ETEC 602 Fall 2011 Life Science Grades 6-8: Living Organisms Amy Saxton, Brandon Davis, and

Nan Ketpura-Ching Overview Our Gold Stars group (BAN) will be working on living things as the topic. The yes/no vocabulary words will help to define the concept of what make something living. This activity can be used at the beginning of the year in a Biology or a Life Science class to help students define what it means for something to be alive. We will utilize group participation while modeling with yes/no words on large index cards and placing them on the whiteboard. We will reveal with one yes word and one no word at a time to engage the audience and get them to brainstorm ideas for the topic. As more words are revealed, we will ask the audience more directed questions to identify the concept. Once the audience has a good idea of the concept, we will assess their understanding by asking them to categorize a new word into either the yes or no column. We will also ask and show examples and non-examples to further assess concept attainment. Afterwards, we will reflect on why its important to know why something is living or not in the field of Biology. The students will engage in the following process: 1. 2. 3. 4. Analyze yes/no vocabulary words. Participate in deciphering whether the yes/no vocabulary living organisms. Inquire and infer about the concept by sharing their thoughts with a partner. Adjust and chuck ideas and vocabulary words for living organisms into yes and no columns. 5. Discover a conclusion by using conceptual knowledge. 6. Discussion question: Do you think unethical experimentation can change non-living organisms into living organisms? This lesson plan will meet the following standards: Biological Science Standard 3: Life and Environmental Sciences: ORGANISMS AND THE ENVIRONMENT: Understand the unity, diversity, and interrelationships of organisms, including their relationship to cycles of matter and energy in the environment Technology Standard 3: Research and Information Fluency. The instructor will use the Hawaii Teacher Performance Standards, General Learner Outcomes, and Benchmarks to engage students in a successful activity. Students will identify living organisms via yes/no vocabulary cards and conclude in a discussion about biological science examples of ethical and unethical experimentation. Students will show evidence they met or exceeded the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards by successfully organizing vocabulary words into their correct category, and participate in the discussion by demonstrating in-depth understanding. Hawaii Teacher Performance Standards Standard VIII: Uses Assessment Strategies STANDARD STATEMENT VIII: The effective teacher consistently applies appropriate assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social, physical and emotional development of the learner. Performance Criteria for Standard VIII: The extent to which the teacher(s):

ETEC 602 Fall 2011 1. Evaluates and rotates around the room to visually check for understanding 2. Uses a variety of appropriate assessment strategies to enhance knowledge of learners and appropriately modifies teaching and learning strategies. 3. Involves students in developing assessment standards and criteria. 4. Obtains and uses information about students experiences, strengths, needs and progress from parents, colleagues and students themselves. Standard VII: Uses Active Student Learning Strategies STANDARD STATEMENT VII: The effective teacher consistently uses a variety of active learning strategies to develop students thinking, problem-solving and learning skills. Performance Criteria for Standard VII: The extent to which the teacher(s): 1. Helps students to question, problem-solve, access resources, use information to reach meaningful conclusions and develop responsibility for their own learning. 2. Provides challenging learning experiences which develop higher order thinking skills. 3. Varies instructional roles (e.g., instructor, facilitator, coach, co-learner, audience) in relation to the content and purpose of instruction and students needs. 4. Engages students in active, hands-on, creative, open-ended, problem-based learning experiences. 5. Provides opportunities for students to apply and practice what is learned. 6. Uses the school's current technologies as tools for teaching and learning. General Learner Outcomes GLO #1: Self-Directed Learner (The ability to be responsible for one's own learning) GLO #3: Complex Thinker (The ability to demonstrate critical thinking and problem solving) GLO #6: Effective and Ethical User of Technology (The ability to use a variety of technologies effectively and ethically) Hawaii Content and Performance Standard in Technology STANDARD III: Research and Information Fluency Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students: 1. Plan strategies to guide inquiry. 2. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media. 3. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks. 4. Process data and report results. Hawaii Content and Performance Standard Standard 3: Life and Environmental Sciences: ORGANISMS AND THE ENVIRONMENT: Understand the unity, diversity, and interrelationships of organisms, including their relationship to cycles of matter and energy in the environment Benchmark Benchmark SC.BS.1.8 Describe the importance of ethics and integrity in scientific investigation Performance Assessment Students can identify, describe, and discuss living and non living organisms. (e.g., provides guidelines concerning the appropriate treatment of living things and the environment, credits sources, reduces bias, sometimes adds constraints). Assessment Rubric

