Activity 6.4: Functions of All Decomposers (50 min)

Display Slide 3 of the 6.4 Functions of All Decomposers PPT. Tell students they will be constructing explanations that answer the Three Questions about the functions of decomposers that are shared by all aerobic decomposers.

Option 1: Have students construct their explanations on 6.4 Explaining Functions that All Decomposers Share Worksheet in pairs. Students’ explanations can include words, illustrations, diagrams, and/or charts. Students may need additional sheets to answer each of the questions.

Option 2: Have students construct their explanations in a PowerPoint presentation in pairs for each of the questions.

Option 3: Have students construct their explanations on a poster in pairs or small groups.

For all options, display Slide 4 of the PPT and remind students that good answers to questions about decomposer cells should address each of the four numbered questions of the Three Questions 11x17 Poster or Handout.

Display slide 5 of the 6.4 Functions of All Decomposers PPT. Provide students an opportunity to share their explanations with the class.

• Decide how you will have students present depending on the option you chose in step 2 and the needs of your students and classroom.
  • If students did option 1, they could verbally share their explanations or share them with the class using a document camera.
  • If student did option 2, they could present their PPT to the class.
  • If students did option 3, they could share their posters with the whole class or you could organize a gallery walk in which students circulate the classroom and view the posters.
• Have students share feedback on their classmates’ explanations as to if the explanations addressed each of the Three Questions.

Display Slide 6 of the PPT.

• Have students consider how their ideas changed with regard to scale, movement, and carbon. What do they know about how decomposers grow and move now that they didn’t know before this unit?

If you decided to use the Big Idea Probe: Leaf Pack Experiment, have students complete it and share their ideas again. Have students discuss how their ideas have changed throughout the unit. See Assessing the Big Idea Probe: Leaf Pack Experiment and Using Big Idea Probes

Show Slide 7 of the 6.4 Comparing Decomposers, Plants, and Animals PPT.

• Pass out a Learning Tracking Tool for Decomposers to each student.
• Have students write the activity chunk name in the first column, "Explaining Other Examples” and their job as the “Explainer.”
• Have a class discussion about what students did during the activity chunk. When you come to consensus as a class, have students record the answer in the second column of the tool.
• Have a class discussion about what students figured out during the activity chunk that will help them in answering the unit driving question. When you come to consensus as a class, have students record the answer in the third column of the tool.
• Have a class discussion about what students are wondering now that they have answered the unit driving questions. Have students record their lingering questions in the fourth column of the tool.
• Example Learning Tracking Tool