RIEL Resources
RIEL Biology Lesson Plans by FL Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS) Big Idea
Matter and Energy Transformation
| Title | RIEL Element | Standards |
| Properties of Water | Multiple Modalities | SC.912.L.18.12 Discuss the special properties of water that contribute to Earth’s suitability as an environment for life: cohesive behavior, ability to moderate temperature, expansion upon freezing, and versatility as a solvent. |
Organization and Development of Living Organisms
| Lesson Title | RIEL Element | Standards |
| Cell Analogy Activity | Funds of Knowledge | SC.6.L.14.4 Compare and contrast the structure and function of major organelles of plant and animal cells, including cell wall, cell membrane, nucleus, cytoplasm, chloroplasts, mitochondria, and vacuoles |
| Biotechnology | Multiple Modalities | SC.6.L.14.4 Compare and contrast the structure and function of major organelles of plant and animal cells, including cell wall, cell membrane, nucleus, cytoplasm, chloroplasts, mitochondria, and vacuoles |
| Flower Dissection Lab | Collaboration | SC.912.L.14.7: Relate the structure of each of the major plant organs and tissues to physiological processes. |
Earth Systems and Patterns
| Title | RIEL Element | Standards |
| Reality Space Agency: BCG Cycles | Collaboration | SC.912.E.7.1 Analyze the movement of matter and energy through the different biogeochemical cycles, including water and carbon. |
Energy
| Title | RIEL Element | Standards |
| How Does Energy Drive the World? | Multiple Modalities | SC.912.P.10.1 Differentiate among the various forms of energy and recognize that they can be transformed from one form to others. |
Interdependence
| Title | RIEL Element | Standards |
| Constructing Food Webs | Affirming Identities | SC.912.L.17.9 Food Webs and Energy Transfer-Use a food web to identify and distinguish producers, consumers, and decomposers. Explain the pathway of energy transfer through trophic levels and the reduction of available energy at successive trophic levels. |
| The Diaper Dilemma | Sociopolitical Consciousness | SC.912.L.17.14: Assess the need for adequate waste management strategies
SC.912.L.17.12: Discuss the political, social, and environmental consequences of sustainable use of land. HE.912.C.1.3. Evaluate how the environment and personal health are interrelated. |
| Hot Topics: Red Tide | Sociopolitical Consciousness | SC.912.L.17.3 Discuss how various oceanic and freshwater processes, such as currents, tides, and waves, affect the abundance of aquatic organisms. |
| Human Impacts on Biodiversity: The Piney Point Disaster | Sociopolitical Consciousness | SC.912.L.17.8 Recognize the consequences of the losses of biodiversity due to catastrophic events, climate changes, human activity, and the introduction of invasive, non-native species. |
| Invasive Lionfish Reading Activity | Sociopolitical Consciousness | SC.912.L.17.13 Discuss the need for adequate monitoring of environmental parameters when making policy decisions. |
| Dragon Ball Z Food Webs | Funds of Knowledge | SC.912.17.9 Use of food web to identify and distinguish producers, consumers, and decomposers. Explain the pathway of energy transfer through trophic levels and the reduction of available energy at successive trophic levels |
| The Effects of Fertilizer and Aquatic Plants on Algae Growth | Multiple Modalities | Discuss how various oceanic and freshwater processes, such as currents, tides, and waves, affect the abundance of aquatic organisms. Explain the general distribution of life in aquatic systems as a function of chemistry, geography, light, depth, salinity, and temperature. |
Heredity and Reproduction
| Title | RIEL Element | Standards |
| Human Development Jigsaw | Multiple Modalities | SC.912.L.18.12 Discuss the special properties of water that contribute to Earth’s suitability as an environment for life: cohesive behavior, ability to moderate temperature, expansion upon freezing, and versatility as a solvent. |
| Cell Cycle Cookies | Attention to Language | SC.912.L.16.14 Describe the cell cycle, including the process of mitosis. Explain the role of mitosis in the formation of new cells and its importance in maintaining chromosome number during asexual reproduction. |
| Cell Cycle and Cancer | Attention to Language | SC.912.L.16.8 Explain the relationship between mutation, cell cycle and uncontrolled cell growth potentially resulting in cancer. |
