Use the science to investigate a real source, explain the evidence, and communicate a defensible conclusion. The guide supplies the actual reading, data, task, and chosen level before the unit begins.
| Strand | Required evidence |
|---|---|
| History, Reading, Writing | Use an approved source in context and a student-authored response. Separate the original evidence from later explanations; do not force a single-hero story. |
| Geography and ethics | Include location, social context, or ethical trade-offs where they genuinely support the scientific question. |
| Elective extensions | Choose additional depth in data, technology, economics, or art. Extensions do not replace the core work. |
| Quantitative science | Use the unit's mathematical lane at the agreed level. Supply units, denominators, and model conditions; required science is assessed as science. |
Integration is reported separately and cannot lower the science grade or block a science demonstration pass. Science and practical criteria determine that pass.
Use the same approved task in both formats. The web guide explains the source, data, assumptions, student work, and evidence checklist; this packet is its portable summary, not a different assignment.
Use the web guide's approved unit assignment.
| Unit | Dissection big idea | Integration anchor |
|---|---|---|
| 01 Tools, Safety & Ethics | Dissection is careful observation under an ethical contract; the tools and technique serve the look, never the other way around. | Read the approved Vesalius passage and write why firsthand observation demands responsibility, including humane sourcing and current ethical boundaries. |
| 02 Earthworm | A simple segmented body already carries a complete plan — mouth, gut, hearts, and a nerve cord running the length. | Darwin’s last book, on earthworms and the making of soil — read a passage; write on how a “lowly” animal quietly reshapes whole landscapes. |
| 03 Grasshopper | Arthropod segmentation, jointed limbs, and an exoskeleton. | Read the approved Fabre passage and compare the external arthropod body plan, observed structures and functions; do not turn shared segmentation into an evolutionary ladder. |
| 04 Clam or Squid | Compare mollusk structures and their functions. | Use the approved camera-eye convergence comparison; distinguish function, structural level and ancestry evidence without claiming every component has an unrelated origin. |
| 05 Perch | A ray-finned vertebrate — a backbone, paired fins, and a two-chambered heart. | Compare fish and tetrapod circulation; living perch are not tetrapod ancestors. Fossils provide evidence of the fin-to-limb transition. |
| 06 Frog | A tetrapod with lungs, limbs, and a three-chambered heart. | Use an approved account of Galvani and the history of the teaching specimen; write an evidence-based response about observation and specimen ethics. |
| 07 Fetal Pig | Compare the mammalian plan while retaining developmental differences. | Compare pig and human structures using the approved reference; write what the similarities support about shared descent and what the comparison cannot establish. |
| 08 Comparative Anatomy | Homology supports shared ancestry on a branching tree, not a ladder of living species. | Use the approved Cuvier, Owen and Darwin tetrapod-forelimb comparison; connect observations and explanations to the oral defense, including limits. |
Compare frog, pig, and human forelimbs using specimens or labeled references. Record fused or reduced bones; distinguish observation from reference evidence. A ray-finned perch does not show the full tetrapod limb pattern. Use a branching tree to contrast Owen’s homology with Darwin’s shared-ancestry explanation.
Math never drives a unit, but dissection uses it constantly — always anchored to the specimen and the measurement at the tray. Here is the quantitative skill each unit actually uses, done inside the lab context rather than as a parallel curriculum.
| Unit | Applied math at the agreed level |
|---|---|
| 01 Tools, Safety & the Ethics of Dissection | Measuring and setting bench dimensions; proportion of specimen to tray; counting and checking the instrument set. |
| 02 The Earthworm | Counting and numbering segments; measuring body length; proportional placement in a scaled drawing. |
| 03 The Grasshopper | Counting legs, segments, and spiracles; measuring appendage proportions; checking bilateral symmetry. |
| 04 The Clam or Squid | Measuring shell and mantle dimensions; comparing proportions between clam and squid; estimating gill area. |
| 05 The Perch | Counting fins and gill arches; measuring body-to-tail ratios; comparing heart-chamber counts across specimens. |
| 06 The Frog | Measuring organ dimensions; proportional scaling in drawings; comparing chamber counts across specimens. |
| 07 The Fetal Pig | Measuring organ sizes and body proportions; scaling a drawing to the specimen; comparing pig-to-human proportions. |
| 08 Comparative Anatomy & the Dissection Defense | Cross-specimen comparison of measured structures; scaling and proportion; tabulating evidence for homologies. |
Students count the segments while opening the earthworm, measure the limb bones while comparing the frog and the pig, tally the crown-rump length while staging the fetal pig. The number always means something because it is attached to a specimen they measured — never a worksheet detached from the tray.
Integration is its own strand. Track each unit’s integration level across the year — Developing, Proficient, or Mastery — separate from the technique-mastery rubric. Record the evidence reference and date in the final column.
| Unit | Developing | Proficient | Mastery | Evidence / date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Tools, Safety & Ethics | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 02 Earthworm | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 03 Grasshopper | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 04 Clam or Squid | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 05 Perch | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 06 Frog | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 07 Fetal Pig | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 08 Comparative Anatomy | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
A student who walks through all eight anchors finishes understanding that dissection is how humans first read the body from the inside, and that every structure on the ladder was once a discovery someone fought to describe — the version of the subject a student keeps.