Overview
Procedure
Toolbox

Anchoring Phenomenon

Numerous reports suggest an increase in white shark encounters* in the United States in recent years and the public is worried.
*Encounters include sightings and census estimates, as well as physical interactions between humans and sharks.

Lesson Concept

Begin to construct and explanation supported by evidence to determine the possible causes of recent increases in white shark encounters and whether past records like the fossil record may provide us with reliable information to give context.

Investigative Phenomenon

This part of the lesson sequence introduces students to the anchoring phenomenon and then uses news reports of sharks as an investigative phenomenon: shark encounters have happened recently and seem to be increasing.

Standards

Click here for NGSS, CCSS (ELA and Math), California ELD, and EP&C standards.

Time | Materials | Advance Preparation

Time

90 minutes

90 minutesEngage

Materials

Whole Class

Per Group of 4

  • Chart paper (not a whiteboard)
  • Markers

Individual

Teacher

  • None

Advance Preparation

  1. Create 8.1.C1: Shark Encounter Claim Chart as a classroom chart to post or display. This chart will be added to and used as a reference in several lessons. (Step 6 of Procedure)
  2. Students should be seated in groups of four for the duration of the learning sequence to foster collaboration.
  3. Duplicate 8.1.H1: CSULB Shark Lab Reports Record Breaking White Shark Sightings for each student. (Step 1 of Procedure)
  4. Duplicate 8.1.H2: Scientist Communication Survival Kit for each student.
  5. Duplicate 8.1.H3: My Shark Encounter Claim Chart for each student.
  6. Duplicate 8.1.H4: Crosscutting Concepts for Middle School Students for each student.
  7. Duplicate 8.1.H5: Science and Engineering Practices (SEP) Progressions for each student. This is a resource that can be referenced as needed when students engage with science and engineering practices.
  8. Preview the video Shark Sightings Force Closure of Stretch of Sunset Beach.

Engage (90 minutes)

Ask questions about data supported by evidence to determine the possible causes of recent increases in white shark encounters and whether past records like the fossil record may provide us with reliable information to give context.

    TEACHER NOTE

    Throughout the entire learning sequence, articles, videos, and websites have been carefully chosen so as not to reveal information students will later discover, allowing them to develop ideas over time. This first lesson, especially, is designed to have references that provide incomplete information so students can better engage in SEPs and CCCs. If other references are preferred, review the entire learning sequence to get a sense of what students will be discovering over time before replacing.

  1. Setting the Stage
  2. To start the lesson, give students the CSULB Shark Lab press release, 8.1.H1: CSULB Shark Lab Reports Record Breaking White Shark Sightings. This article sets the stage for the investigative phenomenon: shark encounters have happened recently and seem to be increasing. For classes with little prior knowledge on white sharks, see the shark sighting video to set the context without revealing information students will learn later in the learning sequence. (Sunset Beach is near Seal Beach.)

  3. Introducing an Article
  4. Ask students to read the press release and record the following in their Science Notebook:

    • any detail from the press release that seems important or interesting
    • questions they have about the information in the press release
    • their own personal experiences with sharks (or experiences of someone they know)

    To move students deeper into the SEP, as they record questions facilitate them by asking groups and individual students the following questions:

    • What questions do you have about white sharks?
    • What was unexpected?
    • What do you want clarified?
    • What do you want more information on?

    After time for individual processing, invite students to share with their group a detail they thought was important or interesting; a question they have or something they want clarified or more information on; and a personal experience. Give time to let some excitement in the room build. Remind students to use 8.1.H2: Scientist Communication Survival Kit to facilitate group conversations. (Use of this tool is a differentiation strategy and a strategy to promote more equal talk among students.)

  5. Refining Ideas
    1. Ask each group to share one detail with the class and chart. Begin to redirect the conversation away from hype.
    2. Point out that communities where white shark encounters occur need to make decisions about how to respond to public concerns. Responsible leaders must be careful how they communicate with the public. Students’ ultimate goal in this learning sequence is to think about such communication. (They will be making a public service announcement in a few weeks.) Ask for input from students on the types of questions a leader should be asking and chart.
    3. Start guiding the conversation with students. Be sure to specifically ask and chart the following if students don’t generate these questions:
      • How can we distinguish accurate information on sharks from the fantastical stories friends and families share?
      • How can we tell if the frequency of encounters with white sharks in recent years is different than in the past? (Are they increasing, decreasing, or staying the same?)
      • If there is a difference in the frequency of encounters? What are the possible causes? (Students might initially mention there is a difference. They should identify multiple reasons for the difference; acknowledging the plausibility of multiple causes is a necessary discussion. Ideas may include that the size of the shark population is changing, the number of people has increased, and therefore, the number of people visiting the beach is changing, etc.)
      • What evidence will we need to reassure or convince the public? ( Probe for student understanding of what is considered quality evidence and ask students to recall the importance of empirical evidence in supporting or refuting an explanation for a phenomenon. Adjust instruction if students do not understand. This will be addressed more specifically in Step 7.)