| How Do Cells Divide: Review of Terminology | Sociopolitical Consciousness | SC.912.L.17.8 Recognize the consequences of the losses of biodiversity due to catastrophic events, climate changes, human activity, and the introduction of invasive, non-native species. |
Diversity and Evolution of Living Organisms
| Title | RIEL Element | Standards |
| Speculative Evolution: Evolve an Animal | Multiple Modalities | SC.912.L.15.13 Describe the conditions required for natural selection, including: overproduction of offspring, inherited variation, and the struggle to survive, which result in differential reproductive success. |
| Evolutionary Biology Team Investigation | Affirming Identities | SC.912.L.15.1 Explain how the scientific theory of evolution is supported by the fossil record, morphology, embryology, biogeography, molecular biology, and observed evolutionary change. SC.912.L.15.4 Describe how and why organisms are hierarchically classified and based on evolutionary relationships. SC.912.L.15.7 Discuss distinguishing characteristics of vertebrate and representative invertebrate phyla, and chordate classes using typical examples. SC.912.L.15.19 Recognize that the strength or usefulness of a scientific claim is evaluated through scientific argumentation, which depends on critical and logical thinking, and the active consideration of alternative scientific explanations to explain the data presented. LAFS.910.RST.3.7: Translate technical information expressed in words in a text into visual form and translate information expressed visually (e.g., in an equation) into words. LAFS.910.RST.3.9: Compare and contrast findings to those from other sources noting when the findings support or contradict previous explanations or accounts. |
The Practice of Science
| Title | RIEL Element | Standards |
| Simulating Fossils: Imprints and Molds | Affirming Identities | SC.912.N.1.1 Evaluating scientific explanations; evaluating scientific investigations. Making inferences understand the basic process of creating imprints of objects using plaster of Paris.
SC.912.L.15.1 Evidence for evolution—comparative embryology; Evidence for evolution—fossil record |
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
| Title | RIEL Element | Standards |
| Evolutionary Biology Team Investigation | Affirming Identities | SC.912.L.15.1 Explain how the scientific theory of evolution is supported by the fossil record, morphology, embryology, biogeography, molecular biology, and observed evolutionary change. SC.912.L.15.4 Describe how and why organisms are hierarchically classified and based on evolutionary relationships. SC.912.L.15.7 Discuss distinguishing characteristics of vertebrate and representative invertebrate phyla, and chordate classes using typical examples. SC.912.L.15.19 Recognize that the strength or usefulness of a scientific claim is evaluated through scientific argumentation, which depends on critical and logical thinking, and the active consideration of alternative scientific explanations to explain the data presented. LAFS.910.RST.3.7: Translate technical information expressed in words in a text into visual form and translate information expressed visually (e.g., in an equation) into words. LAFS.910.RST.3.9: Compare and contrast findings to those from other sources noting when the findings support or contradict previous explanations or accounts. |
RIEL Biology Lesson Plans by Instructional Element
Multiple Modalities
| Title | Standards |
| Properties of Water | SC.912.L.18.12 Discuss the special properties of water that contribute to Earth’s suitability as an environment for life: cohesive behavior, ability to moderate temperature, expansion upon freezing, and versatility as a solvent. |
| Biotechnology | SC.6.L.14.4 Compare and contrast the structure and function of major organelles of plant and animal cells, including cell wall, cell membrane, nucleus, cytoplasm, chloroplasts, mitochondria, and vacuoles |
| How Does Energy Drive the World? | SC.912.P.10.1 Differentiate among the various forms of energy and recognize that they can be transformed from one form to others. |
| The Effects of Fertilizer and Aquatic Plants on Algae Growth | Discuss how various oceanic and freshwater processes, such as currents, tides, and waves, affect the abundance of aquatic organisms. Explain the general distribution of life in aquatic systems as a function of chemistry, geography, light, depth, salinity, and temperature. |
