unit plan- science

8/9/2019 Unit Plan- Science

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Five Day Lesson PLan, Alison Trimble and Brandy Borg, EDUC236, Dr.Kruse, 11/18/2014

Five Day Lesson Plan

Secondary Science Methods

Alison Trimble and Brandy Borg

Class: Biology

Grade: 9thUnit: DNA and the Language of Life

I. Student Goals:

A. Students will demonstrate a deep and robust understanding of STEM content and

apply that knowledge wherever possible.

B. Students will be confident, curious and open-minded individuals.

C. Students will support their position by using factual evidence and make informed

decisions.

D. Students will communicate and collaborate critically and effectively through

written and verbal methods.E. Students will think critically and use problem-solving skills.

F. Students will be active and respectful members of their communities.

G. Students will use technology appropriately.

H. Students will use creativity and imagination.

I. Students will demonstrate a strong understanding of the nature of STEM.

J. Students will be autonomous, self-motivated learners who will develop goals and

utilize resources to seek out information to become lifelong learners.

II. Logic Flow http://standards.nsta.org/DisplayStandard.aspx?view=topic&id=45

A. DNA is found in cells (Most Concrete)B. Double Helix and Nucleotides Base Pairs are the Structure of DNA

C. DNA contains all the genes to make-up an organism (mini conclusion)

D. DNA is copied in order for cells to reproduce.--where replication occurs in cell

cycle

E. DNA is coded into RNA

F. Translation of RNA makes Proteins (mini Conclusion)

G. Ribosomes are where Protein Synthesis occurs

H. Genes make proteins that determine traits

I. Storage of the Code for Proteins is a Function of DNA

J. Mutations change DNA language, and can result in different offspring phenotypes

K. DNA is the Language of Life (Most Abstract)

L. LS1.A: Structure and Function: All cells contain genetic information in the form

of DNA molecules. Genes are regions in the DNA that contain the instructions that

code for the formation of proteins. (HS-LS1-1)

III. Objectives For Students and InTASC Standards

A. Objectives: Student will:

1. Articulate a deeper understanding of the nature of science.

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2. Evaluate procedures relevant to DNA extraction.

3. Demonstrate the ability to create accurate DNA and RNA models through a

creative process.

4. Explicitly articulate the process of change from DNA to RNA to proteins.

5. Present more than one piece of evidence to support that DNA is the

language of life.B. NSTA Content Standards and Relevant Objectives:

6. LS1.A: Structure and Function: All cells contain genetic information in

the form of DNA molecules. Genes are regions in the DNA that contain the

instructions that code for the formation of proteins. (HS-LS1-1) (Note: This

Disciplinary Core Idea is also addressed by HS-LS3-1.)

a. All of the objectives for students are relative to the NSTA content standard

we chose.

B. InTASC Teaching Standards and Relevant Objectives:

1. Content Knowledge: the teacher understands the central concepts, tools of

inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and createslearning experiences that make these aspects of the discipline accessible

and meaningful for learners to assure mastery of the content.

2. Application of Content: The Teacher understands how to connect concepts

and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking,

creativity, collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and

global issues.

3. Assessment: The teacher understands and uses multiple methods of

assessment to engage learners in their growth, to monitor learner

progress, and to guide the teacher's and learner's decision making

4. Instructional Strategies: The teacher understands and uses a variety ofinstructional strategies to encourage learners to develop deep

understanding of content areas and their connections, and to build skills to

apply knowledge in meaningful ways.

IV. General Teacher Behaviors and Strategies

As teachers, we have learned to use open ended questions, to promote student

understanding when used to build upon a students prior knowledge. Our strategy to

demonstrate proactive classroom management includes the following teacher behaviors that

encourage participation: addressing all students equally, using effective wait time of at least three

seconds, and enacting think-pair-share partner activities during group discussions. This strategy

also promotes student safety and on-task behavior because students are expressing more of their

thoughts related to the content, and the teacher can also use the response time to develop better

questions.

Another way we plan on achieving classroom management throughout the lesson is to

monitor groups and break them up into smaller sizes, when appropriate, to encourage greater

classroom participation. We also plan to reflect upon and monitor our interaction patterns by

static coding ourselves periodically throughout the lesson to encourage effective teacher

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behaviors. The SATIC coding patterns that we seek to achieve are 3cs, 4s, 6's, 11's and 12s for

teacher behaviors.

