From Cells to Biosphere: Anchoring Biological Terms (Day 2 of 2)

The lesson is a continuation from the work our class began during Day 1 of this two day lesson connecting basic vocabulary in biology to a specific organism that each student chooses to investigate.

After today's lesson, students should be confident enough to continue the rest of their work on their own outside of class time.  Providing additional individual support to students as they work through their organism's specific examples at each level of organization is critical to their content learning and overall learning experience in this first project of our year together.  

You may set whatever deadline for the final project that you feel is appropriate for your class.  For me, I typically allow for at least one weekend for visual project completion.  This allows students to meet in a group if they are working with others and it gives every student the sense that they have the amount of time needed to do their best work.  Visual work takes time and many seemingly small tasks can require extended timeframes for completion.  Weekend time allows students to take some risks and plan bigger than they could for a weeknight deadline.  

1.  At the start of the class, point out the list of tasks you wrote on the board yesterday and ask for feedback as to the students' experiences with the definitions for each level of organization.  Clarify specific questions and see my Day 1 video for the most common stumbling blocks for kids at this point in the lesson.  

2.  Announce that students will be given the class period to continue working on their definitions and discovering more specific information about their organism.  Remind students they can collaborate together, ask you for help, and use their devices as necessary.

• Note:  Please follow whatever device policy you and your school utilizes with students.  I suggest having laptops or other devices available to students if they are not allowed to use their own in the classroom.

1.  Remind students that the class period is intended for them to work on whatever aspect of their project needs their immediate attention.  Post a list of potential jobs they can work on framed as questions:

Have I written down the scientific name of my organism?

Have I completed my written descriptions of the vocabulary I will be working with for my visual?

Have I checked in my with my group and my teacher to make sure all of my vocabulary questions have been answered?

Have I figured out what I want my visual project to look like?

Do I know what materials I want to use?  Do I have them or do I need to go get them?  If so, where and when will I do this?

When do I plan on working on this project outside of class?

What help do I need before we leave for the weekend and I am working on my own?

2.  Allow students to work at either their lab tables or desks to complete whatever project goals they have set for themselves for the class period.  They may assist each other or check in with the teacher for whatever clarifications or assistance they need.

• Note:   My experience with this session was that I was productive busy and engaged with individual and groups of students throughout the class session.  Students felt comfortable coming up as needed and I was able to address specific issues, clarify points, and challenge students to think bigger in encouraging ways because of the time we gave ourselves to do this kind of quality collaborative work.