Authentic Performance Activities facilitate a student’s understanding of a lesson’s usefulness in real life. They are also an Understanding by Design (UbD) assessment tool. Focus questions act as pre- and post-assessment indicators of the activity’s effectiveness.
Focus Questions:
1. Why do we learn about life cycles?
2. Can you think of any other jobs where knowing about life cycles might be helpful?
3. Can you think of any ways where knowing about life cycles could affect your home and property (flower and vegetable garden)?
Authentic Performance
You are a wildlife biologist hired to consult on a Brazil nut plantation. The Brazil nut trees are healthy and strong, but are not producing any Brazil nuts! It is your job to figure out why. Use the information you’ve learned about the life cycle of the Brazil nut tree to explain why the plantation trees are not growing any Brazil nuts.
Read about the life cycle of the Brazil nut tree and the symbiotic relationship it has with its pollinators. LINK