| Speculative Evolution: Evolve an Animal | SC.912.L.15.13 Describe the conditions required for natural selection, including: overproduction of offspring, inherited variation, and the struggle to survive, which result in differential reproductive success. |
Funds of Knowledge
| Title | Standards |
| Cell Analogy Activity | SC.912.L.18.12 Discuss the special properties of water that contribute to Earth’s suitability as an environment for life: cohesive behavior, ability to moderate temperature, expansion upon freezing, and versatility as a solvent. |
| Dragon Ball Z Food Webs | SC.912.17.9 Use of food web to identify and distinguish producers, consumers, and decomposers. Explain the pathway of energy transfer through trophic levels and the reduction of available energy at successive trophic levels |
Collaboration
| Title | Standards |
| Reality Space Agency: BCG Cycles | SC.912.E.7.1 Analyze the movement of matter and energy through the different biogeochemical cycles, including water and carbon. |
| Human Development Jigsaw | SC.912.L.16.13 Describe the basic anatomy and physiology of the human reproductive system. Describe the process of human development from fertilization to birth and major changes that occur in each trimester of pregnancy |
| Flower Dissection Lab | SC.912.L.14.7: Relate the structure of each of the major plant organs and tissues to physiological processes. |
Affirming Identities
| Title | Standards |
| Constructing Food Webs | SC.912.L.17.9 Food Webs and Energy Transfer-Use a food web to identify and distinguish producers, consumers, and decomposers. Explain the pathway of energy transfer through trophic levels and the reduction of available energy at successive trophic levels. |
| Simulating Fossils: Imprints and Molds | SC.912.N.1.1 Evaluating scientific explanations; evaluating scientific investigations. Making inferences understand the basic process of creating imprints of objects using plaster of Paris.
SC.912.L.15.1 Evidence for evolution—comparative embryology; Evidence for evolution—fossil record |
| Evolutionary Biology Team Investigation | SC.912.L.15.1 Explain how the scientific theory of evolution is supported by the fossil record, morphology, embryology, biogeography, molecular biology, and observed evolutionary change.
SC.912.L.15.4 Describe how and why organisms are hierarchically classified and based on evolutionary relationships. SC.912.L.15.7 Discuss distinguishing characteristics of vertebrate and representative invertebrate phyla, and chordate classes using typical examples. SC.912.L.15.19 Recognize that the strength or usefulness of a scientific claim is evaluated through scientific argumentation, which depends on critical and logical thinking, and the active consideration of alternative scientific explanations to explain the data presented. LAFS.910.RST.3.7: Translate technical information expressed in words in a text into visual form and translate information expressed visually (e.g., in an equation) into words. LAFS.910.RST.3.9: Compare and contrast findings to those from other sources noting when the findings support or contradict previous explanations or accounts. |
Sociopolitical Consciousness
| Title | Standards |
| The Diaper Dilemma | SC.912.L.17.14: Assess the need for adequate waste management strategies
SC.912.L.17.12: Discuss the political, social, and environmental consequences of sustainable use of land. HE.912.C.1.3. Evaluate how the environment and personal health are interrelated. |
| Hot Topics: Red Tide | SC.912.L.17.3 Discuss how various oceanic and freshwater processes, such as currents, tides, and waves, affect the abundance of aquatic organisms. |
| Human Impacts on Biodiversity: The Piney Point Disaster | SC.912.L.17.8 Recognize the consequences of the losses of biodiversity due to catastrophic events, climate changes, human activity, and the introduction of invasive, non-native species. |
| Invasive Lionfish Reading Activity | SC.912.L.17.13 Discuss the need for adequate monitoring of environmental parameters when making policy decisions. |
Attention to Language
| Title | Standards |
| Cell Cycle Cookies | SC.912.L.16.14 Describe the cell cycle, including the process of mitosis. Explain the role of mitosis in the formation of new cells and its importance in maintaining chromosome number during asexual reproduction. |
| Cell Cycle and Cancer | SC.912.L.16.8 Explain the relationship between mutation, cell cycle and uncontrolled cell growth potentially resulting in cancer. |