  6. Identifying Needed Data
    1. Ask students:
      • What other information would be useful to help answer these questions?
      • What information is the article missing that you wish was included?
      • Remind me what you know about patterns. (Solicit ideas until students begin to describe that we use patterns to help us organize the things we observe so we can later understand relationships and identify underlying causes.) How do you think patterns might help you answer your questions? What are some patterns you might look for?
    2. Encourage students to discuss with their group and record ideas in their Science Notebook. Have each group share an idea and chart. Student ideas should identify things such as wanting more than one news article, a quote from a reliable source and actual data/statistics, etc. For students that are struggling, possible questions to facilitate their thinking include:
      • Are there any patterns to what is being observed?
      • Is there a cause to this pattern?
      • Why might reports from the public claim that sharks are up to 10 feet in length, but the team has only been able to verify sharks of 5–7 feet?
      • Would you be confident in saying that white sharks are doing something different than normal from one news article?
      • So, if several news articles are reporting the same information, where are they getting their information from?
      • Who collects this data?

  7. Gathering More Information
  8. Students use other sources of information in an attempt to identify a cause for patterns observed. Divide each group in half to focus research in two different areas.

    1. News reports can provide us with information, while the most compelling type of evidence in science comes from data. Once students have identified the need for more information, specifically data, have some students in each group explore the following:

      Question: What data do we have on white shark encounters?

      A possible source for this is “Shark Attacks Hit All-Time High in 2015” (Clark 2016).

      1. Ask students to consider what information this source (and its links) provides us on white sharks and record evidence in their Science Notebook. Remind students to cite their sources as they record information.
      2. Ask students to note any patterns observed and describe how the patterns provide evidence of possible causes.
    2. In order to inform the public and to differentiate hype and inaccurate information from accurate information, students should understand basic information about sharks. Have students in each group explore the following:

      Question: What do we know about white shark life history over time?

      Ask students to record the question in their Science Notebook and record what they are able to find out about shark life history.

      Possible sources:

      Students working on this question can be put into smaller groups to peruse each resource, and then share what they learn with those that read a different source. Students may need clarification on what is meant by life history. Ask them for ideas of what they think life history means. Confirm and add onto student ideas to help build a class definition. You may find a definition in your curricular resources that would be useful to students. In the absence of that, the characteristics of a species’ life history are often considered to include the following:

      • Reproductive behavior
      • Feeding behavior and interaction with resources
      • Response to change in environment
      • Other social behaviors
      • Lifespan and aging process
      1. Ask students to consider what information this source provides about white sharks’ life history and to record the information in their Science Notebook. Remind students to cite their sources.
      2. Ask students to note any patterns observed that might help us understand shark encounters.
    3. TEACHER NOTE

      One way to differentiate instruction for students is to suggest topics for investigation of shark life history. For the highly engaged student, the topics of “response to change in environment” and “other social behaviors” will provide a more challenging exploration and synthesis of information. Consider providing additional guidance in navigating resources for students that struggle to identify relevant information and/or suggest using a graphic organizer to help with focusing on important information. This can include sentence frames for students needing language support.

    4. Facilitate a whole class discussion of what students learned about data on white shark encounters and shark life history. Encourage students to track any information in their Science Notebook that they think might be useful moving forward (anything that would help them address ideas on the class chart built in Step 3, Refining ideas. Following the discussion, direct students to identify/code/highlight information that could be used to establish a pattern. Ask students to note any patterns observed and describe how the patterns provide evidence of possible causes. Students will likely focus on simple patterns (such as how lightning has killed more people than sharks have) so expect to redirect the conversation to keep the focus on “encounters” between sharks and people (there are more people than ever before, there are more beachgoers than ever before, there is an increase in the number of sharks spotted, the number of attacks has increased slightly, etc.) as this will provide useful information for part 6 and better help with making sense of the phenomena later.

  9. Beginning Explanation
  10. Students consider possibilities to explain the following question:

    Question: Are there really more shark encounters now than in the past?

