home language to facilitate learning.
The materials for Grade 2 provide some guidance to encourage teachers to draw upon student home language to facilitate learning. This is evidenced in the teacher-facing guidance documents, specifically the Teacher Guide section that includes a section titled Differentiation of English Learners. A specific strategy that is identified in some lessons across all Grades K-2 is the use of Spanish cognates. Teachers are encouraged to show Spanish cognates for certain science terms discussed in lessons to support English learners in developing meaning. Students are provided language support in their Investigation Notebooks in the form of bilingual and multilingual glossaries. The materials guide teachers to use the student’s preferred language and previous exposure to everyday and academic English strategically in instruction. However, there is a missed opportunity to provide guidance to teachers with strategies for using home languages, other than English or Spanish, to facilitate learning.
Examples of using home language to facilitate learning include:
Grade 2, Unit: Plant and Animal Relationships, Printable Resources, Investigation Notebook includes the glossary that has the words and definitions also in Spanish.
Grade 2, Unit: Changing Landforms, Teacher Guide, Lesson 1.4, Differentiation, Specific Differentiation strategies for English Learners, Cognates section states, “You may decide to support students by keeping a running list on chart paper of cognates that students encounter in this unit, or by encouraging students to keep their own lists that they can refer to as needed. The Spanish cognates that will be helpful for students in this lesson are: visualize/visualizar, observation/la observación, and evidence/la evidencia. Cognates are especially rich linguistic resources to exploit for academic English language development and for biliteracy development.”
Grade 2, Unit: Properties of Materials, Teachers Guide, Lesson 4.3 Brief states,“During the Properties of Materials Sorting Tool activities, encourage students to write their observations in their primary language, if they would prefer. You can also invite pairs who speak the same primary language to share their ideas in that primary language if they wish. Allowing English learners to draw upon their existing linguistic resources supports their science learning and the development of English science vocabulary.”
Grade 2, Unit: Plant and Animal Relationships, Teachers Guide, Lesson 1.2 Brief states, “Having access to translations and definitions of new science terms in Spanish is helpful for English learners for whom Spanish is their primary language. Have students turn to pages 73–74, Glossary, in the Plant and Animal Relationships Investigation Notebook to see Spanish translations and definitions. Encourage students to refer to this glossary as needed throughout the unit.”
There is a missed opportunity to offer lesson based guidance for languages beyond Spanish, or to provide teachers with strategies for using home language as an onramp to a common and shared scientific language. However, resources, such as the multi-language glossary are included.
Indicator 3t
Materials provide guidance to encourage teachers to draw upon student cultural and social backgrounds to facilitate learning.
The materials for Grade 2 provide some guidance to encourage teachers to draw upon student cultural and social backgrounds to facilitate learning. For instance, in every unit in Grade 2, the Teacher Guide, Printable Resources, Eliciting and Leveraging Students’ Prior Knowledge, Personal Experiences, and Cultural Backgrounds, there is an explanation for teachers for why eliciting and building upon student prior knowledge, personal experiences, and cultural and social backgrounds is important to the learning process. Teachers are encouraged to collect student ideas on “What We Think We Know Charts” and to return and connect student prior experience to what they are learning multiple times per chapter. Every chapter of every unit contains this guidance which includes the following:
“Prompts for eliciting students’ funds of knowledge. While leading discussions, the following prompts may be helpful in eliciting contributions from students:
● What does… remind you of from your own life?
● When have you had an experience related to…?
● When have you observed something similar to…?
● Can you connect… to something in your family or neighborhood?
● What have you heard from your family about…?
● Is there another word you would use for…?
● What words do you know in another language about this topic?
● Have you ever visited somewhere that reminds you of…?
● Have you ever seen a TV show or read a book that’s similar to…?
● Is there anything in our city/town that reminds you of…?
There are example student responses and suggested actions for teachers based upon these prompts.
Indicator 3u
Materials provide supports for different reading levels to ensure accessibility for students.
The materials for Grade 2 provide consistent general literacy supports for students; however, they miss the opportunity to provide information and/or supports for students at varied reading levels. While reading levels may be limited at this grade level, special supports for readers that are struggling and reading levels other than Grade 2 are not identified in the grade level readers.
Examples of literacy supports include:
Grade 2, Unit: Plant and Animal Relationships, Teachers Guide, Lesson 1.2 Lesson Brief section 1, Teacher Support tab, Rationale, Literacy Note states, “Approach to Reading Skillful readers use a variety of strategies to actively engage with informational text. The books in this unit are designed so that the responsibility of reading science text can be gradually released to students. This allows students to read more independently as the unit progresses and as they become increasingly familiar with the concepts and vocabulary in the unit. In this unit, the sensemaking strategy of setting a purpose helps students focus as they read and make sense of what they are reading. Whenever possible, model how to use this strategy by thinking aloud about how you set a purpose as a reader. Students will have multiple opportunities to learn about and practice this strategy through a gradual-release model: you initially provide a high level of direction and support, then decrease your level of support over the course of the unit. By the end of the unit, you will still provide some support, but you will also be guiding students toward independent use of the strategy.”
Grade 2, Unit: Properties of Matter, Teachers Guide, Lesson 1.2, Lesson Brief, Section 2, Predicting as a Reading Strategy: Teacher Support, Background, Literacy Note: About Making Predictions states, “Skillful readers use a variety of strategies to actively engage with the text. In this unit, the focus is on becoming an expert with one or two strategies through explicit instruction, modeling, and guided practice. Making predictions is one of the focus strategies for this unit. Making a prediction involves using prior knowledge and information gathered from the text in order to think ahead. Making predictions is something that students should do not just before they read the book, but also as they read. Students should check in with themselves as they read to see whether the evidence in the text confirms their predictions or whether their thinking needs to be readjusted based on what is in the text. Whenever possible, model the use of this strategy by thinking aloud about how you make predictions as a reader.”