Additionally, an effective teacher behavior is to circle the classroom to encourage all

students to stay better on-task and be sure not to turn our back to any students. As one student

responds to a question, we would strategically move away from their voice so that all students

have an opportunity to hear their response. We will encourage our students to form more solidideas about what they are learning by challenging them to answer questions that will guide their

inquiry. We will also encourage other students to add their ideas formed from the original

student's statement to encouraging discussions to grow.

V. Five Day Lesson Plan:

Classroom: Students are arranged into groups of 3-4 with tables seating 2 students, facing

towards each other to easily support small group sizes and pair interaction to enhance content

understanding. Students are arranged so we can easily walk the entire perimeter of the

classroom, and so all students can see both the front and back of the classroom. The seatingarrangement is assigned based upon whom the students work the best with using both student

feedback and teacher notes.

Resources: Classroom computer, elmo and digital projector are necessary for the daily classroom

lessons. Blender. Student access to WiFi Connectivity for personal devices, or with classroom

computer equipment.

Text: Biology Exploring Live,

Available Online at: http://apps.cmsfq.edu.ec/biologyexploringlife/units/%2F../text/

Previous Instruction: Students will have just finished learning about the cellular basis of

inheritance and patterns of inheritance.

Day 1: Lesson Title: Morse Code DNA

Objectives: Students will:

1. Cipher Morse codes and learn the relationship between the code and a message.

2. Discuss the relationship between Morse Code and their prior knowledge of DNA.

3. Construct a representation of Morse code to create a foundation for understanding how

proteins are produced.

Materials: teachers computer, copies of Morse code to distribute to students

Procedures:

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http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fapps.cmsfq.edu.ec%2Fbiologyexploringlife%2Funits%2F%252F..%2Ftext%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNEsacmf7QVgi6gdVRBTUwYRKLXmxA


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1. When students enter the classroom, they are to answer this question in their journals, If

you were a spy, how would you write a message to headquarters in a way that if the

enemy intercepted it, they would not know what the message said? We will later

connect the students prior knowledge of spies and secret messages to this new concept of

DNA. After a few minutes, have a few students share their ideas. Discuss these ideas as a

class.2. Introduce the idea of Morse code, where certain letters are represented as dashes and

dots. Tell them, Morse code is a cipher, a method of transforming text in order to conceal

its meaning. Give students a representation of the Morse code to keep. Allow them a few

minutes to look over this series of dashes and dots.

3. On the teachers computer, using the Morse code translator, found at

http://morsecode.scphillips.com/jtranslator.html

allow students to give you sentences to type in. Hit translate, then play and the students

can hear what their sentence will sound like in Morse code. This will get students

interested in wanting to code messages.

-Its better to do it on our computer only so the students dont try to translateinappropriate messages.

4. Have students work on their own and code a message from English to Morse code. Give

them certain requirements, such as it needs to be at least 3 sentences long.

5. Have students exchange their message with a partner and decode their message.

6. Students will discuss in their groups why it is much easier to figure out a secret message if

we have the cipher.

7. We would close the lesson telling students, in the coming days we will be exploring DNA.

a. In what ways do you think that DNA is related to Morse Code? Here we can assess

our students prior knowledge of DNA, and see what relationships they are able to

make based upon their prior knowledge of DNA to Morse Code.

Assessment: Informal assessments of student understanding will occur during the class and

group discussions. We will also evaluate students as they are creating and decoding the Morse

code messages. The formal assessment will include the written Morse code and deciphered text.

Lastly, through discussion we will seek to assess our student's prior knowledge of DNA and see if

they are able tape make connections to their prior knowledge of DNA and the Morse code

content.

I want to omit this sentence... This will help us see how students think about secret codes in order

to make the connections to protein production.

Day 2: Lesson Title: DNA is in Cells, Is There DNA in My Food?


1. Describe how DNA is inside every living organism.

2. Investigate that foods they eat originate from living organisms.

3. Work collaboratively in a group to make procedure decisions

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4. Engage in critical thinking and problem solving skills by taking on the perspective of a

scientist

5. Extract DNA from a food and witness how DNA is found inside of living things.

Materials:

1. Bananas solution, kiwi solution, Strawberry solution, Pea solution.

2. Blender, plastic cups, plastic spoon, plastic knife, coffee filter, shampoo, table salt, transferpipette, rubbing alcohol, container of ice

3. Kiwi, Bananas, strawberries, tofu, orange juice and honey,

4. Laboratory gloves

5. DNA Extraction protocol is available online at:

http://www.biotech.iastate.edu/publications/lab_protocols/DNA_Extraction_Smoothie.pdf

Procedure:

1. On the board when students enter, we will have written "Where can we find DNA?"

Students would write a response on their blog, discuss in pairs, and then share their ideas.Working in small groups might help students be more comfortable in their choices. We

would ask students for ideas per group, not by student, to get more class participation.

