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Smacholdt's picture

The Problem with Public Education

Submitted by Smacholdt on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 12:30pm

 I thought that Sir Ken Robinson’s video that we watched in class the other day was a clever way to convey the problems with education in an entertaining way. The video was creative on so many levels- he explained the issue clearly and concisely, while providing entertaining illustrations that drew the view’s attention to what he was talking about. In addition, the way he “taught” this topic is exactly the way that experts in the field of education say that our brains learn best- though drawing and connected, “idea webs” such as the one that Robinson drew during the presentation.

Where does a tree's mass come from?

4 hypotheses where plant's mass comes from

Students analyze evidence to evaluate four hypotheses about where a tree’s mass comes from. For example, students analyze Helmont’s classic experiment and evaluate whether his interpretation was supported by his evidence.

Thus, students engage in scientific practices as they learn that trees consist mainly of water and organic molecules and most of the mass of the organic molecules consists of carbon and oxygen atoms that came from carbon dioxide molecules in the air. (NGSS)

The Student Handout is available in the first two attached files and as a Google doc designed for use in distance learning and online instruction. (For additional instructions, see https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/Googledocs, especially item 7.) The Teacher Notes, available in the last two attached files, provide instructional suggestions and background information and explain how this activity is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards.

Plant Growth Puzzle

This activity has been included as part of Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration – Understanding the Basics of Bioenergetics and Biosynthesis (available at /exchange/bioactivities/photocellrespir).

Plant Growth Puzzle – Photosynthesis, Biosynthesis and Cellular Respiration

Photosynthesis and cellular respiration cycle with the hydrolysis of ATP

This minds-on analysis and discussion activity challenges students to explain changes in biomass for plants growing in the light vs. dark. Students analyze how photosynthesis, biosynthesis, and cellular respiration affect biomass.

The Teacher Notes suggest three possible additions to this activity that expand student understanding of photosynthesis, cellular respiration, hydrolysis of ATP, biosynthesis, and starch. (NGSS)

The Student Handout is available in the first two attached files and as a Google doc designed for use in distance learning and online instruction. (For additional instructions, see https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/Googledocs, especially item 7.) The Teacher Notes, available in the last two attached files, provide instructional suggestions and background information and explain how this activity is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards.

Food, Physical Activity, and Body Weight

This analysis and discussion activity helps students to understand the relationships between food, physical activity, cellular respiration, and changes in body weight. Analysis of a representative scenario helps students to understand how challenging it is to prevent weight gain by exercising to offset what seems to be a relatively modest lunch.

In an optional research project, each student asks an additional question and prepares a report based on recommended reliable internet sources.

The Student Handout is available in the first two attached files and as a Google doc designed for use in distance learning and online instruction. The Teacher Notes, available in the last two attached files, provide instructional suggestions and background information and explain how this activity is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards.

Introduction to Proteins and DNA

The Teacher Notes present a sequence of activities that will help students understand the basic structure and function of proteins and DNA.

To understand how genes influence our characteristics, students learn that different versions of a protein can result in different characteristics, and a gene in the DNA determines which version of a protein is synthesized by a person’s cells.

This information is conveyed through a PowerPoint with a sequence of discussion questions and videos, a Student Handout, and an optional hands-on learning activity. This sequence can be used in an introductory unit on biological molecules or to introduce a unit on molecular biology.

platano's picture

Categories in Family Guy

Submitted by platano on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 9:39pm

I was watching a Family Guy episode where Brian Writes A Best-Seller. Brian gets upset because none of the "serious" books he has written have gotten any attention. To prove the point that self-help books sell despite the lack of content he sets out to write one. His book "Wish It. Want It. Do It." becomes very successful and he gets to go on many interviews. The first one that he goes on is at a local news-station and the conversation that took place reminded me a lot about my Non-Fiction prose class. The conversation (07:01- 07:40)

 

AyaSeaver's picture

Who Authored You?

Submitted by AyaSeaver on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 5:25pm

             In my family women are archivists. At the end of the school year I throw a pile of paper into the recycling bin and five minutes later I hear my mother going through it. My grandmother visited us so as not to not to 'miss' moments. She visits it seems to take photographs the event is listed on her itinerary when she sends it. I have received all of the following images at least three times and usually in multiple mediums—from a CD and an email for example. There’s a determination for my Grandmother—who also will sit down and force her cousins to write out what they can remember about relatives and family trees—to make the dead take root in us.

jaranda's picture

Adaptation and Simplification of a Complex Issue - 9/11

Submitted by jaranda on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 5:00pm

September 11th was a sad day in American history, so it is not surprising that people wanted answers about what happened and why. The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report on the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States was supposed to answer these questions, but more than 500 pages in the hardcover edition is a lot of information to digest. The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation is supposed to be a simpler version of the information for people who might not want to read the entire original report. In a message from the authors on Amazon, they say that the

FatCatRex's picture

Telling the Stories of Domestic Violence in Philadelphia: Examining Narrative Ethnography

Submitted by FatCatRex on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 4:58pm

Telling the Stories of Domestic Violence in Philadelphia:

Examining Narrative Ethnography

 

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Remote Ready Biology Learning Activities

Scanning electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2

Remote Ready Biology Learning Activities has 50 remote-ready activities, which work for either your classroom or remote teaching.

Narrative is determined not by a desire to narrate but by a desire to exchange. (Roland Barthes, S/Z)

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