    Have students work in groups of four, creating the table below, 8.1.C1: Shark Encounter Claim Chart on chart paper. (Chart paper is recommended, as it can be added to over time throughout the learning sequence and allows groups to work collaboratively.) Students can go back to the resources used in Step 5, Gathering More Information, to look for evidence for the three claims below. Have students code information in the chart that reveals any pattern among the sources and possible causes for that pattern. Patterns could be interactions with humans or other species (like seals), reporting of encounters, fishing, etc.

    Some students may need clarification for the components of an explanation:

    • Evidence: Scientific data (records, observations, etc.) about the frequency of white shark encounters over time that support the claim.
    • Reasoning: Learnings about white sharks’ life history that provide a logical connection between the evidence and the claim and explains why the evidence supports the claim.

    Students are considering three plausible claims for an explanation at this time in the sequence as a mechanism to see which has the strongest evidence and reasoning over time. As a result, it’s likely that students will be engaging in argument from evidence as ideas are refined over time.

    Claim #1
    Claim #2
    Claim #3
    There are more white shark encounters now than in the past.
    There are fewer white shark encounters now than in the past.
    The number of white shark encounters today is the same as in the past.
    Evidence for Claim #1
    Evidence for Claim #2
    Evidence for Claim #3
    Reasoning
    Reasoning
    Reasoning

    Facilitating group discussion by circulating the room and asking guiding questions can support students in this task. Examples of guiding questions include: “How does this help answer our question?” “What other evidence should you consider to support this explanation?” and “Is there another explanation that can account for this evidence?”

    Once groups have worked collaboratively, ask students to attach 8.1.H3: My Shark Encounter Claim Chart in their Science Notebook to help keep a personal account of information. (Students will be adding information to this chart throughout the duration of the sequence.) Remind students to code any information revealing patterns and possible causes of patterns.

    TEACHER NOTE

    Some students may ask for clarification as to what is meant by “the past.” In the context of this lesson and beginning 8.1.C1: Shark Encounter Claim Chart, it’s probably useful to think of “the past” as the overall history we have established for sharks throughout time (geologic time, evolutionary history). In subsequent lessons (by Lesson 8.3: Fisher Logs), some students may choose to use the lens of more recent history (“the past” being the last 100 or 200 years), which is fine. “Time” is a construct and should be agreed upon by the students in the class and may change depending upon usefulness.

    There is likely not enough space in 8.1.H3: My Shark Encounter Claim Chart for students to record the breadth of information they will need to record in the sequence. Offer sticky notes as a way to “extend the notebook space.”

  11. Providing a Context for More Information
  12. Remind students that their overall objective will be to communicate with the public about white sharks in a way that addresses concerns and helps communities make informed decisions.

    Challenge each group to think about additional information needed to address the question, “Are there really more white shark encounters now than in the past?” This starts with examining the quality of their current explanation.

    1. Ask students to evaluate the quality of information they have recorded. ( If students code evidence and reasoning that isn’t strong, have a class discussion about what makes for strong/quality evidence and reasoning.)
      Code evidence according to its strength:
      • underline/highlight appropriate evidence (scientifically relevant) in color #1
      • underline/highlight sufficient evidence (multiple pieces) in color #2
      Code reasoning according to its adequacy:
      • underline/highlight reasoning that explains why the evidence supports the claim in color #3
      • underline/highlight reasoning that includes science ideas in color #4

      Once this coding is completed, asking groups to brainstorm how they could strengthen each explanation (hint: look for missing colors) by expanding their chart to include a fourth component: information needed to strengthen this explanation.

      Claim #1
      Claim #2
      Claim #3
      There are more white shark encounters now than in the past.
      There are fewer white shark encounters now than in the past.
      The number of white shark encounters today is the same as in the past.
      Evidence for Claim #1
      Evidence for Claim #2
      Evidence for Claim #3
      Reasoning
      Reasoning
      Reasoning
      Information Needed to Strengthen this Explanation
      Information Needed to Strengthen this Explanation
      Information Needed to Strengthen this Explanation
    2. Ask students to make another evaluation of information to strengthen their explanation by considering two crosscutting concepts: Patterns, and Stability and Change. (Depending on time, this can be a class discussion or group discussion with teacher monitoring and facilitating.) Ask students to briefly recall what they understand about Pattern and Stability and Change. (Students have learned these concepts in middle school.) After recalling, encourage students to use 8.1.H4: Crosscutting Concepts for Middle School Students in their Science Notebook to help with their discussion.
      • Begin by letting students share what they understand about patterns, then directing students to ask their own questions using elements of their respective CCC. Model the use of this first, then let students work independently.