2. Onthe board, student would make a list of where students say they can findDNA. Here we

would assess for pre-existing ideas about where DNA can be found. Students

misconceptions might include thinking DNA, itself, is living, different cells within an

organism have different DNA, and only animal cells have DNA.

2.1. Ask Students, What do we know about what the inside of a cell looks like?

Students would likely respond with information from their prior knowledge as

well as the previous lesson on inheritance and chromosomes.

2.2. Ask Students, What are chromosomes made of? To which all students will likelyquickly answer DNA, and genes and we will use this targeted level 3 question to

move the lesson forward with our next request. We will be looking for them to

reference information from the introductory unit when they had a brief exposure

to DNA and genes.

2.3. If we could look in detail at the mucus obtained from different plants, how do you

think it would be the same?... and how would it be different? Here we are looking

for students to think about individual organisms having different DNA genes, or

instructions.

2.4. Tell Students, Lets brainstorm about the variety of things (animals, plants) that

have DNA inside them. Students will likely think of animal based answers.

3. Students are instructed to form collaborative groups of 2-3. We will tell students that

today we are exploring the types of foods one might find DNA in. In their groups, students

would come to a consensus, choosing which food they would like to see if they can find

DNA in. Their choices would be kiwis, strawberries, peas or bananas, and take a sample

to their bench. There would be 2 sample cups of each food for the students to choose

among to ensure a variety is still selected for later discussion and comparison. We would

also remind them here of our laboratory safety procedures, including the importance of

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not smelling or drinking laboratory solutions. This is done with class discussion having

the students voice their laboratory safety rules in response to the question,

3.1. Ask students, When working with solutions in the lab, what are the safety rules

we should keep in mind? Any rule skipped over by the students is reviewed

before starting the laboratory procedure.

4. Students would follow the instructions to isolate DNA from their food of choice.5. Students will make a solution of shampoo, salt, distilled water and their food mix. (The

detergent dissolves the lipids holding the cell membranes together, which releases the

DNA into the solution. The salt enables the DNA strands to come together.)

5.1. Ask students, How might we separate the liquid from the solid component?

Describe a situation when you separated or strained something. Why were you

separating things? They may not know what we could do, and in that case, we

would model for the class how to filter.

6. Using a coffee filter, students will filter the mixture by pouring it into the filter and letting

the solution drain for several minutes.

6.1. Ask students, Why do you think filtering this material important? When haveyou observed filtering materials before in other ways? Here we would help the

students make connections between the filtering to extract DNA, and filtering they

have observed in real life. They may relate it to a furnace filtering the air, or the

filters in a car among others.

6.2. Have a discussion about what occurs during the blending process, Where in the

plant is the DNA that we are trying to extract? Here we would informally assess if

students realize we are blending to access the content in the center of the cell

nucleus, breaking open cell walls.

6.3. What other things do you think we might be extracting with the DNA? Because

this process also extracts RNA present in the cells, here we would assess forcontent knowledge of RNA to determine our students prior knowledge for later in

our 5 day lesson plan. This is also a question if they do not relate back to RNA we

can go back to after learning about RNA in later days to see if they can make

connections back to the extraction process in later days.

7. Fill a plastic pipette with banana solution andadd it to the alcohol. Let the solution sit for

2-3 minutes without disturbing it.

7.1. (DNA is not soluble in alcohol. When alcohol is added to the mixture, the

components of the mixture, except for DNA, stay in solution while the DNA

precipitates out into the alcohol layer.)

8. Students watch the white DNA precipitate out into the alcohol layer. When good results

are obtained, there will be enough DNA to spool on to a glass rod. Or by using a Pasteur

pipette that has been heated at the tip to form a hook, you can retrieve some of the DNA.

DNA has the appearance of white, stringy mucus.

8.1. Ask students, Record your observations in your notebook, and then discuss with

a partner what you are observing in your tubes? Here we will walk the room to

see if the students are making observations and further direct the conversations.

