Teaching bio this fall!

[jgmaynard]

Hi folks:

 

I'm brand new here, this is my first post.

 

I've taught astronomy, mathematics, earth science and CS so far, but I just got hired to teach a bio class for the first time this fall (9th grade level, but REALLY bright kids!).

 

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a good lesson plan to base the course on, or any advice on where kids usually get caught subject-wide.

 

To give you an idea, I taught the same kids Earth science last semester, and despite them being in 8th grade, by the end of the semester I had to ramp up the lessons to freshman college level to keep them challenged.

 

Some have had chem, some haven't, so things like osmosis will need an intro. We are using "Biology: A course for A Level" by Kwan and Lam as our text.

 

My apologies for asking for advice on my first post, but any suggestions?

 

Thanks!

 

JM

[silkworm]

I'd suggest basing it what it's based in - evolution. I wouldn't get molecular, and I'd stop at the cell. Microbiology labs are generally pretty cool.

 

If it's the same group of kids, they may understand what science is - run with it.

[jgmaynard]

Thanks, yeah. Even when I was covering the biosphere during the Earth science course, the last two exercises were on evolution.

 

I really think it's a good idea not to get to crazy into molecular stuff, but I thought the kids may get a much more "hands on" feel for DNA if they extracted some from onions. I was thinking of that as the first lab.

 

JM

[silkworm]

Hey, yeah. That sounds pretty cool.

[YT2095]

certainly, you WILL need a level of Molecular instruction in order to explain certain events within a cell, there`s no escaping that at all.

you`de stuggle to explain Osmosis, Mitosis, Miosis otherwise

 

you`ll also need to get a little Chemical on them too, with regards the action of the mitachondria and ATP / ADP etc... and the actions of lysosomes and hydrolytic enzymes and so forth.

 

the Onion thing and the potatoes (fresh/boiled/with salt soln etc...) and Iodine thing really work too.

 

my Tip (as an ex-teacher myself) is do little more than generate Curiosity! the rest will follow

[jgmaynard]

I'll agree with you, YT. I've taught several other sciences and I find generating curiosity is the most important thing.

The textbook actually has a good "breeze-through" of the Kreb's Cycle, so I don't have to get into the detail I did when I took organic chem! LOL.

I really wish they all had some chem background, but so be it.

 

JM

[Sisyphus]

Mind if I ask what sort of a school you're teaching in?

[Martin]

Hi folks:

 

I'm brand new here' date=' this is my first post.

 

I've taught astronomy, mathematics, earth science and CS so far, but I just got hired to teach a bio class for the first time this fall (9th grade level, but REALLY bright kids!).

 

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a good lesson plan to base the course on, ...[/quote']

 

you sound like a resourceful and motivated teacher, and therefore I would say that we could learn from your keeping us posted as you assemble your lesson plan. I can speculate, but my guess is that I have more to learn from you than you from me.

 

I hope you wont be shy or modest about sharing anything you find out that you think would be especially interesting to your students---or what ideas you arrive at about structuring the course.

 

I guess you know about the biology aggregator website.

http://recombinants.somethingsimilar.com/

 

I would suggest that you assign one of your students to check it every day and report somehow if anything turns up. Recombinants SKIMS the fleet of Biology BLOGS. So each day it has links to some new Bio facts. Maybe once a week or so there is a link to something I'd say was really interesting. But what is interesting depends on the student who is checking the news.

 

the good thing about "recombinants" is you only need to visit one webpage and it gives you the HEADLINES of the postings that day from quite a few different biology blogs. then if any headline is especially intriguing you can click on it

 

==============

 

random thought: Biology has several different "hot areas" of research.

Not being an expert I can't reliably name them, but they might be one or more of the following:

 

animal genetics including human

animal behavior

genetic modfication

cancer treatment using the immune system (very sophisticated work with mice appeared lately)

different reproductive strategies---sex---how it evolved

(displays, monogamy, polygamy, promiscuity, social insects, how parenting is shared, eggs versus viviparous, how spiders decide whom to date and whom to eat, exotic methods of copulation etc etc)

generally weird life-forms (not exactly a research area but something a lot of biologists like to talk about)

 

It would be nice if the 9th graders, at least some in the class, would IDENTIFY FOR THEMSELVES what they think are especially hot areas of bio research and if individual students would take on the responsibility of WATCHING THAT AREA and keeping up with developments in some line they think is interesting. So an individual student becomes an INFORMED ADVOCATE of that line of research, and can try to convince others in the class that it is interesting.