      Example of modeling use:

      Teacher:Let’s look at what is written in the green box and record ideas you have about how scientists use patterns in your Science Notebook. Think of a specific way you have used patterns before. (Wait a couple of minutes.) Take a moment to discuss with your group one thing you can share with the whole class about how you understand patterns and how you have used what you have learned. (Wait a couple of minutes.) Someone from Group A, please share what your group discussed.

      Student:We said that patterns can help us find a cause for something. She shared that we used this last week when we were trying to make sense of the finch data and we looked for a pattern that could help us decide what two variables we could compare.

      Teacher:Tell me more about the pattern you found and how it helped you find a cause.

      Student:Well, we noticed that a lot of finches died during a certain time–that’s a pattern–and we noticed that all of the birds that survived that time had bigger beak depths; that’s another pattern.

      Teacher:How did that help you find a cause?

      Student:We remembered what we learned about beaks being able to only get some food types, so we thought that the cause of death of the birds with smaller beak depths could be that only some type of food might be available.

      Teacher:Thanks for sharing. How about another group, can you please share what your group discussed?

      (additional discussion)

      Teacher:Ok, so we all have some experience working with the concept of Pattern. Let’s look at the questions on this page now. Thinking about what you just said, which of these questions seems to “fit” here–which one might help us with our thinking about strengthening an explanation?

      Student:Under Increasing Sophistication, bullet 5 helps: “What patterns provide evidence for your explanation?”

      Teacher:Tell me more.

      Student:Well, my group noticed that a source from Florida and California said shark populations around the world are declining, so that’s a pattern in evidence.

      Teacher:What else can you add? How does that pattern strengthen your explanation?

      Student:Um, maybe with sufficiency in evidence.

      Teacher:How so?

      Student:Well, it’s more than one source saying the same thing, so that’s multiple pieces.

      Teacher:Thanks for sharing your thinking. You provided a useful example of how to use the resource. Ok, let’s try another, but this time I’m going to throw down a challenge. Can you use something from “On-Target”? It’s our goal to work from there.

      *dead silence*

      Teacher:This is more challenging, isn’t it? What do you think is meant by “macroscopic patterns” in the first bullet? (Continue the conversation and ask students to clarify meaning. Encourage students to write on their page, adding personal notes about how they interpret each element/bullet.)

      Teacher:Let’s try again. Do any of these help give us a way to think about strengthening your explanation? Discuss with your group; I’ll check back in with you in a couple of minutes.

      Teacher:Ok, what did you discuss?

      Student:My group thought the last bullet, “What cause and effect relationship(s) can you identify from the pattern” would work.

      Teacher:Tell me more.

      Student:Well, we had reports showing a pattern that shark populations around the world are declining, and we also noticed that there were reports showing a pattern that the rate of sharks being captured by humans is alarmingly high, so maybe a pattern of humans capturing sharks is causing their decline.

      Teacher:So you have a pattern that helped you identify a cause and effect relationship. How does that help strengthen your explanation?

      Student:Um, well, we are confused because we see it in two places. It strengthens evidence for the claim that there are more encounters because we capture a lot, but we wrote that the populations are declining in the fewer column.

      Teacher:So, it sounds like your group needs to continue discussing this and make a decision about where this best fits or if we need it in both places for now until we can get more information. I’ll check on your group in a few minutes.

      Teacher:What questions can I answer about how to use this resource?

      After a few moments, encourage the students to use the resource independently, checking on groups as they start working.

      TEACHER NOTE

      For future use of 8.1.H4: Crosscutting Concepts for Middle School Students, each time students use a new crosscutting concept on the handout, use a similar discussion pattern–asking students to share what they understand about the crosscutting concept, how they have used it in the past, what questions they feel would help facilitate their thinking, and share examples of how to move over to the On-Target category to ensure students are engaging at the 6–8 level.

      This resource can also be used as a rubric for assessing where students are on a continuum of understanding of the crosscutting concepts. Consider replacing column headers with 1-2-3. Students who are routinely using questions from Entry Level are a 1, those routinely using Increasing Sophistication are a 2, and those routinely using On-Target are a 3.

      • As groups work independently, ask additional questions to probe student thinking.

