Animals Unit Home

Animals is one of the six Carbon TIME units. If you are new to teaching Carbon TIME, read the Carbon TIME FAQ: Which Units Should I Teach.

The goal of the Animals unit is to introduce students to organic matter and chemical energy (in the context of digestion and biosynthesis) using the tools for reasoning and environmental literacy practices that students will engage with in other units. Students develop required capacity to distinguish organic matter from inorganic matter, and to understand how differences in the chemical make-up of materials influences how materials and energy are transformed and moved between systems.

The Animals Unit supports students in using core disciplinary ideas, science practices, and cross-cutting concepts to develop scientific explanations of how different animals transform matter and energy as they grow, move, and function.

Follow these steps to get ready to teach the Animals Unit.

Lead Editor for 2018-2019 Version

Kirsten D. Edwards, Department of Teacher Education, Michigan State University

Principal Authors

Christa Haverly, Department of Teacher Education, Michigan State University
Christie Morrison Thomas, Department of Teacher Education, Michigan State University
Kirsten Edwards, Department of Teacher Education, Michigan State University
Hannah K. Miller, Department of Teacher Education, Michigan State University
Charles W. “Andy” Anderson, Department of Teacher Education, Michigan State University

Contributing Authors

Beth Covitt, Jenny Dauer, Jennifer H. Doherty, Allison Freed, Wendy Johnson, Deborah Jordan, Craig Kohn, Lindsey Mohan, Joyce Parker, Emily Scott, Elizabeth Tompkins, Nicholas Verbanic, Pingping Zhao

Illustrations

Craig Douglas, Kendra Mojica

This research is supported in part by grants from the National Science Foundation: A Learning Progression-based System for Promoting Understanding of Carbon-transforming Processes (DRL 1020187) and Sustaining Responsive and Rigorous Teaching Based on Carbon TIME (NSF 1440988). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the United States Department of Energy.

Contact the MSU Environmental Literacy Program for more information: EnvLit@msu.edu.