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8.2. We will then have a discussion with the entire class. What do you think the mucus

is? To which they will all likely respond DNA. We will use this targeted 3c

response to guide the discussion forward to thinking about the DNA.

8.3. Describe what you think has happened to the DNA? Here we want the students

to make connections to the steps they followed and the DNA mucus they obtained.

9. After they have obtained their DNA, we will have them pair with a group that choose theother option (kiwi, banana, strawberry, pea) and record their observations in their

notebooks. They will now be in groups of 4-6, although this could also be achieved by

having students pair with a member of a different group, and then rotate through all 4

different options to keep the group sizes smaller if needed for classroom management.

9.1. Ask them, What do you think the importance of steps 6 and 8 were? and How

do you think we could compare the results from different samples? Here we can

also compare the results of students altering the protocol, and scientific error

through open ended questions, and encouraging our students to think like

scientists

10. As a class we will discuss the importance of the steps 6 and 8 in the extraction protocol.10.1. Ask students, Why do you think steps 6 and 8 are important to extracting DNA?

10.2. What might happen if steps 6 and 8 are omitted? Allow students to redesign

their extraction omitting a step, and then comparing their results to the original

results.

10.3. In todays lab you followed step by step directions. How is that different from

what scientists might do?

11. Students then will create a cartoon illustration showing what happened to their banana

cell or kiwi cell through the steps of a DNA extraction.

Assessment:Informal assessments would occur through discussions during the class. As students are

discussing, I would circle throughout the classroom to gather informal assessment information.

Formal assessment would occur by the collection of the DNA extraction cartoons.

Teachers should be walking around during the lab to encourage everyone to participate in the

hands-on activity. It is important for the teacher to ask groups open ended questions pertaining

to the lab and the topic of DNA extraction. In a group setting, teachers need to be sure all

students understand the concepts they are learning and practicing by asking students directly.

After the lab is completed, completion of the lab can be assessed by viewing the slimy mucus

(DNA) being produced.

Day 3: Lesson Title: The Structure of DNA, What Does DNA Look Like?


1. Demonstrate their understanding of the structure of the DNA molecule

2. Create a model of DNA through a creative process.

3. Learn about base pairing in DNA and be able to make base pair connections.

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4. Articulate the relationship of DNAs 4 base pairs to Morse codes collection of dots and

dashes.

Materials:

1. 2 colors of Sugar Backbone Twizzlers, one to designate Ribose, and another to designate

Deoxyribose sugar.

2. Bases consisting of 3 colors of mini marshmallows (or gumdrops) representing GC andU base pairs, and 2 colors of mini marshmallows (or gumdrops) of a slightly different

shape for A and T.

3. Toothpicks

Procedure:

1. First, we will remind them how yesterday we saw that all cells contain DNA, today we

want to explore more about what DNA looks like.

2. To start, we will watch a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kK2zwjRV0M

starting at the beginning and continue to 8:50 to give some preliminary information about

todays activity.

2.1. Stop at 2:50 and have students draw what they think the double helix looks like intheir journals. Have a short discussion about the make up of DNA, with a couple of

students sharing their drawing on the board.

2.2. Stop at 4:27. Students should consider how their model was different than the

actual representation. They will document the differences between their model

and the way the DNA double helix actually looks.

2.3. Stop at 5:23 and have students answer the question from the video in their

notebooks.

2.4. Stop at 7:30. Ask students, How was what Miescher did similar to what you did

during the DNA extraction? Have them write this down in their notebooks.

3. The class would discuss the video including questions such as:3.1. Explain why DNA is important to all organisms? They may relate DNA to the

parts of the human body, so we would direct the conversation to include the

experiment they did yesterday exploring DNA in foods.

3.2. How does DNA make copies so we get more DNA?-students might reply by

babies or that it reproduces. Taking the reproduction answer, we would ask

students to think about the cell cycle, and make connections to the cell cycle from

the previous unit.

3.3. Ask them Where do you think this occurs in the cell cycle? Here we will be

accessing their prior knowledge from the previous unit so they can make

connections between what they have learned, and this new information.

3.4.

4. Introduce the connection that:

4.1. DNA is the coded statement.

4.2. We practiced Morse code on the first day of this unit. Say to students, This code is

composed of dots and dashes, but can make any word in our language. How could

a molecule contain simple units, but still provide a lot of information? Have

students discuss this in groups.

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4. Laying out the candy provided for the DNA representation (Twizzlers and marshmallows

or gumdrops), ask students, Using only these limited types of candy, how could you

convey information to another group?

