MS-LS1-6 lessons
Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.
The Next Generation Science Standards code MS-LS1-6 asks students to: “Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.” These Fieldbook lessons teach it hands-on, with everyday materials, a printable teacher guide and a student sheet.
How Plants Make Food: Photosynthesis and Respiration Grades 6–8
- Where does a tree's mass come from? 50–60 min
Teams work through Jan Baptist van Helmont's real willow data and five modern evidence cards to settle where 74 kg of new tree came from. They argue from the numbers to the modern answer, carbon dioxide from the air, and write the word and balanced equations for photosynthesis.
- What happens to the food a plant makes? 50–60 min
Teams rearrange 36 printed atom cards from carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen, then back again, and prove that no atom is made or lost. At four case stations they read data on plants in the dark, sprouting seeds, weight loss and apple stores, and explain that plants and animals both respire.
NGSS is used as written in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wyoming, so the code MS-LS1-6 matches there. Other states word and number their own versions: see curriculum alignment for your state's codes.
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