        When researching white shark encounters and life history over time in an attempt to answer the question, “Are there really more shark encounters today than in the past”:

        • What pattern emerged?
        • Is the pattern clear? Are there other patterns?
        • What other information would we need to determine that the pattern identifies a cause and effect relationship?
        • If we want to know if encounters are increasing, decreasing, or remaining the same, do we have information that can tell us what is happening over time?
        • Are things changing quickly? Slowly? How do we know or how can we find out?
        • Sharks have a long history on Earth; is the time scale of the information we are looking at adequate to make a conclusion?
        • If 2015 was a record year, is that “normal”? Have there been other record years? How can we get some baseline data for the white shark population over a longer time period?
      • The goal is for students to think of establishing a pattern of population size, encounters, etc. They cannot support the claim that encounters have increased or decreased without information from the past.

        Students should realize that they need a context larger than the years identified in the websites visited. Encourage groups to discuss how they can build an accurate record of information on white sharks that have visited the coast of California in the past. Have students keep a record of their conversation in their Science Notebook. We cannot establish if the population we are seeing today is normal, increasing, or decreasing without a context for what the population has done over time (or compared to the past).

        For groups that seem stuck, ask:

        • How do we find out information about things that happened in the past? What about the deep past?
        • Can you think of anyone or any type of person who might have had consistent access to the coast and might have documented information on sharks?

        When some groups appear to be on-target (ideas emerge about looking for fossils and/or asking lifeguards, fisherman, scientists), bring the conversation back to the whole class, and lead a discussion that reveals the fossil record and fisher logbooks as plausible sources of information. (Both will be future lessons in the learning sequence.)

      • Ask groups to return to their explanation chart and add ideas to “information needed to strengthen this explanation.”

  13. Documenting Current Thinking
  14. Build a class chart where each group contributes at least three things:

    • At the beginning of class yesterday, what were some things you heard people say about white sharks?
    • What questions did you hear about white sharks?
    • What information have you gathered so far about white sharks?
    • What questions do you have now?
    • What information do you need to be able to answer those questions and build a strong scientific explanation?

Accommodations

Ask students who need help with reading tasks to skim the article first, and identify any words for which they want clarification. Clarify the directions, then ask students to do a “group read” (have one person in the group read the article out loud), but encourage students to withhold group discussions until everyone has had a chance to do their own thinking and make notes in their Science Notebook first, then discuss with their group, and revise Science Notebook work accordingly.

By seating students in groups (groups of 4 work well) and encouraging regular conversation, students have time to interact more with content and naturally help those that need more support. Use of 8.1.H2: Scientist Communication Survival Kit, helps to make sure that students who don’t feel comfortable sharing (often because of language, literacy level, uncertainty of content knowledge, etc.) are prompted to do so in a supportive way.

Use of a sense-making Science Notebook supports student language development, conceptual development, and metacognition. Students should be prompted to use their Science Notebook for

  • prior knowledge of phenomena,
  • exploration of phenomena and data collection,
  • making sense of phenomena, and
  • metacognition.

Consider providing sentence frames for low literacy and second language learners. The use of graphic organizers can help struggling students manage Science Notebook work. To support students learning English, allow conversations and Science Notebook work to happen in the language that the student is most comfortable expressing understanding, and then encourage expression using simple English phrases (or more complex for students with increasing proficiency).

References

CBS Los Angeles. (2016, June 6). Shark Sightings Force Closure Of Stretch Of Sunset Beach. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVQcRCcL-R4

Clark, A. (2016). Shark Attacks Hit an All-Time High in 2015, University of Florida News. Retrieved from http://news.ufl.edu/articles/2016/02/shark-attacks-hit-all-time-high-in-2015.php

CSULB Shark Lab. (2016). CSULB Shark Lab Reports Record Breaking White Shark Sightings Long Beach, CA.

Long, D. (2017). The Great White Shark, University of California Museum of Paleontology. Retrieved from http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/Doug/shark.html

Martins, C. and Knickle, C. (2017). Carcharodon carcharias, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida. Retrieved from https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/fish/discover/species-profiles/carcharodon-carcharias/

Monterey Bay Aquarium (2017). White Shark. Retrieved from https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/animals-a-to-z/white-shark

National Science Teachers Association (2014). Crosscutting Concepts. Retrieved from http://ngss.nsta.org/CrosscuttingConceptsFull.aspx

National Science Teachers Association (2014). Science and Engineering Practices. Retrieved from http://ngss.nsta.org/PracticesFull.aspx

Wilson, C. and Patyten, M. (2015). White Shark Information. California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Retrieved from https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Marine/White-Shark#facts

Resources


Download 8.1.C1

Download 8.1.H1

Download 8.1.H2

Download 8.1.H3

Download 8.1.H4

Download 8.1.H5
*to become a permanent Science Notebook resource