Lesson 22: Flex Research: Researching Blood and Belonging

Turn and Talk

Teacher Guidance: Have students take out their recent notes from the unit’s knowledge-building work on blood and connection. Use this brief exchange to reactivate the essential question before students begin research.

Set students with nearby partners.

Say these Directions: In the previous lesson, we built ideas about how blood works in the body and how it can stand for family connection in Red, White, and Whole. Today, we are testing those ideas with science sources by researching one biology-of-connection topic and comparing what different sources say. This helps us answer the unit question about how blood can be both a real biological system and a symbol of belonging.

Ask: Which biology-of-connection topic feels most connected to our unit question right now, and why?

• Blood typing feels connected to the unit question because it is real science about inheritance, but it also connects to the idea that blood can stand for family ties. If I understand how blood type is passed down, I can better explain why blood matters in both science and story.

Say these Directions: Take 20 seconds to think. Then you will have 40 seconds to discuss with a partner. Begin.

Connection to Today's Learning:

Now that students have reactivated the unit question, they are ready to learn how researchers compare sources and build a bigger idea from them.

Partner Reading & Discussion

Teacher Guidance: Throughout this two-lesson mini-research cycle, maintain blood typing as the teacher model topic. Display the section in “What is Blood?” that explains ABO inheritance and one teacher-curated science source that explains the limits of blood type as a measure of identity or another similar idea.

Say these Directions: Today, we are reactivating two research moves. First, we evaluate whether a source is useful for our question. Then we corroborate by comparing two sources and asking what idea they support together. Open your Research Notes organizer. On the research-question line, write: “How is blood type inherited, and what can it show about family connection?”

Teach:

When I synthesize, I do more than collect facts. I first check whether each source is relevant and clear enough to help answer my question about blood typing. In the first model source, I notice the section explaining that ABO blood type is inherited from biological parents through genes. In the second model source, I notice a limit: Blood type shows one inherited trait, but it does not explain a whole person’s ancestry, culture, or identity. Since both sources help answer my question, I can corroborate them instead of treating them like separate facts. The bigger idea I hear across both sources is that blood type is a real biological connection, but it is only one part of what connects people. That bigger idea becomes the center of my synthesis claim.

Ask: What idea do these two model sources support together about blood typing?

• These two sources both support the idea that blood type is inherited from biological parents, so it is a real form of biological connection. Together, they also show that blood type explains only one trait, not a person’s whole identity or belonging.

Connection to Today's Learning:

Students have now practiced the research move with a teacher model and are ready to apply it to their own topic.

Part A: Evaluate and Gather (W.7.7, W.7.8) (15 minutes)

Turn and Talk

Teacher Guidance: Students should choose one topic from the source set: blood typing, inherited traits, genetic ancestry, or the biology of family resemblance. They will work independently first and then pause for a brief partner exchange about which sources they are keeping and why.

Teach:

A strong research source does not just mention my topic. It directly helps answer my question with clear information I can understand and use. As I read, I ask: “Is this source really about my topic, or is it only related in a general way?” Then I ask: “Does it explain the science clearly enough for me to take notes from it?” Next, I compare it with another source to see whether an important idea is repeated, added to, or challenged. If a source is interesting but not useful for my question, I do not have to keep it. That choice is part of good research.

Say these Directions: Choose one biology-of-connection topic, and read at least two science sources about it. Use your Research Notes organizer to record your question, each source title, two key facts, and one note about why the source is useful for your research.

Ask: Which source seems most useful for your question so far, and what makes it useful?

• Source 1 seems most useful for my question because it clearly explains how genes are passed from parents to children and gives examples of traits. It is relevant because it directly helps me answer how family resemblance works.

Part B: Write a Synthesis Claim (W.7.9) (15 minutes)

Rehearse and Refine

Teacher Guidance: Students will use the notes they gathered in Part A to draft a 2–3-sentence synthesis claim. Their claim should explain what the science says and why that idea matters to the unit’s larger theme of connection, identity, or belonging.

Teach:

A synthesis claim is not a list. It starts with a bigger idea and then shows how evidence from more than one source supports that idea. I want my first sentence to name the scientific concept clearly. Then I want my next sentence to show how at least two sources work together by agreeing with, adding to, or limiting each other. Finally, I can connect that science idea to a human meaning from this unit, like identity, family connection, or belonging. When I do that, my writing sounds less like notes and more like thinking. That is the bridge between science and story.

Display the following writing model if needed for support and guidance, noting what each sentence does (states a claim, corroborates, synthesizes):

Blood typing is one biological way family members can be connected because people inherit ABO genes from their biological parents. In “What is Blood?”, it says that blood type comes from genes passed down in families while my second source explains that this single trait cannot describe a person’s whole identity or ancestry. Together, these sources show that science can explain one kind of connection, but belonging includes more than one biological fact.

Say these Directions: Use at least two sources from your notes to draft a 2–3-sentence synthesis claim in your journal. Your claim should explain what the science says and why that idea matters to the unit theme of connection, identity, or belonging.

Ask: How do your sources together help you explain both the science and the human meaning of your topic?

• My sources show that family resemblance happens because people inherit genes from biological relatives, but they also show that not every family member looks or acts the same way. Together, this helps me explain that biology can show one kind of connection, but belonging is bigger than one visible trait.

Say these Directions: After you draft, read your claim to a partner and revise one sentence based on feedback.

Quick Write

Say these Directions: Use your journal or Student Edition to answer both parts of the reflection. Refer to at least two specific details from your Research Notes or source list so your reflection shows what you actually learned today.

Ask: What new information did you learn as a result of today’s research, and what new question or next step do you have for Lesson 23?

• Today I learned that genetic ancestry sources can show patterns in DNA, but they cannot tell a full story about culture or belonging. One source explained the limits of ancestry testing, and another source explained how inherited traits are passed through genes. My next step is to find one more source that helps me explain the difference between biological ancestry and lived identity so I can strengthen my synthesis claim.

Scoring Rubric

Say these Directions: Keep your source list and synthesis claim together because you will carry both into Lesson 23. This also helps with the unit Performance Task because strong literary analysis depends on turning evidence into a bigger idea. The same thinking move you used today will help you explain how symbols and images work in the novel.

Ask: Which research move helped you most today—evaluating a source, corroborating ideas, or drafting a synthesis claim—and why?

• Drafting the synthesis claim helped me most because it forced me to connect facts instead of leaving them as separate notes. Once I wrote the bigger idea, I understood my topic better.

Say: The move we practiced today—combining evidence into a larger idea—will make future reading and writing stronger because it helps you explain not just what texts say but what they mean together.

Bring your Research Notes, source list, and synthesis claim to Lesson 23. Reread your two strongest sources and add one new note or one new question in your journal that you may want to use in the next lesson.