ETEC 602 Fall 2011 Matching Concept Cards Meet with Excellence Students can independently and correctly identify all living and non-living organisms Meets Proficiency Students can correctly identify most living and non-living organisms with teacher assistance Developing Proficiency Students can correctly identify half of the living and non-living organisms with teacher assistance Well Below Students can correctly identify less than half of the living and non-living organisms with teacher assistance

Discussion Meet with Excellence Students can correctly identify living and non-living organisms and evaluate 1 real world connection Meets Proficiency Students can correctly identify living and non-living organisms and analyze 1 real world connection Developing Proficiency Students can correctly identify living and non-living organisms and apply 1 real world connection Well Below Students can understand and identify the importance of living and nonliving organisms

Formative Assessment Questions What do you think the words on these index cards represent? Summative Assessment Questions What are the characteristics of living and non living organisms? Do you think unethical experimentation can change non-living organisms into living organisms? Lesson Living and non-living things (Phase 1 - Presentation of Data) The students will Bring seats to the front of the classroom and face the white board. The teacher will Prepare students for the discussion by using a clap cue, 2 claps then the students repeat. Introduce the topic by using index cards on the board Sorting index cards (Phase 2 - Testing Attainment of Concepts) The students will Compare and sort index cards into yes and no columns Discuss examples for 2 yes and no index cards

ETEC 602 Fall 2011 Watch a video about living and non living things and discuss The teacher will Ask students to sort cards in yes and no columns Ask students to find examples for 2 yes and no index cards Ask students to analyze pictures Reflections/Discussion (Phase 3 - Analysis of Thinking Strategies) The students will Discuss and relate living and non-living examples to the real world Question new ideas The teacher will Ask students to find examples in Hawaii and pose new questions Materials Based on 26 students Projector and laptop Teacher created samples Internet connection 3x5 index cards Resources Boulware, B. J., & Crow, M. (2008). Using the concept attainment strategy to enhance reading comprehension. Reading Teacher, 61(6), 491-495. Retrieved from http://eres.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ787678&site=ehost-live Boulware and Crow (2008) provide a general overview of the Concept Attainment (CA) Strategy and show how it can be applied to reading comprehension for two different grade levels. The first section of the article is a rationale of the CA strategy, noting that the real benefit of CA is not just learning a vocabulary term, but "constructing meaning through referential representation" (p. 491). The article then goes on to illustrate using the CA strategy to assist students to comprehend new words through the "structured thinking and reasoning process" (p. 491) of CA. Two examples are given, showing the three phases of CA: "The Concept to be Taught," "Testing Attainment of the Concept," and "Analysis" (p. 492-494). Each phase describes three steps that are undertaken by students and / or teachers to achieve each phase. A brief look at assessment (which must occur both throughout and at the end) is followed by a short discussion about how CA can be especially useful for teaching English-language learners through pictures and provide gifted students with a way to learn abstract concepts (p. 494-495). Boulware and Crow note that CA insures, because it occurs on multiple levels, that learning is not fleeting, but lasting, since it connects "what is know to what is unknown" (p. 495). Hughes, J. (2009). An instructional model for preparing teachers for fieldwork. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 21(2), 252-257. Retrieved from http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTLHE694.pdf Hughes describes Concept Attainment (CA) as a method that can help prepare student teachers for effective learning experiences in classroom settings by using CA not only as learning an instructional tool for teaching concepts to students, but at the same time, as a framework for student teachers to get more out of their fieldwork because student teachers

ETEC 602 Fall 2011 must be trained to be effective observers of classroom interaction so their learning and understanding of the teaching process can be cultivated and enhanced (p. 256). Hughes describes the three phases of CA - presentation, testing, and analysis (p. 254) - and then describes how CA can be modified to provide a three-step model for preparing student teachers so they can effectively participate in classroom observation and fieldwork" (p. 253) and use the "fieldwork experiences to enhance their understanding of the teaching and learning process" (p. 253) through "reflecting on their experiences" (p. 253). Hughes includes two tables (p. 255) illustrating the phases of the CA model as described by Joyce, et al, and the modified steps version created by Hughes to assist student teachers in the field. Hughes concludes with noting that further research on this topic would be beneficial to compare different ethnic, location (urban vs. rural), and affluence variables.