4.1. Allow time for groups to discuss and share out information with the class. If we

feel that students are not quite getting to the coding concept, we might show thestudents a candy model and ask, How could this model pass information to

another strand?

4.2. We would have the class decide, as a group, what each color represented in order

to have consistency with creating the candy models. Although this activity could

also be done making jewelry models, we feel Twizzlers better represent the

phosphate backbone. We as teachers might make and wear DNA jewelry in class to

show the students. The jewelry could also serve as a way to model the thinking

process we went through to develop our jewelry.

5. Each table would get a set of candy, as well as a sequence guide sheet with example

sequences from different organisms found here:http://www.yourgenome.org/downloads/pdf/teachers/seq/FT_sequence_bracelets.pdf .

The students would then draft their own DNA models, based upon one of the sequences of

their choice.

5.1. We would also be careful to remind the students these materials are for model

creation, and should not be eaten for safety and hygienic reasons.

6. This lesson will continue on day 4 with exploration of RNA structure and function.

7. Student assignment is to post on Graffiti board about todays activities and write about

200 words pertaining to DNA sequences. Students will be required to post on Graffiti

board on certain days through the lesson. This will allow the teacher to see the thought

processes and questions the students are generating.

Example of a candy based DNA model:

http://aclassofone.blogspot.com/2013/09/apologia-anatomy-physiology-unit-one_9971.html

Assessment: The assessment this day will include informal assessment by the teacher circling

the room and observing the group discussions. When students are finished with their models, we

will discuss, as a class, different ways they represented the double helix and base pairs. We will

also assess the student formally by comparing their DNA models to the sequences they choose to

represent for accuracy. Today, students Graffiti board posts will also be assessed.

Day 4: Lesson Title: Transcription of DNA into RNA, What is the Structure and Function of

RNA?

Objectives: Students Will:

1. Articulate that transcription of DNA is required to make RNA

2. Articulate the structure of the RNA

3. Create models that they can use to explain the structure of RNA through a creative

process.

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http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Faclassofone.blogspot.com%2F2013%2F09%2Fapologia-anatomy-physiology-unit-one_9971.html&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFYe9PfH3LQA5oynFSScg17-_VyMQhttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.yourgenome.org%2Fdownloads%2Fpdf%2Fteachers%2Fseq%2FFT_sequence_bracelets.pdf&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNG6IrixwHN-KG9PRTM7wFW9kxzvvg


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4. Explicitly explain how DNA and RNA differ, citing evidence.

5. Articulate concept of codes and ciphers to understanding of how DNA translates to RNA.

Materials:

4. 2 colors of Sugar Backbone Twizzlers, one to designate Ribose, and another to

designate Deoxyribose sugar.

5. Bases consisting of 3 colors of mini marshmallows (or gumdrops) representing GC andU base pairs, and 2 colors of mini marshmallows (or gumdrops) of a slightly different

shape for A and T.

6. Toothpicks

Procedure:

1. Open class with a class discussion of misconceptions we noticed from Graffiti board. We

will look for questions that students have asked that might work to cause our students to

become dissatisfied with the misconceptions, and the question discussion session can act

as a way to encourage our students to want to remove or replace them from their

thinking. Write the correct thinking, so students can see how they should change theirthinking.

2. Tell students, Yesterday, we created a coded DNA candy message. We need to get this

coded message into something that we can read and understand. Thinking of the activity

we did using Morse code, how do you think we could achieve this? Students will likely say

that we need something to cypher the DNA code with like we had with Morse code.

Students will discuss this in their groups how DNA might be cyphered into a message by

cells.

3. Come together as a class and discuss how deciphering the code is important in order to

read the original message. Lead questioning toward helping students understand that we

need the intermediary, such as RNA (Morse code) to understand the message.4. We will then introduce the concept of Uracil, and how base pairing works between DNA

and RNA to make RNA copies of a specific sequence.

5. Offer students the ability to use the candy again to create an RNA sequence that would be

base pair matching to a portion of their DNA chain. Students will draw a random DNA

code (out of a bag from the teacher) to convert into RNA.

6. As students are creating their RNA, prompt students to think about ways that DNA and

RNA are different and the same and discuss in their groups. The questions we will ask

include:

6.1. How is DNA different from RNA? Students would reflect upon the differences in

the phosphate backbones, the differences in bases, and also how DNA and RNA

perform different functions in the cell.

