Week 4 - 8.2 A Local Ecosystem

Describe one learning cycle activity you would use in a Biology lesson. Give reasons why you chose this for your particular syllabus point.'

Module 8.2 A Local Ecosystem.

When it comes to learning cycle activities within a Biology lesson we must keep in mind our time limitations but also whether or not the activities which we plan actually have some core knowledge and understanding behind them.  That way the students actually are able to take something away from the lesson and not see it as a big waste of time.

The very first dot point in the module 8.2.1.2.1 Compare the abiotic characteristics, of aquatic and terrestrial environments.   In order to build the field it is essential to get the terminology across before even getting into the content.  The term abiotic must be explained and its association with terrestrial and aquatic environments.  

Modelling would be acted upon by the teacher when it comes time to split the class into groups and giving them the research task of either abiotic aquatic or abiotic terrestrial. The teacher would model the first example of what is required for each on the board. 

Jointly deconstructing would be effective once each student has contributed to their group and written their answer down on butches’ paper.  One it comes time to bring the class together to compare the two environments, I would then get the students to independently construct their knowledge and understanding by getting them to write down 2 characteristics of the environment which they did not research.

This would be able to cover the required learning cycles and get the students thinking in a proactive manner about the lesson.

Week 3 ' Module 9.8 - The Human Story

' Analyse and assess one aspect of programming by UBD (Understanding by design)'.

Module 9.8 (Option – The Human Story)

If there is one thing that I have learnt this week in our riveting biology class, it has been that teaching is not in the slightest way easy.  Everything from mapping grids, to assessment criteria and matching up dot points to assessment outcomes takes time and requires a great deal of concentration.

The use of UBD allows us as teachers to actually have an idea of what we are doing and where we are going with it.  The use of UBD is designed as being backwards design and long term results.  Therefore within Module 9.8 we can start the topic to aim to answer the following focus question,

How did humans come to be, and how do we compare to other organisms?

This focus questions gives students an understanding of what to expect within the module but also to gather a grasp of what can be proposed later on down the track.  It also ties in well with the entire module and each individual focus dot point.  The idea of this will allow students to process their knowledge on the module by referring back to the original focus questions.

From this we can design by working backwards and create assessments, practicals and lessons which will benefit the students by giving them something to work from.

Week 1 Blog CONTRAST (Module 9.6-Biotechnology)

Module 9.6 in the biology stage 6 syllabus (Biotechnology), focuses on the continued studies of technological advances within the field of science to create practical applications of modern laboratory techniques. In contrast with the stage 4/5 science syllabus there is a contextual outline given to assist in teaching the unit.  The stage 4/5 syllabus requires students to simply become familiar with the idea that science and technology go hand-in-hand.  Outcome 4.12a requires students to only identify technologies, whereas 5.12c they are required to describe some benefits and problems of using biotechnology.  These are classified as lower order questions.  By the time they reach stage 6 they focus on current and past events (9.6.1) where the nature and practice of Biology is used in a technological application e.g. GMOs but it also focuses on the ethics behind these practices (9.6.7).

And so it begins....

Woohoo Semester 2 has begun :)