Develop an Argument, Explanation, Model, or Solution (AEMS)

Tool Purpose

1. Identify the science ideas students need to figure out by the end of the unit to explain the anchoring phenomenon and ideas students might come in with.

2. Clarify which ideas need to be addressed in your local lesson set versus the base unit.

What’s Included

This tool helps you anticipate the starting point for the unit and destination for student understanding. 

• Initial AEMS: Anticipate the initial ideas your students will bring to explain the anchoring phenomenon

• Final AEMS: Develop a complete scientific explanation that students will construct to explain the anchoring phenomenon. 

It also includes examples from the Allergy, Peach, Salmon, and Wildfire pathways to inspire your own development process.

Importance for Unit Design

The anchoring phenomenon sets the boundaries for what content students will learn in your unit. When you develop a final AEMS to explain your anchor, you create a roadmap for the entire learning journey by:

• Identifying the key science ideas students need to figure out

• Identifying which ideas are covered in the base unit and which you need to design for in your local lesson set 1.

• Using this roadmap to guide the design of learning activities. 

Throughout a storyline unit, students iteratively and collaboratively revise their AEMS. They develop their initial ideas in the anchor lesson. Then, as they gather evidence through investigation, they revise parts of their AEMS and develop a class consensus AEMS. They then use final AEMS to explain the anchoring phenomenon and/or take informed action in their lives and communities.

Modeling in Action

Three teachers, Tiffany (Flood Pathway), Enya (Peaches Pathway), and Rebecca (Allergy Pathway), demonstrate their approaches to facilitating class consensus modeling. Watch hot why prepare students for modeling, incorporate climate solutions into system models, and document plant-soil system interactions.