6.2. In what ways is DNA similar to RNA? Students would reflect upon how both code

for cellular genetic information DNA to make RNA and RNA to make functional

proteins.

6.3. How is making an RNA copy different from copying DNA? Here we would also

look for misconceptions about RNA being replicated from DNA instead of being

transcribed, and guide our instruction so the difference is clear.

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7. Followed by a class discussion to discuss:

7.1. How the students think RNA turns into protein

7.2. How the process of DNA to RNA to protein is similar to decoding a Morse code

message.

7. Introduce the idea that:

7.1. RNA is the morse code (cipher) to help decode the statement.7.2. As an exit ticket, students will answer the question, How are DNA and RNA

related to Morse code?

Assessment:

Students will be evaluated informally through the group and classroom discussion. In this

process, teachers should look for students who dont have a very good understanding of how

DNA and RNA differ. This could be exhibited by lack of participating or unclear answers during

discussion. Teacher should be sure to make rounds to each discussion group and attempt to ask

questions directly to each student. Our formal assessment will come from our students decoding

lines of DNA to RNA on their representation of RNA candy model and the exit ticket answers to

see if they are making new connections between Morse Code and the new information theylearned today about RNA.

Day 5: Lesson Title: Messages and Mutations, How do Mutations Change Protein Messages?

Objectives:

1. Explore the different types of mutations by classroom participation in discussions and

activities.

2. Articulate their understanding of how ribosomes are where protein synthesis occurs

citing evidence to support their understanding.3. Cite evidence from classroom activities to articulate how mutations change DNA, and can

result in different phenotypes.

4. Accurately explain the concept of DNA, and it's purpose of storing the language of life.

5. Articulate concept of codes and ciphers to understanding of how DNA translates to RNA

to proteins.

Materials: N/A

Procedure:

1. Beginning of class, students will work on finishing their coding from the prior day, if

needed.

2. Ask students, When decoding Morse code, what would happen if one of the portions of

the code were mixed up?

2.1. This question is targeted to assess students prior knowledge of mutations and the

following discussion will help build students present knowledge of them.

2.2. Use the example if in Morse code the code reads a dash and 3 dots (B), instead of 3

dots (S). Have students look it up on their Morse code sheet. How would this

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change the word sash? So my mom tells me she wants a Bash instead of a Sash.

There is a big difference there.

2.3. We could also use this original sentence The cat pounces the mouse One letter P

from pounces would be deleted to read The cat ounces the mouse

2.3.1. we would ask the students How does this deletion affect the sentence?

2.3.2. In what ways is the meaning of the sentence different now? Students willlikely point out the meaning of the sentence is different now. The cat

appears to be weighing the mouse instead of pouncing on it.

2.3.3. Describe how altering the DNA code is similar to altering Morse code?

2.4. We could then take the same sentence and add the letter h to cat so the sentence

reads The chat ounces the mouse and again ask the students to discuss in pairs

and then with the class how the addition of one letter changed what the sentence

reads.

2.5. Lastly, taking the same sentence we would replace the letter M in mouse with the

letter H so it finally reads The chat ounces the house and discuss how it affects

every word in the sentence. We would have them again discuss these concepts inpairs.

2.5.1. How do changing just one dash or dot in the Morse code affect what the

secret message is?

2.5.2. How could this be a problem if spys from our country cannot

communicate efffectively with each other through Morse code?

2.5.3. What do you think these kinds of problems could lead to when DNA is not

decoded properly to proteins because the code was misinterpreted?

2.5.4. If each word is a protein, how does it relate to what we know about DNA?

here we are looking for students to make connections about proteins

coming from DNA.

3. At this point, we will tell the students that the location of protein synthesis in a cell is the

ribosome. When the message is taken to the ribosome, there are pieces of RNA that get it

formed into a protein. Some of the mixing up of these messages occurs here.

4. Next we would have the students form lines of 10-12 students and we would give the first

student a list of directions, each set of group directions is in a slightly different order.

4.1. Before beginning the students are reminded Not to do anythingthey knew we as

teachers would not tell them to do.

4.2. The directions would include Pat your head 3 times, Turn 360 degrees to your

right. Touch your knees, jump three times and take a bow.

4.3. The students are instructed to pass the directions along to the last student in the

line. The last student in line would do whatever the directions said to do.

5. At the end of the activity, each group would compare the differences between the original

list and the last persons actions.