Indicator 3v
This is not an assessed indicator in Science.
Criterion 3.4: Intentional Design
The program includes a visual design that is engaging and references or integrates digital technology (when applicable) with guidance for teachers.
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet expectations for the Criterion 3w-3z: Intentional Design.
Indicator 3w
Materials integrate interactive tools and/or dynamic software in ways that support student engagement in the three dimensions, when applicable.
The materials reviewed for Amplify Science for Grade 2 integrate some interactive tools in ways that support student engagement in the three dimensions. In the Program Structure and Components Trifold, Program Components, Slide 5, Amplify’s digital tools overview indicates that Grades K-1 include the digital teacher’s guide and videos, while Grades 2-3 also include student practice apps and Grades 4-5 include all resources including practice apps and simulation tools.
By clicking on the Programs and Apps Waffle and visiting the Elementary Student Apps page, classes and/or students visiting the Unit: Plant and Animal Relationships apps will find 4 Science practice tools. Three tools are modeled simulations that have students drag and drop seeds to see where they will grow and where they will not in varied environments. If the seed is placed in an appropriate location with adequate resources, the seed “grows” into a plant. This is repeated in three separate modeled simulations, one for an oak tree, one for a gumbo-limbo tree, and one for a mesquite tree, all in different environments. This Unit’s set of practice tools also includes a drag-and-drop visual interactive pertaining to seed structure and function.
Other examples include:
In Grade 2, Unit: Properties of Matter, Lesson 1.6, Data Tools, there is an interactive data application that asks students to enter the data they collect from an activity titled “Sticky Trees.” There are three different results the student enters data from and graphs are developed automatically from each set of data.
In Grade 2, in the Science Practice Tools section for Changing Landforms, a tool is connected with lesson 3.4 of the unit. Students are instructed to move pieces from a digitally rendered mountain to illustrate erosion at two separate times. All the pieces can be moved in both images, one image illustrates the mountain 50 years ago and one represents the mountain 1 million years ago. The slide deck for the lesson shows students how to use the simulation. There are follow-up questions in the student notebook referenced on slide 21 of the associated slide deck.
Indicator 3x
Materials include or reference digital technology that provides opportunities for teachers and/or students to collaborate with each other, when applicable.
The materials for Grade 2 include or reference digital technology that provides opportunities for students to collaborate with each other in some instances. In all cases, students are focused on learning how to use the technology in collaboration with other students in a face-to-face format.
Indicator 3y
The visual design (whether in print or digital) supports students in engaging thoughtfully with the subject, and is neither distracting nor chaotic.
The materials for Grade 2 include a visual design that supports students in engaging thoughtfully with the subject. The materials are neither distracting nor chaotic. Teacher materials are arranged uniformly throughout the grade levels, each unit beginning with an overview, then providing chapters of each unit with chapter sections in a labeled grid format (e.g. 2.1, 2.2, 2.3). Section grids are followed by resources for the teacher and are organized similarly for all Units.
These Resources are organized in the following order:
MENU TAB: Printable Resources;
MENU TAB: Planning for the Unit; Unit Map, Progress Build, Getting Ready to Teach, Materials and Preparation, Science Background and Standards at a Glance;
MENU TAB: Teacher References; Lesson Overview Compilation, Standards and Goals, 3-D Statements, Assessment System, Embedded Formative Assessments, Books in This Unit;
MENU TAB: Offline Preparation.
Materials are predictably accessible throughout each unit as the format remains consistent from unit-to-unit, grade-to-grade.
Student materials are similarly consistent. Each unit includes a Student Investigation Notebook that provides documents from the chapters in the corresponding unit. There is a table of contents and consistent and repeated Safety Guidelines for students in each investigation notebook followed by the pages for each chapter. Each notebook contains a glossary and provides the students ample room to write and/or type responses/observations.
Student readers are presented digitally and easy to manipulate for students online, or for classroom presentation using a digital screen. The books are colorful and contain appropriate illustrations and utilize easy to read font (format and sizing).
Indicator 3z
Materials provide teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning, when applicable.
The materials for Grade 2 provide teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning, when applicable. As a broad approach to providing guidance, every Lesson of every Unit for Grades K-2 contains a Lesson Brief, Materials and Preparation, and Before the Day of the Lesson Section that tells teachers which digital resources should be used and how to prepare them for each Lesson.
In addition to general preparation guidance, examples of technology use at Grade 2 can be found within Unit lesson briefs such as Unit: Changing Landforms, Lesson 3.1, Lesson Brief, Creating Digital Maps that states, “3. Project the Changing Landforms Modeling Tool and demonstrate the activity. Go to the Student Apps Page. Show students how to select the unit and then Box 1, 3.1 Beach Map. With 3.1 Beach Map projected, model visualizing the beach from above. Point out the photo of the beach and think aloud as you visualize looking down at the beach from above.
To create a map of this beach, I would first visualize flying high above the land and looking down. I see a beach on the left and water on the right. The land is flat—it is low land. Explain that you will now model how to use the Modeling Tool to make a Beach Map. Let students know that one important thing you can do with the Modeling Tool is drag the colored squares from the map key to create a map in the grid next to the photo.”
Similar guidance can be found for the Mystery Mixtures activity associated with Unit: Properties of Matter, Lesson 4.3, Lesson Brief, Engaging in the Mystery Mixture Sorts and the Plant Growth and the Everglades activity associated with Unit: Plant and Animal Relationships, Lesson 2.5, Lesson Brief, A good Place to Grow in the Everglades.