 

hmmm. I wonder if what I've just said is a good idea or a bad one. could be a can of worms. bio (esp. reproduction) has got to be incredibly interesting to 9th graders. is there a danger they might get TOO interested.

should we only teach them about PLANTS, or something nice and safe like ALGAE

 

Fraid I'm ignoring the basics---which is your main job. I'm assuming you actually have that completely under control. Guess I am talking about student volunteer reporting of periferal stuff. Whatever you decide to do, it will be very interesting to hear about. Please keep us posted!

[ecoli]

I'm surprized your school (or state) doesn't have a subject guidelines for the class. Does New Hampshie have no state testing?

[scicop]

Howdy, i would imagine that you would have a cirriculum to adhere to no?

but anyway here's an idea for you, its actually something I experience in my first year of graduate school.

 

It was a biochemisty/cell/molecular biology/molecular genetics course.

 

The way it was focused on the cell. We started from the center of the cell and work our way to the cell membrane/and extracellular matrix, then worked our way back to the center of the cell!!!!!

 

So we started with DNA, not just simple DNA, we discussed chromatin regulation (organization etc) then replication (all the molecular details), transcription and how messages are exported thorough the nuclear pore complex and translated in the ER etc etc.

We went VERY VERY VERY deep in to these mechanism (consistant with the top notch PHd program I went to) and all of our topics were supplemented by Journal articles (peer reviewed studies) in an accompanied journal club. Each lecturer was a leader in field they were discussing i.e. HHMI investigators and/ top notch very well funded investigators/ and lecturers by nobel lauretes. So, I don't have to say how rigorous and demanding the course was.

 

After about 4 months we got to the cell surface (around christmas time) and discussed hormones, neurotransmitters/modulators/ and then through the investigation of signal transduction cascades we worked our way back to the nucleus, and back to the DNA. This took another 5 months, and involved a trip back to the cell surface to discuss the further implications of gene expression with a panacrine/endocrine point of view.

 

I thought that was an awesome way to cover the molecular biology of the cell and we covered EVERYTHING..from metabolism, to molecular evolution, to pathology and sites of pharmacological intervention.

 

Obviously you don't have to be so rigorous, you're not teaching PhD students, but you can follow a similar format. Guest lecturers are good and so are insights into possible careers.

[Martin]

I'm surprized your school (or state) doesn't have a subject guidelines for the class. Does New Hampshie have no state testing?

 

maybe with bright motivated kids they can cover state 9th grade curriculum during coffee breaks and still have most of their time left for more AP and college Bio One topics. maybe. just guessing.

 

(actually you should know Coli, arent you doing biomedical research? or a premed? Something, I forget. so you must know the New York State highschool biology curriculum----better than passing acquaintance, I'd guess)

[Mokele]

Don't forget animals and organismal level biology. In addition to being a vital area of biology (after all, the organism the the true unit that selection acts upon), organisms are fun, and animals can help keep students enthusiastic and interested.

 

For a dirtier track, remember: evolution is all about sex and death. Two or three classes on the sex lives of invertebrates and you'll have them hooked.

 

Mokele

[ecoli]

maybe with bright motivated kids they can cover state 9th grade curriculum during coffee breaks and still have most of their time left for more AP and college Bio One topics. maybe. just guessing.

 

(actually you should know Coli' date=' arent you doing biomedical research? or a premed? Something, I forget. so you must know the New York State highschool biology curriculum----better than passing acquaintance, I'd guess)[/quote']

 

In New York state, the state publishes a guideline of all the topics that need to be covered for the State Regents exam at the end of the year... This is done for almost every subject, not just bio.

 

Also, they publish suggested lab topics, and stuff like that.

 

edit: btw, I can't believe you shortened my name

[scicop]

Oh by the way Ecoli, I use to know the person who had "Ecoli" on his NYS license plates. I guess the ORGINAL:-) Ecoli. Ed Alcamo, PhD. He was a Prof of Microbio at SUNY Farmingdale. He passed away a few years ago.

[ecoli]

Oh by the way Ecoli, I use to know the person who had "Ecoli" on his NYS license plates. I guess the ORGINAL:-) Ecoli.[/b'] Ed Alcamo, PhD. He was a Prof of Microbio at SUNY Farmingdale. He passed away a few years ago.

 

Interesting... my mother went to school there. I wonder if she has ever heard of him.

[scicop]

Probably did, he was big guy on campus

[scicop]

I forgot to add, he wrote a Microbiology text book that was used by alot of pre-health students.