5.1. In what ways does our activity today relate to the activity we did on the first day

using Morse code? How does what we learned about Morse code also relate the

learning we have done over the last 4 days? Here we are looking for the students

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to make connections to the physical representation of DNA into Protein, a coded

message being changed into English; and the types of mutations. We are also

looking for students to make connections between these ideas and the concept of

Morse code. If the students are struggling to answer we will direct them to talk

with their partners, and then in their groups to share their ideas.

5.2. Now that the code is mutated, what do you think the consequences for futuregenerations are? Are these consequences as dire as those when Morse code is

mutated? Students may talk about the consequences of not having a message

received in war, and compare that to a baby being born with a disease. Students

may answer, people will have diseases, or people might find a new adaptive

benefit for them to survive better than others. Teacher needs to explain this can

be good and bad. Good examples eye color changes or hair color, bad examples

could cancer. An example of both good and bad is sickle cell anemia because it also

provides malaria resistance when you have one copy of the gene. Here we are

looking for them to make connections between mutations and phenotypes.

5.3. How do mutations change the genetic material so that you see differences inliving populations? Here we would have a discussion of genotypes and

phenotypes from variations of mutations.

6. Introduce the idea that

6.1. Protein is the meaning in a language the body understands.

7. Student will write a 1 page reflection of new learnings and understandingthat they have

made over the past 5 days, due the next school day.

Assessment:

This day would consist of mostly informal assessment with the teacher walking around the room

and observing and directing the discussion through the use of open ended questions. The formal

assessment will be the 1 page reflection of new learnings and understandings.

Next Week and Rest of the Unit: In the next week the students will have an opportunity to

explore more about DNA and mutations. They will each choose a genetic topic to research and

create a presentation on. The topics they may choose include: cancer, Cystic Fibrosis, Down

Syndrome, Gene Therapy, Hemophilia, Huntington Disease, Sickle Cell Anemia, and Tay-Sachs

Disease, or they may also suggest a topic of interest to be approved by the teacher. They will be

asked to include information on their topic, how it relates to the genetic topics we covered earlier

the previous week and give examples of traits in humans. We will also ask students to make

connections between mutations and genes.

VI. Rationale for the Unit

We chose this unit because we could visualize a way to move through the content logically

from concrete to more abstract utilizing inquiry science activities to teach our content objective.

We also were able to use this content to demonstrate the use of 3cs, 4s, 11s and 12s SATIC

questioning. As teachers we want to pay special attention to our goals for students and ensure

we are also encouraging our students to make connections between the classroom and real life,

so they will become more well rounded members of the community capable of more mature, and

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lesson will allow student to construct their own ideas about DNA, RNA and proteins. We also

believe teachers need to exhibit behaviors to encourage students to explore their thoughts and

make connections to the materials. When inquiry based science is done carefully with attention

to a logical flow of the lesson, students are more likely to achieve higher order thinking skills, and

make lasting cognitive connections as they move from concrete to more abstract. Lastly, as

teachers we want to also pay special attention to our goals for students and ensure we are alsoencouraging our students to make connections between the classroom and real life, so they will

become more well rounded members of the community capable of more mature, and thoughtful

personal interactions.

Students in high school are capable of thinking abstractly, but their learning is enhanced

by using concrete examples to solidify the content. By following our logic flow, we can carefully

introduce information consistent with our students readiness from most concrete to most

abstract, and structure the content so our students make lasting connections to their prior

knowledge. Students will be demonstrating DNA schemas via concrete models during these five

days. They will be performing an experiment in order to extract DNA, which is a concrete

example of how DNA could look to the human eye. In order to help students zoom in to what themore microscopic version of the clump of DNA is, students will be creating a candy version of a

double helix. They will also be creating DNA and RNA sequences from given sequences. Students

will be applying DNA concepts to the concrete models during their working time, through group

and classroom discussion. (DLT)

Course Standards

5. Lesson plans clearly aligned with goals for students.

6. Lesson plans clearly and accurately aligned with learning theory.

7. Learning activities accurately and closely tied to appropriate learning objectives.8. Formative assessments designed to expose student thinking.

9. Learning activities based on coherent flow of logic.

10. Learning activities use student experiences and student ideas so students generate

accurate conceptions.

11. Learning activities are designed to confront student misconceptions.

12. Learning activities require students to make decisions and solve problems.

13. Assessments closely aligned with objectives for content, process, and science practices.

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unit plan- science

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